Draft: The Impact of Erasure
Erasure
“Every something is an echo of nothing” John Cage
Although the specific subgenre of erasure poetry is relatively new, it can be argued that all poetry is a form of erasure (Macdonald). After all what truly survives of art “inevitably ends up as artifact” (Macdonald). The artifact which poems become will be shaped and interpreted based upon the conventions and beliefs of a specific time period. For example, “White Man’s Burden” by Rudyard Kipling was originally written for Queen Victoria’s Diamond Jubilee but now is infamous for its blatant imperialist sentiments.
In her essay, “On Erasure” Mary Reufle speaks opening about the genre of erasure. Erasure poetry is a form of writing in which the author must choose to string together words on a specific page by removing some words and linking the remaining together (Reufle). Like other forms of poetry such as the sonnet, erasure poetry is bound by convention as well. There is a line between plagiarism and erasure, which, although not completely defined does exist within the conventions of the genre.
With text being used as the springboard for erasure it is important to note that often this text remains “to some extent, beyond reproof, sacred and inviolable (Macdonald). Although the text has been redressed, the opaque meaning still remains (Macdonald). According to Robert Lee Brewer, if less than 50% of the text is removed, then the poem veers more into the realm of plagiarism and does not represent a new piece of artwork.
As a postmodernist form of poetry however, erasure is naturally focused around challenging genre conventions. Erasure poems emphasize the page not just the text as important for meaning. The use of the white space on the page in an erasure poem, analogous with what remains unsaid, is as important as the words that remain (Muller-Zettelmann and Rubik). The use of words and white space in erasure makes it a genre with implications towards a larger discussion of erasure.
Postmodernist erasure symbolizes the silencing of some voices and the privileging of others. This fear of being silenced has larger historical implications and taps into humans’ fear of the “threatened erasure of us all” (Muller-Zettelmann and Rubik). Therefore it is perhaps not surprising that erasure poems can be an activist form of poetry.
Etiquette Guides for Women
“For a lady to run across the street before a carriage is inelegant and dangerous.” Walter R. Houghton
Although perhaps the most famous female etiquette guide comes from Miss Emily Post, women’s conduct has been regulated for years through a list of arbitrary rules. These rules include suggestions such as: “A lady ought to adopt a modest and measured gait; too great hurry injures the grace which ought to characterize her,” “When tripping over the pavement, a lady should gracefully raise her dress a little above her ankle,” and “a lady should not say ‘my husband,’ except among intimates” (Thornwell). It is easy to laugh at these regulations of female conduct yet today many such etiquette guides still exist albeit thinly guised as books of advice for young women.
Many such of these advice books are geared towards young women on the brink of entering college. These books offer suggestions for picking classes, friends, boyfriends, and the right bowl of punch to drink from at a party. Although many, if not all, of the suggestions are meant with good intentions, the books often miss the mark. These modern etiquette guides operate as a form of erasure for women. For example, most of the books speak about relationships in college from a completely heteronormative perspective. This writing therefore privileges the voices of straight women and erases the voices of queer women at college. Instances like this are why I chose to use college etiquette books for erasure poetry.
Questions
- Should I make the essay more argument or more history or both?
- Do my assertions and arguments make sense within the essay?
- Should I reference my creative work within the body of my essay?
- Any other thoughts for expanding the critical essay/directions to take?
Works Cited
Brewer, Robert Lee. “Erasure and Blackout Poems: Poetic Forms | What Are They?” WritersDigest.com. Writer’s Digest, 20 Nov. 2014. Web. 10 Apr. 2016. <http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/erasure-and-blackout-poems-poetic-forms>.
Cooney, Brian C. “Nothing Is Left Out.” Journal of Modern Literature 37.3 (2014): 16-33. Project MUSE. Web. 07 Apr. 2016. <http://muse.jhu.edu/article/556563/pdf>.
“Good Manners for Young Ladies, 1859.” Good Manners for Young Ladies, 1859. Eyewitness to History, n.d. Web. 11 Apr. 2016. <http://www.eyewitnesstohistory.com/ladiesetiquette1859.htm>.
