4 oct 2005

The reason I resent the oppressive presence of Dylan in the poetic community is that this is just thinly disguised self-hatred. Poets hate themselves for not being more famous, being more 'important to the culture,' and they fantasize about being an innovative songwriters with props, with pomp, with proximity to Jessica Lange for god's sake. Poets don't need Dylan and they don't need to flagellate themselves with wistful longing for his career. It's sentimental.

1 comentario:

TT dijo...

Ugh, isn't that another version of what Gary Sullivan was arguing against in Chris Daniels' piece on Kent's chapbook: it can't simply be a case of taste, but it's got to be some kind of self-defense/self-loathing.

If you don't like Kent's chapbook, it's because you see yourself as implicated. If you dig Dylan, it's because you want to be him and not yourself. Like the predetermined outcome of self-loathing + exposure to Dylan would = Dylan worship. Hatred and indifference to Dylan could be pinned under the same charge.