Abstract
SUMMARY Colonized by language, the body becomes written over and familiarized, possessed by the ego. When one pays attention to what is not yet familiarized, part of oneself becomes “other-ized,” causing dread. Hence, the “performance anxiety.” One feels invaded and feels the need to take possession. Writing schizophrenically is a way of exploring the unknown, the gaps between body and its impulses, and definition in an attempt to sketch a map without the usual epistemological systems possessing the ground. A free-play form of experimentation tends to take place more often in poetry than in narrative or expository prose, simply because it is often its own subject, as well as proceeding closer to primary processes. John Ashbery is an example of a poet who writes-in his words-from free association, while Michael Palmer seems to engage the network of signifiers more purposefully. Both explore the points at which language and identity dismantle each other in an attempt to open further ground.
Published Version
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