Macdonald, Travis. “A Brief History of Erasure Poetics.” Jacket 38. N.p., 2009. Web. 09 Apr. 2016. <http://www.writersdigest.com/whats-new/erasure-and-blackout-poems-poetic-forms>.
Müller-Zettelmann, Eva, and Margarete Rubik. Theory into Poetry: New Approaches to the Lyric. Amsterdam: Rodopi, 2005. Print.
Reuefle, Mary, and Fernando Pessoa. “On Erasure.” ON ERASURE (n.d.): n. pag. Web.
Sasaki, Frederick. From Snow City. 2011. N.p.
“On my honor I have neither given nor received unauthorized information regarding this work, I have followed and will continue to observe all regulations regarding it, and I am unaware of any violation of the Honor Code by others.” Katherine Grace Gomulkiewicz
Hi Katie!
I love your idea of relating erasure and etiquette guides for women in the way they silence populations (queer vs. heteronormative women)!
You clearly explain how erasure and women’s guides are related in the way they silence/privilege various groups, but without your creative component, I don’t see what insight you are getting from doing an erasure on a women’s etiquette guide. Are you making a poem about your argument from the words of the etiquette guide? By whiting out the guide, are you removing the words of the heteronormative woman? Who’s voices are left? Maybe you could annotate the etiquette guide to expose the voices that are unheard? Or do a combination of both white out and annotation?
Either way, I think it would make your argument (or historical analysis) stronger by referencing your creative component throughout the essay.
Great job so far, can’t wait to hear more about it in class tomorrow!
Hi Katie!
One thing that I think your project could really benefit from is some form of introduction before you go into the critical component section. I think this would help the reader follow what you are doing/ what the goal of your project is. For example, I was really confused as to what you were doing when I first began reading your post! I did not see the connection from erasure to women’s etiquette coming, so I think an introductory section where you introduce the reader to what you plan on arguing, what you did, and how you plan on convincing them could be extremely helpful for clarity.
I do believe that most of your arguments and assertions make sense. However, I think you should expand your section on erasure as an artifact. I read that paragraph 3 times and still am having trouble understanding what it means. I also think that if you can emphasize your thesis and relate all of your assertions back to that it would greatly strengthen your post.
To answer your final question, I think that you should reference your creative work in your essay. What did you learn by doing your creative work? What do you think your creative work proves? At least one image and explanation of your creative work in this way could really boost your strong arguments.
Hey Katie,
I think going forward, you’ve covered enough of the history of erasure for your reader to understand what it is and who might be making use of the genre. I’m really much more interested in the argument you’re making about privileging and erasing different voices–particularly women’s voices in the context of an advice book to college girls. I also agree with Summer that you should discuss your discoveries in doing your own erasure in your critical component. That means the two sections definitely have to unfold together, which is a bit more complicated than having them separate, but I think it will be a more powerful project overall.
In particular, I’m really interested in what you discover about erasure when you’re literally erasing a book that figuratively erases certain identities. What effect will it have? Do the figuratively erased voices come through with the literal erasure? How do we further complicate things with these textual and behavioral edits? There’s a lot of layering happening in this project, I think, and I would love to read about what significance you tease out of it all. Nice work so far!
Hi Katie,
You really seem to have a clear idea of the ideas you’re presenting and it all looks great so far! I know during our last workshop I talked about adding more history but honestly after reading this draft, I would say maybe go more argumentative. It seems like you have some great facts and sources that are all saying something but you might need to kick that something fully into position. I don’t think that adding references to your creative work would detract from this argument but it would really just depend on how you weave it. I could definitely see your work aiding you in connecting erasure poetry with activism, or other such political statements. Your arguments and assertions that you’ve made so far read coherently to me and, more than that, they’re actually really interesting to me. You’ve really pushed quite deep into the art forms you’re working with. Honestly, I think continuing your connections between erasure and activism and women’s etiquette guides even further in your full essay is the only expansion I would currently worry about. You seem to be in a very good position. Great job!