Eunoia (book)
Encyclopedia
Eunoia is the title of a set of univocalic
s by Canadian
poet Christian Bök
, which consists of chapters written using words limited to a single vowel
. The book was published in 2001 by Coach House Books
.
The title eunoia
, which literally means good thinking, is a medical term which refers to the state of normal mental health
, and is also the shortest word in the English language
which contains all five vowels.
In the book's main part, each chapter used just a single vowel, producing sentences such as this: "Hassan can, at a handclap, call a vassal at hand and ask that all staff plan a bacchanal".
The cover of the book features a chromatic representation of Arthur Rimbaud's sonnet "Voyelles" (Vowels) in which each vowel is assigned a particular colour, and consonants appear grey.
Published in Canada in 2001 by Coach House Books, the book won the 2002 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize
, and sold 20,000 copies.
Canongate Books
published a British edition in 2008. The book sold well in the U.K. making The Times
list of the year's top 10 books and becoming the top-selling book of poetry in Britain.
The author believes "his book proves that each vowel has its own personality, and demonstrates the flexibility of the English language."
", "E
", "I
", "O
" and "U
". In each of these chapters, the only vowel used is the same one as the title. For example, in Chapter A, the only vowel used is "A". There are other rules given to each of the chapters.
to use all five vowels. This section contains the following chapters.
Univocalic
A univocalic is a type of constrained writing that uses only one vowel-letter . It can thus be considered a lipogram, excluding the other four vowels....
s by Canadian
Canada
Canada is a North American country consisting of ten provinces and three territories. Located in the northern part of the continent, it extends from the Atlantic Ocean in the east to the Pacific Ocean in the west, and northward into the Arctic Ocean...
poet Christian Bök
Christian Bök
Christian Bök is an experimental Canadian poet. He is the author of Eunoia, which won the Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize, and which has been said to be "Canada's best-selling poetry book ever."-Life:...
, which consists of chapters written using words limited to a single vowel
Vowel
In phonetics, a vowel is a sound in spoken language, such as English ah! or oh! , pronounced with an open vocal tract so that there is no build-up of air pressure at any point above the glottis. This contrasts with consonants, such as English sh! , where there is a constriction or closure at some...
. The book was published in 2001 by Coach House Books
Coach House Books
Coach House Books is an independent Canadian publishing company located in Toronto, Ontario. Coach House publishes innovative and experimental poetry, fiction, drama and non-fiction. The press is particularly interested in writing that pushes at the boundaries of convention.-History:The company was...
.
The title eunoia
Eunoia
Eunoia is the shortest English word containing all five main vowel graphemes. It comes from the Greek word εὔνοια, meaning "well mind" or "beautiful thinking." It is also a rarely used medical term referring to a state of normal mental health....
, which literally means good thinking, is a medical term which refers to the state of normal mental health
Mental health
Mental health describes either a level of cognitive or emotional well-being or an absence of a mental disorder. From perspectives of the discipline of positive psychology or holism mental health may include an individual's ability to enjoy life and procure a balance between life activities and...
, and is also the shortest word in the English language
English language
English is a West Germanic language that arose in the Anglo-Saxon kingdoms of England and spread into what was to become south-east Scotland under the influence of the Anglian medieval kingdom of Northumbria...
which contains all five vowels.
In the book's main part, each chapter used just a single vowel, producing sentences such as this: "Hassan can, at a handclap, call a vassal at hand and ask that all staff plan a bacchanal".
The cover of the book features a chromatic representation of Arthur Rimbaud's sonnet "Voyelles" (Vowels) in which each vowel is assigned a particular colour, and consonants appear grey.
Published in Canada in 2001 by Coach House Books, the book won the 2002 Canadian Griffin Poetry Prize
Griffin Poetry Prize
The Griffin Poetry Prize is Canada's most generous poetry award. It was founded in 2000 by businessman and philanthropist Scott Griffin. The awards go to one Canadian and one international poet who writes in the English language....
, and sold 20,000 copies.
Canongate Books
Canongate Books
Canongate Books is a Scottish independent publishing firm based in Edinburgh; it is named for The Canongate, an area of the city. It is most recognised for publishing the Booker Prizewinner Life of Pi...
published a British edition in 2008. The book sold well in the U.K. making The Times
The Times
The Times is a British daily national newspaper, first published in London in 1785 under the title The Daily Universal Register . The Times and its sister paper The Sunday Times are published by Times Newspapers Limited, a subsidiary since 1981 of News International...
list of the year's top 10 books and becoming the top-selling book of poetry in Britain.
