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The Book AsMain MenuA Repository of InformationA PerformanceA JourneyJessie CarterA Conceptual Playground for Choice(sagesolar, 2014, “The king of hearts”)A Medium for Universal LanguageA Phenomenal ReadingA Relationship Between Recto and VersoA Vision of the FutureA Repository of LanguageKate Aberman74d96e55dd29b74bef0e0a20c2d79e879fab26ccEmmie Banksd3c00922e17d33400599c8143d1d353f7d36ea7aJessie Cartera6f04f02805133baaf416ab9fcd9a4a2b857b080Deanna Fayed2f0ded76fb9215a15ea7a11b638a892a604843bfGabby Huberta3f266b029aa2bada1c10fd4a31317d37a1bec9dKatherine King6125a92332113f4973e618b8e428aac70a6ed790Carol Leea596a4440954bb8282b044cb431f3d2b8a9a8e75Sarah Richmanbeb66f0b62cd0c55d75ac46cfcf447f52ffe6aa8Matthew Winz5800f51dc1a62f1d2397973f41e4b16a521351b3whitney trettienf2bbb7126b60dc1bee07050dccbd9d30f12d7b2b
Rereading Un Coup de Des
12016-12-05T16:01:53-08:00Kate Aberman74d96e55dd29b74bef0e0a20c2d79e879fab26cc1355616gallery2016-12-12T06:44:06-08:00whitney trettienf2bbb7126b60dc1bee07050dccbd9d30f12d7b2bStephaneMallarme was a huge proponent of the mobility of the letter in combination with the reader to make the book become a spiritualobject. For further reading on Mallarme’s belief in the spiritual instrument both his own work “About the book” and Johanna Drucker’s The Century of Artists’ Booksare excellent selections.
To quote Mallarme: “[Our consciousness] joins the book now here, now there, varies its melodies, guesses its riddles, and even re-creates it unaided” (Drucker p. 36). When looking at his work Un coup de des it’s clear that Mallarme aids the reader by providing a landscape rich in visual choices. Both shape and font link ideas and provide visual meaning to his poem.
Look first thing at his choice in fonts; they each carry across the pages to create isolated phrases of similar text. The presentation of the page compels us to consider the text as a whole, but changes in font help focus on specific ideas. On page 7 in the top right corner, the imagery of a “solitary distraught feather” is immediately established with the smaller font in relation to the previous page. As well the italics give a feeling of drifting – much different than the straight text of “memorable crisis” on page 10. Further, on page 8 the collection of words linked by font share the same theme – “evaporated in mists”, “ a delicate tenebrous stature”, “in its siren twists”, all similarly floating along the page in italics.
Shape and font interplay in multiple ways as well. Consider how font can change the shape of the reading as well. First compare the step-like shape on page 6 with that on page 3. The italics change the fluidity of the reading, causing the text to visually roll off the tongue. This is a very different feeling from the abrupt steps of “blanched”, “unbound” and “furious”. How would it feel if it were switched
Blanched enrolled with irony Unbound or Furious the mystery
The other effect font has is recreating the shape by seemingly making unrelated text invisible. For example on page 9 in the top right quadrant there are at least 3 obvious readings. With two fonts the lines can be separated or read together. “THE NUMBER WERE IT TO EXIST WERE IT TO BEGIN AND END WERE IT TO BE COUNTED WERE IT TO ILLUMINATE” or “other than as a scattered hallucination of dying rising only to be denied and closed off when revealed at last by some thinly spread profusion evidence of the sum however small” or read both together
This change in reading creates multiple narratives without changing the physical order of words on the page. More, it allows for reader input to create each of these new stories. Even independent of font, the shape of the reading changes the meaning based on the path the reader chooses. For English readers (and French) we are pulled left to right and top to bottom on the page. The primary way Mallarme has broken our expectations is by breaking the barrier the gutter creates. With the option then to follow the traditional reading down the verso side then recto, or to cross the gutter, the reader is faced by yet another narrative-deciding choice. Marcel Broodthaer's work is a excellent abstraction of the shape of the poem, and can be used to visualize the layout's affect.
Overall, Un coup de des creates multiple narrative paths that weave meaning fluidly together, inseparable if the reader so chooses, but also with distinct themes when isolated.
Lets contrast the fluidity of this reading with the distinct crossovers of Joanna Drucker’s History of the/my wor(l)d
For another reading on Un coup de des check out this page.
