Hello Pals,
The most recent work we've been assigned in English 210 is My Life by Lyn Hejinian. It is an autobiographical work of prose that abstractly describes Hejinian's life. Described on the back cover of the book as "a poetic autobiography, a personal narrative, a woman's fiction, and an ongoing dialogue with the poet and her experience," My Life is certainly a work derived from numerous areas of inspiration, and resistant of categorization. While I was reading, categorization was a problem I encountered that hindered my experience. Even though I soon knew My Life isn't a traditional autobiography, I found myself wishing it were. Possibly stemming from a semester of intense examination of densely written poetry, I was unable to move from accepting the untraditional structure to piecing together a greater meaning brought about by what I saw as unrelated groupings of sentences.
While I had trouble finding a greater meaning in the book, I did enjoy some sections, and was amused by some of the phrases Hejinian had to offer. It took me awhile to catch on to the repetition of particular lines, but after a certain point I started underlining certain phrases that stuck out to me for whatever reason. A line I particularly enjoyed came in the section, "Why would anyone find astrology interesting when it is possible to learn about astronomy." This sentence is preceded by "He broke the radio silence," and followed with "What one passes in the Plymouth." I couldn't piece together a meaning between those three lines, but the science-centric part of my brain was tickled by the middle line. I'd agree that I would be unable to find satisfaction in an area of study if I felt there was another field that more truthfully represented life. Maybe Hejinian feels My Life is a more truthful depiction of life because it flows in a manner similar to thought structure. While I think there is some merit to a work that attempts to more closely reflect human life through an organic structure, I think form is a device that has been developed to do just that. Form is an organizational tool that helps put thoughts onto page.
My thoughts are often scattered and similar to the style of My Life,
but that's why they are thoughts and I can't get
away with putting them straight onto a page.
That'd be weird. And disjointed.
But maybe there is truth in that.
No. There isn't.
Maybe.
The train bustles outside and clouds my head, the phone decides the train needs more help, and it does the same.
Because she so defiantly abstains from a traditional narrative organization in her autobiography, it must be assumed that Hejinian doesn't wish to share the same information a traditional autobiography would. She may hope to convey sort of historical background on her life, but if that were all she wished to explain to the reader, she would have simply written a traditional autobiography. Her short and often apparently unlinked sentences work more as a commentary on language rather than a presenting of facts about her life. I am becoming more interested in how language is affected by form, and so for that I think this book is beneficial. Explorations into language and form often have unanticipated results. I enjoyed the line "A man is tall, a mountain is high, the sky's the limit." It pointed out some simple differences between words, and I enjoyed that.
I agree with the benefits of languae venturing this book has to offer. the astronomy comment was also one that caught my eye and made me smile. it seems to me to say what part does the mystic have in the science based world? i can imagine her rining in the car stating out the window, her dad commenting on the day past after only the radio had been creating sound for awhile.
ReplyDeletethank's for the creative form in the middle of your post to make a post-- it helped connect the idea that both kyn and waldrep deal with thought formation.
keep writing this awesome view points!
John, you wrote: Her short and often apparently unlinked sentences work more as a commentary on language rather than a presenting of facts about her life.
ReplyDeleteYes!
Unfortunately you weren't at our class discussion of this text, but I talked a bit about how she wants to call attention to the conventions of reading that we "expect" will create a "coherent self" when we read an autobiography or memoir. In her book, the fiction of the self is exposed and explored. A side effect is that the reader has to engage with the text more actively--from creating a strategy of reading, as you have done, to thinking about their own life in a new way.
I also loved the part where Hejinian says "Why would anyone find astrology interesting when it is possible to learn about astronomy." As a fellow science major, I love that she chose the "scientific" subject over the "artsy" one - it definitely caught me off guard! Of course, I'm assuming that she's in fact the speaker in that sentence... she could be repeating a quote that someone else said.
ReplyDeleteI think most of us felt like this about My Life (but maybe I'm assuming too much). Anyway, I know I did, for the most part. It was hard to get into, and my mind kept protesting just accepting the disjointed sentences. I wanted to make sense of them but couldn't really do it. At the same time, however, there was beautiful meaning in individual sentences that really rang true with me. I agree with all the lines you took from My Life as being particularly interesting and beautiful. Good commentary.
ReplyDeleteI really appreciated that My Life was not written as a traditional autobiography would be. Well-organized prose and informational, chronological biographies are, in fact, easier to comprehend. But I think this is because we have collectively decided things ought to be done a certain way, and therefor we are prepared to read books in a that way. I'm not convinced that it should be the only way, or is even the best way, to write. Reading poetry requires a different kind of muscle in our brains that, I think, is more connected with our hearts and the way we feel. I love that Hejinian calls for us to use that muscle when reading her book. I say, forget about form as an "organizational tool" for a little and enjoy her words!
ReplyDelete