Infrathin: An Experiment in Micropoetics

Marjorie Perloff's "micropoetics" explores how poetry can create new meanings by aligning seemingly unrelated words and phrases through sound, visual layout, etymology, grammar, and construction. She suggests that the traditional focus on a poem's "about" does not fully appreciate its infrathin possibilities, drawing on major modernist poets to challenge our reading habits and explore what makes poetry poetry.

Format: Hardback
Length: 320 pages
Publication date: 03 September 2021
Publisher: The University of Chicago Press

Marcel Duchamp, in his playful exploration of the concept of "infrathin," coined the term to describe the most minute shade of difference. This distinction lies between the report of a gunshot and the subsequent appearance of the bullet hole, or between two objects in a series created from the same mold. It is within this realm of subtlety that Duchamp saw the poetic potential, recognizing that words and phrases, often seemingly unrelated in ordinary discourse, can be re-aligned through the intricate interplay of sound, visual layout, etymology, grammar, and construction.

Poetry, according to Marjorie Perloff, can be best understood as the language of infrathin. In poetry, whether in verse or prose, words and phrases are realigned in unique ways to create something new. Perloff's revisionist "micropoetics" draws primarily on major modernist poets, ranging from Stein and Yeats to Beckett, to explore the possibilities inherent in infrathin. She challenges the conventional emphasis on what a poem is "about" and suggests that it is the infrathin qualities that make poetry truly poetic.

Infrathin manifests itself in various forms of poetry, from Goethes eight-line "Wanderers Night Song" to Eliot's Four Quartets and the minimalist lyric of Rae Armantrout. It seeks to disrupt our current habits of reading and to delve into the core essence of what makes poetry poetry. By exploring the spaces between words, sounds, and meanings, infrathin invites us to perceive the world in new and profound ways. It challenges our assumptions and expands our understanding of the language's potential.

Infrathin is a testament to the power of poetry to transcend the ordinary and to reveal the hidden depths of human experience. It reminds us that poetry is not just about surface-level meaning but about the intricate connections and resonances that exist between words and the world around us. Through its exploration of infrathin, poetry invites us to engage with the world on a deeper level, to see things in new light, and to find beauty and meaning in the smallest of details.

Weight: 542g
Dimension: 159 x 236 x 23 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9780226712635