Christian Bök - Inviting Us to Rethink how Language Works Essays

In the post-Modernist world, developments in the perceptions overshadow human relationships. To bridge humankinds alienation from science and technology, Christian Bk turns science into poetry, and poetry into science. He delves into pataphysics, the poetics of an imaginary science which renders the English language whimsical and at times nonsensical. He likewise attempts virtuosic feats with his sound and concrete poetry. Bks language welcomes new interpretations and shows that poetry is an ongoing process that can disrupt traditions and reshape them. Bks innovative use of sound, form, and narrative reshapes language, inviting the audience to rethink how language works.Exploring sounds primitivism, Christian Bk transforms his poetry into wild call terrains. He deconstructs and reinvents meaning in language by banishing words from some of his sound poetry. Following the post-Modernist tradition of melding old materials with new ideas, Bk re-imagines Dadaist Hugo oafs poem See pferdchen und Flugfische (Seahorses and Flying Fish) by infusing it with his own tempos, pitches, and exclamation points. The language in this poem does not consist of words but a twine of nonsensical sounds like billabi, zack, and bisch Can language still be language without words? To be effective, language must be able to communicate ideas. Bks language then, communicates ideas through explosions of non-meanings. It relies heavily on its emotive function, stirring the audiences imagination with fluctuations in pitch, tone, and tempo. It is also metalingual it draws attention to itself as the audience tries to decipher the poem through only the sense of hearing. In his poem Valuvula, Bk chants in an alien language. S... ... Available http//www.ubu.com/sound/bok.html, 2000. Accessed November 16, 2003. Bk, Christian. Valuvula in UbuWeb Sound Poetry. Available http//www.ubu.com/sound/bok.html, 2000. Accessed November 16, 2003. Carmine, Starnino. Vowel Movements Pointless Toil an d Empty Productivity. Books in Canada 31, 4 (Jun/Jul 2002) 29.Crawley, Devin. Eunoia. Quill & Quire 67, 10 (October 2001) 40.Crawley, Devin. The book of Bok authors new poetry title uses just one vowel per chapter Eunoia. Quill & Quire 67, 10 (October 2001) 9. Dykk, Lloyd. Are we having fun yet? Series 2002 I Resolve The Vancouver solarize Vancouver, 3 January 2002, p. D12.Pataphysics, The American Heritage Dictionary of the English Language. 2000 ed.Samuels, Ian. Books highlight poetrys past and present. Calgary Herald Calgary, 18 October 2003, p. ES12.