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An ongoing web based piece
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Pencilled Lines on Poetry: Notes from a loose-leaf pad is a blog-like series of informal jottings and reading notes that includes original material as well as translations; quotes; etc ... |
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Poetics East of West: A Cross-cultural Approach
Outline & table of contents of book-length work-in-progress
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From mystic utterances ascribed to a talking fish to grandma's poems in the attic, giving pattern to speech and thoughts has given rise to a variety of poetic traditions. Through a sequence of accessible essays Poetics East of West will explore specific issues related to the practice and appreciation of poetry from ancient and modern times from a broad cross-cultural perspective (i.e. both across and within Eastern and Western traditions and languages).
Expected completion date: mid/late 2009 |
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The Rhythm of the Brush
Quadrant, 53:6 (June 2009) 124-126 |
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A review-essay on Chinese Calligraphy, Edited by Ouyang Zhongshi & Wen C. Fong (Yale University Press 2008) that explores the motion of the brush as the hallmark of Chinese calligraphy. |
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'Sung Poems: The Incantatory Voice'
Quadrant, 50:3 (2006): 70-73.
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Sample essay from the work-in-progress Poetics East of West
Focuses on the power of the musical recitation of words. Relationship of oral articulation with poetry and music; Information on the ritual use of language in a sacred or profane context; Importance of incantatory power to the delivery of poetry.
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'Modern-Day Troubadours'
Contemporary Review. 274:1596 (1999) 33-37.
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Explores the paradox of the survival of Occitan as a vibrant literary language.
Influence of the troubadours on Western literature; Overview of Robert Lafont's `La Gacha'; Examples of Max Rouquette's literary works, including a translation of ‘E Quand Seria?...’; Discussion of Bernard Manciet’s magnum opus L'Enterrament a Sabres (burial at Sabres).
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‘The Voice of One in the Wilderness’
PN Review. 27:3 (2001) 28-32.
“Rather than the Western concept of a stream of consciousness, Gao opted for a stream of language in which inner and outer realities criss-cross each other”
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Profiles the life and works of Chinese artist and author Gao Xingjian (2001 Nobel Prize for Literature).
Description of several of his plays which include The Bus Stop (Chenzhan) and the Alarm Signal (Juedui xinhao); Problems with getting his plays produced or books published include censorship by the Chinese authorities; Reaction of the Chinese authorities & Western theatres to a play he wrote, called Taowang, based on the riots in Tiananmen Square; Details of the techniques actors use in presenting his plays; Biographical information.
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'Spirals to Unravel a Mystery'
Quadrant. Part One: 47:1 (2003) 71-7. Part Two: 47:3 (2003) 58-64.
“We are so captivated by the wagging of our tongues that the listening aspect of language often falls by the wayside.”
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An extensive essay in 2 parts that focuses on counterbalancing the speaking tongue with the listening ear.
Part I. Literary and scientific approaches to language; Importance of auditory perception of language for acquiring the faculty of speech; Anatomy of the ear; Physiology of the sound process.
Part II. Focuses on the origin of speech and language; Views of Dante on speech; Identification of individuality; Core of Darwinian-based theories on the origins of language; Relationship of music to language; Role of listening & its relation to thinking; Classical Chinese views of language; Anatomy & physiology of the listening process as metaphor for consciousness.
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'Reflections on Intolerance'
Contemporary Review. 274:1601 (1999) 311-315.
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Discusses the religious, racial and political aspects of intolerance. Explanation on the definitions of intolerance; Forces that have operated in religious intolerance; Relationship between tolerance and intolerance.
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'Jacob Burckhardt: Historian of Civilization'
Contemporary Review. 271:1582 (1997) 250-256.
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Reflects on some of the vitalizing aspects of human existence via a retrospective on Jacob Burckhardt and his efforts to map the horizon of civilization, on the 100th anniversary of his death.
Profile on Burckhardt; Burckhardt's key work on the Renaissance; Views regarding the character of human nature; Published works on human civilization; Dedication to the vitalizing influence of the eternal on the temporal.
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from Letters from Rome
(Unpublished)
A changing selection of samples that will be refreshed regularly.
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Written over the course of a year spent in Rome as a Fellow of the Swiss Institute in Rome, Istituto Svizzero di Roma (ISR) in 1999-2000, Letters from Rome is a series of short literary experimental pieces.
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