I never heard the term "decreation" before reading your analysis. I did some research on the woman who coined the term, French philosopher Simone Weil, and found a biography of a really interesting woman. But I think her ideas of decreation(undoing the creature in us) differ slightly from the way you used it in your analysis. But I get the whole "deconstruct meaning to create something new" idea. I recently found out that this poem was one of Steven Kings favorite poems which I thought was pretty cool.And I have always thought "who the hell cares about an emperor of ice-cream, anyways." Now I see that this was a valid reaction to the poem, since you point out that the physical meaning bears no significance, and should be thrown out. But I suggest we throw out the emperor and keep the ice-cream.
Deconstruction is a tool that is evident is so many aspects of popular culture. There is the deconstruction of fashion food, music, ad infinitum. The purpose of deconstruction, as I grasp it, is to take the familiar, make it new & with a twist, and then for the new creation to subtly reminds folks of the original item. In deconstruction there is a sense of whimsy in the idea of recreation in order to reminisce on the original. These thoughts are the thoughts that flood my head when reading Stephan’s Topf’s “De-creating Ice Cream” a reader response and analysis of Wallace Steven’s The Emperor’s Ice-Cream. The idea of the death, ice-cream, and lost of a woman seem so disconnected, but my take on your explication and the poem understand it. All those things no matter how sweet, complicated, or solemn are fleeting. Death, lost, women, and ice-cream can all melt away before one can realize what they were how good they are. They all can cause gooey ravenous messes in our lives and in my mind we’re all for the better to get a bit sticky. Death and ice-cream makes me want to use a metaphor, Life is like an ice-cream cone in the hot sun. Enjoy it while you can before it’s a melted mess and you miss what you had. Terrance Duran-Olds
I never heard the term "decreation" before reading your analysis. I did some research on the woman who coined the term, French philosopher Simone Weil, and found a biography of a really interesting woman. But I think her ideas of decreation(undoing the creature in us) differ slightly from the way you used it in your analysis. But I get the whole "deconstruct meaning to create something new" idea.
ReplyDeleteI recently found out that this poem was one of Steven Kings favorite poems which I thought was pretty cool.And I have always thought "who the hell cares about an emperor of ice-cream, anyways." Now I see that this was a valid reaction to the poem, since you point out that the physical meaning bears no significance, and should be thrown out.
But I suggest we throw out the emperor and keep the ice-cream.
Deconstruction is a tool that is evident is so many aspects of popular culture. There is the deconstruction of fashion food, music, ad infinitum. The purpose of deconstruction, as I grasp it, is to take the familiar, make it new & with a twist, and then for the new creation to subtly reminds folks of the original item. In deconstruction there is a sense of whimsy in the idea of recreation in order to reminisce on the original. These thoughts are the thoughts that flood my head when reading Stephan’s Topf’s “De-creating Ice Cream” a reader response and analysis of Wallace Steven’s The Emperor’s Ice-Cream.
ReplyDeleteThe idea of the death, ice-cream, and lost of a woman seem so disconnected, but my take on your explication and the poem understand it. All those things no matter how sweet, complicated, or solemn are fleeting. Death, lost, women, and ice-cream can all melt away before one can realize what they were how good they are. They all can cause gooey ravenous messes in our lives and in my mind we’re all for the better to get a bit sticky.
Death and ice-cream makes me want to use a metaphor, Life is like an ice-cream cone in the hot sun. Enjoy it while you can before it’s a melted mess and you miss what you had.
Terrance Duran-Olds