Who Are You What Are You Why?

Authors

  • Christopher Higgs
  • Caitlin Newcomer

Keywords:

Wittgenstein, poetry, questions, mashing

Abstract

The two of us created “Who Are You What Are You Why?†together, as an experiment predicated on Wittgenstein’s statement: “Do not forget that a poem, even though it is composed in the language of information, is not used in the language-game of giving information.†We began this experiment by separately composing a series of non-contiguous questions and then “mashing†them together to form a virtual dialogue that provides only questions, never answers. What are the effects of composing using recognizable language in unrecognizable configurations? Where is the demarcation between sense and nonsense? How can we form meaning from seeming meaninglessness? These are a few of the questions we hope to raise with this experiment.

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Issue

No. 2 (2009)

Section

In This Issue

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