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Sonic Stagings of U.S. Postwar Audiopoetry
Practices, Configurations, and Contexts of Poetry on Sound Carriers (c. 1950sâ1980s)
Series: - DQR Studies in the Lyric, Volume: 67/2
- DQR Studies in Literature, Volume: 67/2
Author:
As the first study of its kind, this book explores the publication of poetry on sound carriers in the US postwar era from an aesthetic as well as an historical point of view. Combining approaches from media and literary studies, it explains why labels and individuals like Amiri Baraka, Bernadette Mayer, or John Giorno straddled the lines between music, poetry, and visual arts using audio recording and playing devices. It sheds light on the sonic imaginaries that commercial and avant-gardist recording projects sought to mobilize and sometimes also unwittingly reproduced in this context.
Ulla Stackmann is coordinator of the Research Training Group âPracticing Placeâ at the University Eichstätt-Ingolstadt. Her research interests include media theory and US poetry. She is the co-editor of Practicing and Placing Imaginaries: Interdisciplinary Perspectives, Conceptual Ideas, and Case Studies (2025). Ulla Stackmann is a scholar and translator. She has received her PhD from the Catholic University-Eichstätt Ingolstadt in American Studies. As a scholar, she has authored multiple articles investigating mid-century US literature, feminist approaches to literature, and the relationship between practice theory and literary studies. She is the co-editor of Practicing and Placing Imaginaries (transcript, 2025). Additionally, she has translated Laura Batesâ Men Who Hate Women into German (&Töchter, 2023).
Acknowledgments
Introduction: âLP Aided Poets,â Real Poetry, and Postwar High Fidelity
1 Recording Practices and the Sonic Imaginary of the Spoken Word
â1âPolitical Black Voices: The Black Forum
â2âSound Communities: Giorno Poetry Systems
â3âThe Education of the People: Spoken Arts, Caedmon, Folkways
2 Constructing and Practicing the Midcentury Poetry Reading
â1âThe Return of the Bard: Phonocentrism and the Poetry Reading
â2âThe Authorial Poetry Reading
3 Listening Practices and Sonic Remediations of Poetry
â1âPhonograph RealnessâAuthentication, Authorial Presence, and Immediacy
â2âAudiopoetry as Temporal and Spatial Constellation
â3âListening as Shared Practice
4 Recorded Book, Documented Performance, Audio Work
â1âThe Recorded Book and the Logic of the Transparent Reader
â2âMood Encapsulated: The Documented Performance
â3âPress Play: The Audio Work
5 (Counter-)Intimacies on Tape: Affects and Seductive Voices
â1âIntimacies of the Poetâs Voice
â2âWriters of the Revolution: Closeness, Intimacy and Authorship
â3âThe Erotics of John Giornoâs Audiopoetry
6 Communal Rituals: between National Address and New Self-Understandings
â1âCommunity, Nation, and Self-Understandings in Postwar Poetics
â2âNational Treasures and Collective Feeling
â3âItâs Nation Time: The Sounds of a Future Black Nation
â4âSpiritual Communities: The Subculture Speaks
7 Domestic Listening and the Politics of Sonic Homemaking
â1âScenes of Domestic Listening and Sonic Homemaking
â2âNational Time and Domestic Space
â3âDeconstructions of Homeliness in Audio Works
8 Into the Streets: the Poetics of Portability and Everyday Experience
â1âThe Cultural Meanings of Tape Recording and Mobile Mediation
â2âSonic Realism and Documentary Configurations in Bernadette Mayerâs Memory
â3âTape Realness and the Everyday Experience in Postwar Audiopoetry
9 âOpen the Lines to the Poets!â The Poetry Hotline as Poetic Network
â1âA Short History of Dial-a-Poem
â2âCommunity Outreach and Censorship
Epilogue: Remix! Poetic Networks, Digital Media, and Pop Culture
Works Cited
Introduction: âLP Aided Poets,â Real Poetry, and Postwar High Fidelity
Part 1: Staging Readings and Poetry Performances
1 Recording Practices and the Sonic Imaginary of the Spoken Word
â1âPolitical Black Voices: The Black Forum
â2âSound Communities: Giorno Poetry Systems
â3âThe Education of the People: Spoken Arts, Caedmon, Folkways
2 Constructing and Practicing the Midcentury Poetry Reading
â1âThe Return of the Bard: Phonocentrism and the Poetry Reading
â2âThe Authorial Poetry Reading
3 Listening Practices and Sonic Remediations of Poetry
â1âPhonograph RealnessâAuthentication, Authorial Presence, and Immediacy
â2âAudiopoetry as Temporal and Spatial Constellation
â3âListening as Shared Practice
Part 2: Medial Forms of Staging Audiopoetry
4 Recorded Book, Documented Performance, Audio Work
â1âThe Recorded Book and the Logic of the Transparent Reader
â2âMood Encapsulated: The Documented Performance
â3âPress Play: The Audio Work
5 (Counter-)Intimacies on Tape: Affects and Seductive Voices
â1âIntimacies of the Poetâs Voice
â2âWriters of the Revolution: Closeness, Intimacy and Authorship
â3âThe Erotics of John Giornoâs Audiopoetry
6 Communal Rituals: between National Address and New Self-Understandings
â1âCommunity, Nation, and Self-Understandings in Postwar Poetics
â2âNational Treasures and Collective Feeling
â3âItâs Nation Time: The Sounds of a Future Black Nation
â4âSpiritual Communities: The Subculture Speaks
Part 3: Staging Spatiality on Audiopoetry
7 Domestic Listening and the Politics of Sonic Homemaking
â1âScenes of Domestic Listening and Sonic Homemaking
â2âNational Time and Domestic Space
â3âDeconstructions of Homeliness in Audio Works
8 Into the Streets: the Poetics of Portability and Everyday Experience
â1âThe Cultural Meanings of Tape Recording and Mobile Mediation
â2âSonic Realism and Documentary Configurations in Bernadette Mayerâs Memory
â3âTape Realness and the Everyday Experience in Postwar Audiopoetry
9 âOpen the Lines to the Poets!â The Poetry Hotline as Poetic Network
â1âA Short History of Dial-a-Poem
â2âCommunity Outreach and Censorship
Epilogue: Remix! Poetic Networks, Digital Media, and Pop Culture
Works Cited
The potential readership of this book includes scholars from American Studies, Sound Studies, Literary Studies, Media History, and, generally, readers with an interest in postwar labels and recording industry.