Informationist poetry
Encyclopedia
Informationist poetry was a literary movement of the 1990s in Scotland
. The poets usually associated with this movement are: Richard Price
– who coined the term in 1991 in the magazine Interference – Robert Crawford, W. N. Herbert
, David Kinloch, Peter McCarey and Alan Riach.
The anthology Contraflow on the SuperHighway (Southfields, 1994), edited by Price and Herbert, set the parameters for the movement; Vennel Press published collections by the Informationists; and the magazines Verse, Gairfish and Southfields addressed Informationist concerns.
One of the features of Informationist poetry is its engagement with and deliberate mixing of different linguistic registers, and the interrogation of language's power-bearing qualities in the process. Informationism can be seen as a descendant of Oulipo
for its creative use of rules-based procedures, notably in the work of Peter McCarey's monumental Syllabary project, which attempts a poem for every spoken syllable in the English language, randomising the presentation on its dedicated website.
Informationism can also be fruitfully grouped with the later flarf movement as both explore technological innovation, jargons of various kinds and the interconnectedness of the "information society" in an often irreverent and perhaps subversive mode. The twentieth century poets Hugh MacDiarmid
and Edwin Morgan
were particularly influential on the Informationists.
Scotland
Scotland is a country that is part of the United Kingdom. Occupying the northern third of the island of Great Britain, it shares a border with England to the south and is bounded by the North Sea to the east, the Atlantic Ocean to the north and west, and the North Channel and Irish Sea to the...
. The poets usually associated with this movement are: Richard Price
Richard Price (poet)
Richard Price is a contemporary Scottish poet, novelist, and translator. -Life:He grew up in Renfrewshire.He studied at Napier College, in journalism, and graduated the University of Strathclyde in English and Librarianship, with a joint first.He earned a PhD at University of...
– who coined the term in 1991 in the magazine Interference – Robert Crawford, W. N. Herbert
W. N. Herbert
W. N. Herbert, also known as Bill Herbert is a poet from Dundee, Scotland. He writes in both English and Scots. He and Richard Price founded the poetry magazine Gairfish. Educated at Brasenose College he currently teaches at Newcastle University...
, David Kinloch, Peter McCarey and Alan Riach.
The anthology Contraflow on the SuperHighway (Southfields, 1994), edited by Price and Herbert, set the parameters for the movement; Vennel Press published collections by the Informationists; and the magazines Verse, Gairfish and Southfields addressed Informationist concerns.
One of the features of Informationist poetry is its engagement with and deliberate mixing of different linguistic registers, and the interrogation of language's power-bearing qualities in the process. Informationism can be seen as a descendant of Oulipo
Oulipo
Oulipo is a loose gathering of French-speaking writers and mathematicians which seeks to create works using constrained writing techniques. It was founded in 1960 by Raymond Queneau and François Le Lionnais...
for its creative use of rules-based procedures, notably in the work of Peter McCarey's monumental Syllabary project, which attempts a poem for every spoken syllable in the English language, randomising the presentation on its dedicated website.
Informationism can also be fruitfully grouped with the later flarf movement as both explore technological innovation, jargons of various kinds and the interconnectedness of the "information society" in an often irreverent and perhaps subversive mode. The twentieth century poets Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid
Hugh MacDiarmid is the pen name of Christopher Murray Grieve , a significant Scottish poet of the 20th century. He was instrumental in creating a Scottish version of modernism and was a leading light in the Scottish Renaissance of the 20th century...
and Edwin Morgan
Edwin Morgan
Edwin George Morgan was a Scottish poet and translator who was associated with the Scottish Renaissance. He is widely recognised as one of the foremost Scottish poets of the 20th century. In 1999, Morgan was made the first Glasgow Poet Laureate...
were particularly influential on the Informationists.