#4 – Février / February 2022

Joan Retallack

POLITYS &/or SONNETS

63 enigmatic quatrains
21 stealth couplets

1.1


the last interview

a stranger in my own country

linguistics: why it matters

classics: why it matters

 

art: why it matters

wonder beyond belief

upheaval, the refugee trek through Europe

god is beautiful

 

state of emergency

I am not a brain

why the world does not exist

. . . or worse

 

formations of the unconscious

talking to a brick wall

 


1.2


the quantified self

on the names-of-the-father

thinking in cases

I know how many of you there are

 

the true life

our wound is not so recent

in praise of mathematics

in praise of theatre

 

black, the brilliance of a non-color

metamorphosis of the world

what is to be done

the new french philosophy

 

figures of history

jealousy

 


1.3


on love

the method of equality

the politics of literature

aesthetics and its discontents

 

what happened in the 20th century

the aesthetic imperative

saving beauty

selected exaggerations

 

what is power

the scent of time

rape and resistance

the expulsion of the other

 

human dignity

who is Charlie

 


1.4


the feminine subject

dispossession

the posthuman

are we all postracial yet

 

the future of whiteness

freedom to fail

an imaginary racism

the fanaticism of the apocalypse

 

a biography of ordinary man

general theory of victims

intellectuals and power 

the insurrection of the victim

 

why philosophize

classification struggles

 


1.5


clint eastwood’s america

spike lee’s america

alfred hitchcock’s america

steven spielberg’s america

 

martin scorsese’s america

foucault now

derrida now

rancière now

 

nancy now

xenofeminism

narcocapitlism

ascendency of finance

 

playstation dream world

persons and things

 


1.6


platform capitalism

infinite distraction

immaterialism

the radicality of love

 

symbolic misery

states of shock

automatic society

the lost spirit of capitalism

 

uncontrollable societies of disaffected individuals

what makes life worth living

the great accelerator

the futurism of the instant

 

the university of disaster

are filter bubbles real

 


1.7


kristeva

dream notes

abstracts and brief chronicles of the time

twists and turns in the heart’s antarctic

 

old women in bloom

the art of freedom

eve escapes

zero’s neighbor

 

philosophical introductions

five approaches to communicative reason

the future of whiteness

optical media

 

search engine society

a history of silence

 


2.1.1


manufacturing happy citizens, or

the last interview

white privilege, or

a stranger in my own country

 

what dogs can teach us about the good life, or

linguistics: why it matters

the lure of technocracy, or

classics: why it matters

 

love, power and knowledge, or

art: why it matters

lectures on negative dialectics, or

wonder beyond belief

 

the future of feminism, or

formations of the unconscious

 


2.1.2


what is the future, or

upheaval, the refugee trek through Europe

birth of the intellectuals, or

god is beautiful

 

the colours of our memories, or

state of emergency

impossible objects, or

I am not a brain

 

the happiness fantasy, or

why the world does not exist

strangers at our door, or

. . . or worse

 

presumed intimacy, or

talking to a brick wall

 


2.2.1


the crisis of expertise, or

the quantified self

merchants of culture, or

on the names-of-the-father

 

anxiety, or

thinking in cases

how to be a geek, or

I know how many of you there are

 

the ecology of attention, or

the true life

for a politics of the common good, or

our wound is not so recent

 

dialogues on power and space, or

figures of history

 


2.2.2


The digital condition, or

in praise of mathematics

networks of outrage and hope, or

in praise of theatre

 

social semiotics for a complex world, or

black, the brilliance of a non-color

social media abyss, or

metamorphosis of the world

 

the new boss, or

what is to be done

distant love, or

the new french philosophy

 

babel, or

jealousy

 


2.3.1


facing gaia, or

on love

rejoicing, or

the method of equality

 

should schools be colorblind, or

the politics of literature

resonance, or

aesthetics and its discontents

 

the communication manifesto, or

what happened in the 20th century

the night cleaner, or

the aesthetic imperative

 

the end, or

human dignity

 


2.3.2


theodor w. adorno : letters to his parents, or

saving beauty

future metaphysics, or

selected exaggerations

 

modernity and ambivalence, or

what is power

being modern in china, or

the scent of time

 

nature, or

rape and resistance

managing like a man, or

the expulsion of the other

 

plebeian prose, or

who is charlie

 


2.4.1


baudrillard now, or

the feminine subject

the great accelerator, or

dispossession

 

the futurism of the instant, or

the posthuman

kittler now, or

are we all postracial yet

 

modernity and whiteness, or

the future of whiteness

left and right, or

freedom to fail

 

popular music and society, or

why philosophize

 


2.4.2


seduction, or

an imaginary racism

reality tv, or

the fanaticism of the apocalypse

 

postmetaphysical thinking II, or

a biography of ordinary man

the spirit of revolution, or

general theory of victims

 

awareness of what is missing, or

intellectuals and power

narrative power, or

the insurrection of the victim

 

resolutely black, or

classification struggles

 


2.5.1


going viral, or

clint eastwood’s america

sharing, or

spike lee’s america

 

privacy, or

alfred hitchcock’s america

social media abyss, or

steven spielberg’s america

 

why does patriarchy persist, or

martin scorsese’s america

gender, or

foucault now

 

the mood of the world, or

playstation dream world

 


2.5.2


seduction, or

derrida now

paparazzi, or

rancière now

 

speculative realism, or

nancy now

trauma, or

xenofeminism

 

politics of affect, or

narcocapitlism

society of fear, or

ascendency of finance

 

the drama of social life, or

persons and things

 


2.6.1


the mediated construction of reality, or

platform capitalism

cosmopolitanism and culture, or

infinite distraction

 

speculative reason, or

immaterialism

the age of disruption, or

the radicality of love

 

the telemachus complex, or

symbolic misery

along the trenches, or

states of shock

 

internal colonization, or

the university of disaster

 


2.6.2


the media education manifesto, or

automatic society

the most subline hysteric, or

the lost spirit of capitalism

 

mysteries and conspiracies, or

uncontrollable societies of disaffected individuals

demanding the impossible, or

what makes life worth living

 

confrontation, or

the great accelerator

the tragedy of property, or

the futurism of the instant

 

crimes unspoken, or

are filter bubbles real

 


2.7.1


the invention of celebrity, or

kristeva

believe and destroy, or

dream notes

 

white magic, or

abstracts and brief chronicles of the time

the power of images, or

twists and turns in the heart’s antarctic

 

pornography, or

old women in bloom

radical innovators, or

the art of freedom

 

death shall be dethroned, or

search engine society

 


2.7.2


ordinary organizations, or

eve escapes

after the internet, or

zero’s neighbor

 

youtube, or

philosophical introductions

from the factory of the metropolis, or

five approaches to communicative reason

 

diary of an escape, or

the future of whiteness

african american theater, or

optical media

 

so close, or

a history of silence

 

 

Derived from Polity Books Catalogues, 2018 -2021;
New and Recent Titles.
Three poems from Part 1
were originally podcast in slightly different
format on
Poem-a-Day
, 8.30.21, by the Academy of American
Poets,
curated by Kazim Ali.