The Difficulties

Many poets I know
had, like myself, “learning”
difficulties
--Charles Bernstein, “Artifice of Absorption”

Let me be frank about my situation. I am the author of, and a frequent reader of, difficult poems.
--Charles Bernstein, “The Difficult Poem”

Good luck on uncovering the difficulties of the writing.
--James Sherry, The Difficulties: Charles Bernstein Issue Note that McGann's review shares its sense of humor with Bernstein's own “Questionnaire” (also from Girly Man).

Understanding Bernstein is difficult; liking him is difficult too. Jerome McGann writes the following review of Bernstein's 2006 release, Girly Man:

DIRECTIONS: For each pair of sentences, circle the letter, a or b, that best expresses your viewpoint.

a. Girly Man’s meanings are largely organized by luck or chance.
b. Charles Bernstein’s intentions determine what these poems mean.

a. Girly Man is indifferent to human needs.
b. Girly Man has some purpose, even if obscure.

a. Poetry like this brings the greatest happiness.
b. Poetry like this is illusory and its pleasures, transient.

a. Overall, Charles Bernstein has been harmful to American culture.
b. Overall, Charles Bernstein has been beneficial to American culture.

(This written endorsement of Girly Man should be removed for inspection and verification.)

McGann recognizes the diversity of popular responses to Bernstein's works, from praise to repulsion. But in stating “a or b”, McGann's review admits to the possibility that Bernstein, and his poetry, exist as both a and b. This is part of the difficulty.

A specter is haunting this essay. The shadow of Bernstein's character looms over the project. The project attempts a certain characterization of Bernstein, or perhaps is characterized by him. I attempt an understanding. I become troubled by Charles Bernstein.a

As I began this project, I made the assumption that readers, sometimes myself included, would resist Bernstein's writing and attitude & his self-acclaimed difficulty. This assumed bias worked itself into my writing, and is set-up within my first lesson plan. More from the blog. Throughout the project, I've encountered biases both for and against Bernstein. They are almost always there, and often hard to deal with.

Identity is an acting out. The individual performs identity. The individual is a site of resistance. Bernstein resists characterization.

difFiculTy—How do I organize
my project

around

Bernstein?    

A central focus has been to pay attention to how we read, how we teach and of course how we write.

We live in a world which communicates through characterization, but we can resist its reification, its finalization by understanding it as a provisional thing that exists in time for a particular use. Insofar as that use is agreed upon—perceived and acknowledged—in the communication, there may be no problem with characterization.w

Please acknowledge that this project is provisionally framed by Charles Bernstein. It makes use of the troubling process of attempting to understand Bernstein. It marks Bernstein as a site of resistance in the act of reading—a troubled site, an exchange of difficulties. It's initially organized around my own personal struggle with Bernstein's work.

Dysraphism, a medical term, means congenital misseaming of embryonic parts. The root raph means seam, as in rhapsody—what is stitched together.”x

Dysraphism is like a punned verb, which in misseaming is able to perform two opposing actions at once. This allows for a doubling of the reader's attention, and the creation of “hyperabsorptive” reading practices. But, as a medical term, dysraphism is a neurological disorder, making puppies bunny-hop (as they, miswired, try to walk by simultaneously using their front and back legs—that is, all of their legs at once).

Difficulty, like dysraphism, often seems a poetic disorder. It isn't very popular to read difficult poems.

but don't worry!
“Difficult poems are normal...It's not your fault.”y

Still, I wish there were more publishers, more reviews, more teachers (at all levels) putting forward not only the poets (modern and contemporary) but also the approaches to writing suggested by syntactically inventive, visual, and hyper/hypotextual poetries; by non- and pluri- and quasilinear essays; and by constructive, programmatic, conceptual, and self-reflective poetics.z

First Semester: I began this project by reading Bernstein's writing, studying the context of its being written, and by studying his practice and poetics. I began to write my essay. As I worked on my reading & writing, I also sought teaching advice from Lynn Powell (and read some of her recommended reading). I developed lesson plans focusing on experimental and “difficult” poetry—three of these lesson plans focused on Charles Bernstein. I made arrangements with Mr. Jarven at Oberlin High School, and taught two lesson plans with one of his senior english classes. Following Lynn's advice, I had practiced each of these lesson plans with a group of my peers before teaching them at OHS.
Second Semester: I began a private reading, entitled “Wreading Bernstein,” in which a group of students and I performed close readings of Bernstein's Girly Man (and other supplemental material). This private reading also engaged (and questioned) the means by which we approach writing about Bernstein's poetry. We engaged in our own “creative wreading” process. I made the switch from .doc to .html; I attempted to make the jump into a new approach—acknowledge my frame, unlock my writing.

mark : stigma : "difficulty"—in quotes

I've done my best to mark the difficulties I encountered in this process. This essay is witness to difficulty as part of learning; it encourages encounters with difficulty.

Someday, I might like to work towards an experimental poetry in the schools program. This project, however, is framed by Charles Bernstein.

Bernstein describes the poems he likes to read as "not point, click, and play."b (While perhaps part of my project is to make these types of poems more easily playable.) I hope the jump to .html has enhanced, rather than trivialized, my own writing practice.

How To Use This Essay
*HOW TO READ chronicles my struggle in understanding my reading of Bernstein's writing and poetics.
*HOW TO TEACH documents what I've learned in reading, talking and thinking about methods and approaches to teaching poetry.
*These two sections are reinforced by intERRuptions of learning experiences (lesson plans and reflections).
*HOW TO WRITE outlines new methods and approaches to writing, as discovered through analyzing Bernstein's; it also serves to further justify my own decisions in how I approach my writing for this essay.
*And don't forget,the accompanying blog is a shared recollection of learning experiences encountered through our private reading. This blog will also be an opportunity for readers of this essay to share their responses, as an act of public wreading.

How to Write opens in a new window. It has 24 pages. Click next through all 24 pages, and the new window will close. (Two pages within How to Write are from the blog, and require your response: leave a comment.) Most other links will also open in a new window; close the new window to return to where you were reading. Some links, mostly referential (like endnotes), open in the same window; use the back button to return to what you were reading. If lost, use this checklist as a guide, or refer to your "hard copy."

WARNING: Javascript functions, mouse-overs & randomness used throughout. Don't be scared. This site contains (no) viruses. Feel free to download all attached pdfs.

Mimicry is the highest form of learning. If you can't go naked, wear their smock. Is that a sheep in wolves' sweaters? This has been a neccessary change of dress.

I apologize for the self-help tone. If not turned off, please help yourself to more.

note:
best read alongside (also read) "The Difficult Poem," Girly Man, “Frame Lock,” and "An Mosaic for Convergence."



Know your limits. Click for a full checklist of all pages to be accounted for.

The work generated by this project—the output—exceeds what can be shared in my own writing. We are left with excess & overflow..