Reading Visual Poetry [Hardcover]

The title here is literal. Bohn provides readings of notable 'concrete' poemspoems formatted into a picture or visual design (kinetic digital as well as static print) rather than standard lineated textfrom a range of modern literary moments and orbits (Spanish, French, Italian, and Brazilian). The author traces neither the history nor principles of the literary movement as such, nor the development of the genre itself. He follows a straightforward, three-part procedure for engaging the poems: first, perceiving the visual design as a gestalt; second, deciphering the text in its unorthodox and often multiple physical orientations; third, synthesizing the visual and literary import. Interested primarily in the dynamics of reading visual poetry as a process, he works inductively, translating and negotiating his way through each poem largely through trial and error, considering and discarding one interpretative possibility after another and bringing the reader along as an eavesdropper on his reflective critical deliberations. The effect is delightful: the readings are as much performance as analysis. And the analysis is particularly illuminating in revealing the semiotic and ontological intricacies of a poetry that many still consider, even after more than a generation of serious scholarly attention, little more than gimmickry. Summing Up: Recommended.Bohn offers in-depth analysis of individual poems, showing how visual semantics operate to complement and complicate linguistic meaning.... As a whole, the book provides an excellent introduction to visual poetry and a succession of illuminating readings, but its particular value lies in the breadth of poets and poems considered. It is a welcome addition to the critical literature and will be an invaluable resource for those approaching the genre for the first time.[The] explanation of form and analysis. . . works well throughout the book. It was interesting to see the changes in styles from poster-printing to enable thlÏ