The author believes "his book proves that each vowel has its own personality, and demonstrates the flexibility of the English language."
Eunoia
The main section of the book consists of five chapters: "AA
A is the first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is similar to the Ancient Greek letter Alpha, from which it derives.- Origins :...
", "E
E
E is the fifth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet. It is the most commonly used letter in the Czech, Danish, Dutch, English, French, German, Hungarian, Latin, Norwegian, Spanish, and Swedish languages.-History:...
", "I
I
I is the ninth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:In Semitic, the letter may have originated in a hieroglyph for an arm that represented a voiced pharyngeal fricative in Egyptian, but was reassigned to by Semites, because their word for "arm" began with that sound...
", "O
O
O is the fifteenth letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.The letter was derived from the Semitic `Ayin , which represented a consonant, probably , the sound represented by the Arabic letter ع called `Ayn. This Semitic letter in its original form seems to have been inspired by a...
" and "U
U
U is the twenty-first letter and a vowel in the basic modern Latin alphabet.-History:The letter U ultimately comes from the Semitic letter Waw by way of the letter Y. See the letter Y for details....
". In each of these chapters, the only vowel used is the same one as the title. For example, in Chapter A, the only vowel used is "A". There are other rules given to each of the chapters.
- Each of the chapters must refer to the art of writing.
- Each of the chapters have "to describe a culinary banquet, a prurient debauch, a pastoral tableau and a nautical voyage."
- All the sentences have to have an "accent internal rhyme through the use of syntactical parallelism."
- The text has to include as many possible words in it as it can.
- The text must avoid repeating words as much as possible.
- The letter "YYY is the twenty-fifth letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet and represents either a vowel or a consonant in English.-Name:In Latin, Y was named Y Graeca "Greek Y". This was pronounced as I Graeca "Greek I", since Latin speakers had trouble pronouncing , which was not a native sound...
" is to be avoided.
Oiseau
"Oiseau", which means "bird", is the shortest word in the French languageFrench language
French is a Romance language spoken as a first language in France, the Romandy region in Switzerland, Wallonia and Brussels in Belgium, Monaco, the regions of Quebec and Acadia in Canada, and by various communities elsewhere. Second-language speakers of French are distributed throughout many parts...
to use all five vowels. This section contains the following chapters.
- "And Sometimes": A list of all the words in English which contain no vowels. Although the online version referred to (if complete) seems to omit at least one word.
- "Vowels": A series of poems in which all the words are anagramAnagramAn anagram is a type of word play, the result of rearranging the letters of a word or phrase to produce a new word or phrase, using all the original letters exactly once; e.g., orchestra = carthorse, A decimal point = I'm a dot in place, Tom Marvolo Riddle = I am Lord Voldemort. Someone who...
s of the words in the first line. - "Voile": A homophonicHomophony (writing)Homophony in a theory of writing systems is one of the forms of phonogram –meaning “different signs for the same value”, i.e...
version of "Voyelles" by Arthur RimbaudArthur RimbaudJean Nicolas Arthur Rimbaud was a French poet. Born in Charleville, Ardennes, he produced his best known works while still in his late teens—Victor Hugo described him at the time as "an infant Shakespeare"—and he gave up creative writing altogether before the age of 21. As part of the decadent...
. - "W": An elegyElegyIn literature, an elegy is a mournful, melancholic or plaintive poem, especially a funeral song or a lament for the dead.-History:The Greek term elegeia originally referred to any verse written in elegiac couplets and covering a wide range of subject matter, including epitaphs for tombs...
to the letter "WWW is the 23rd letter in the basic modern Latin alphabet.In other Germanic languages, including German, its pronunciation is similar or identical to that of English V...
", dedicated to Georges PerecGeorges PerecGeorges Perec was a French novelist, filmmaker, documentalist and essayist. He is a member of the Oulipo group...
. - "Emended Excess": A second poem which uses all the words containing just the letter "E" that were not used in Chapter E.
External links
- Eunoia online, the entire book - 2001 edition.
- Eunoia recordings, read by Steve Venright, at UbuWebUbuWebUbuWeb is a large web-based educational resource for avant-garde material available on the internet, founded in 1996 by poet Kenneth Goldsmith. It offers visual, concrete and sound poetry, expanding to include film and sound art mp3 archives.-Philosophy:...