Poetry and the Other Arts a Masterclass with Philippe Beck
‘Poetry is here or there. Not everywhere./ It depends on a sortie.'
(Philippe Beck, Opéradiques, Flammarion, 2014)
In this masterclass we will address the relationship between poetry and the other arts. The following questions will be discussed:
– How does poetry approach the plurality of other arts?
– Through which formal explorations can poetry understand the reality of other arts and the conflicts not only between them but also within each one of them?
– Through which kinds of reconfigurations can the poem question the hierarchy of the arts?
– What spaces or new scenes open up to poetry as it confronts the other arts?
– What is at stake in poetry's encounter with the other arts, both in terms of its own existence and its ability to make a difference in the world and to the possibilities of sociability?
Philippe Beck is one of the most prolific and compelling contemporary poets in the French language. His poetry is both erudite and playful, grappling with its own formal questioning, through encounters with the other arts and engagement with a wealth of cultures and literary traditions, both European and non-European. His poems are ‘handshakes' inviting their readers to let themselves be guided towards the frontiers of literature and other fields of enquiry: history, philosophy, anthropology, musicology, the visual and sculptural arts…, etc.
Philippe Beck's poetic practice has won him numerous awards and it has been described as ‘complex, haunting, and profoundly literary' in The Guardian (2016). His work has been translated into English, German, Chinese, Korean, Dutch, and Flemish. He has himself translated Walter Benjamin, Samuel Taylor Coleridge, F.W. von Schelling and Karl Philipp Moritz.
His residency at St Andrews will be the chance for students and researchers to hear more about his latest publications, especially Ryrkaïpii (Flammarion, 2023) as well as forthcoming books: Documentaires and Abstraite et plaisantine (both with Le Bruit du temps, Autumn 2024).