In-der-Blog-sein

Reading the Maps locates the poet Ted Jenner.

In the middle of one of his poems about the Scandinavian wilderness, Tomas Transtromer suddenly exclaims:

This is not Africa.
This is not Europe.
This is nowhere other than ‘here’.

Like Transtromer, Jenner is determined to make us see the particulars that our general theories and categories can hide. Ted’s attention to detail reflects the influence of the French ‘miniaturist’ poets Francis Ponge and Michael Deguy, as well as the philosophy of Martin Heidegger. Heidegger often notes that the normal, everyday world around us – ‘the given’, in his jargon – is usually something we take for granted, a sort of ‘equipment’ that we use to achieve our ends. In moments of crisis or inspiration, though, we can experience a ‘break in familiarity’ that suddenly makes us aware of the concreteness and sheer detail of the world that surrounds us.

As Talking Heads put it.

This is not my beautiful house!
And you may tell yourself.
This is not my beautiful wife!

Dis-en-owning.

At the end of another post, there's Ted Jenner's poem "Heidegger's Instep", used in a flyer.  ¶ 6:37 AM