[Reader-list] Hypertextual Poetry: A Study of MSN Poetry Communities

[Keith Hart]

Dear Nitoo/River,

I would like to thank you for your jewel of a first post.

First I would like to know more about your choice of nom de (virtual) 
plume. It reminded me of Heraclitus and of Robert Musil who said, I 
think, that the river of life carries its own banks with it.

I also thought of that old reactionary Tom Eliot who wrote a lot about 
poetry, culture and tradition. He said, I think, that the great poet is 
someone who immerses himself (he would say himself) in his tradition and 
then writes the poem that is necessary to move it along. Could this 
idea, however inappropriate, apply to the world of Hypertextual Poetry? 
Indeed what is the relevance of the idea of tradition in this context?

I am reminded of Vico who believed that he had invented a new way of 
thinking, but died before anybody important read and appreciated what he 
wrote. He imagined that societies were called into being by great poets 
like Homer, Virgil, Dante and Shaespeare. Who will be the great poet of 
the internet age and where will s/he come from, what media will s/he 
use? The historical conditions are perfect -- world society formed for 
the first time, new means of communication ushered in by the digital 
revolution.

I look forward to reports from your ethnography of a new kind of mass 
poetry, but I wonder if judging the social and cultural significance of 
some of this poetry is an issue for you. I am sorry to be eliptical, 
but  I don't say directly what I like about your piece for fear of 
appearing to be patronising or worse.

Keith