Wednesday, January 02, 2008

poetry at the end of ideology, version 12/07

Charles Bernstein tells us of the December 22 announcement made by Darien Credenza, head of the Amalgamated Writing Programs: a Morally Repugnant Poets-and-Theorists Exhibit will be held at the organization’s annual congress in New York. “Yes we have no ideology. We only have craft."

“It’s up to Amalgamated to determine what the correct meaning of approved works are,” Credenza said. “Anything else would lead to anarchy. Good poems have no hidden agendas. Good poems are neither for or against capitalism, patriarchy, or religion unless they clearly state that they are in the first stanza of the poem and logically develop the thesis through a combination of lucid images and narrative development.”

“‘A few theorists and poets would have you believe that just raising such questions makes you an anti-intellectual meathead in complicity with the powers of postcolonial oppression. It’s an age-old game of partisan politics to pretend that your party has a monopoly on virtue,’” said Credenza. “Only an organization such as Amalgamated Writing Programs, which is above the fray, and rejects demagoguery, has an authentic claim to virtue.”

You can listen to the entire news story here. It's the voice of Alex, Apple's new best-yet text-recognition guy. He does fairly well, although his pronunciation of Lacan leaves a little to be (as it were) desired.