Compositional+Meaning


 * Compositional Meaning** is meaning which does not rely on referential meaning, but rather creates new associations with words . All language to a certain extent is compositional in meaning, as words gain new meanings when combined with each other that have no referential source for us to relate to.

=Discussion=

While referential linguistics relies on the reader to create an association to the words and fill-in the blanks his/herself, compositional linguistics creates references within itself. Words used in a compositional text associate themselves with other words, thus creating new logic chains and gaining new meanings and definitions which the reader may not have a connection to originally. The reader must use acoustic, semantic, syntactic and various other linguistic dissection tools to uncover the compositional text's inner logic and meaning.

Compositional meaning can easily be paralleled to art forms other than literature. For example, the color scheme and shading in a painting, the chords and sequences of notes in a piece of music, or the movements of the body in a dance can all be considered to have compositional meaning. Each of these facets of art have no "meaning" in the conventional, referential sense, but are instead centered around the //experience// of the spectator. In regards to literature, Gertrude Stein's //Tender Buttons,// is an excellent example of compositional meaning at work; the "point" (for lack of a better word) is to induce a visceral and intellectual response in the reader.

=Writers & Works Associated=

F. T. Marinetti
 * Après la Marne

Hugo Ball
 * Karawane

Gertrude Stein
 * Tender Buttons

William Carlos Williams
 * The Red Wheelbarrow

Robert Grenier
 * Sentences

Rae Armantrout

= Examples of Compositional Meaning in Texts =



F.T. Marinetti
The dynamic structure of //Après la Marne// (right) combines words and other symbols together, forming something more akin to a painting, as the words and symbols are used to the same effect of colors. There are some understandable words, mostly in French (namely, //guerre// translating to //war//; or the fragmented //belle,//meaning beautiful) that you can read, but they interact with the other words and symbols in ways that do not correspond to the reader's previous experiences. Futurists, like Marinetti himself, often implement creative typography (i.e., compositional meaning) as they "believe the visual qualities of letters and words should be elements of a poem's meaning."

This piece centers around war, based from its title, which helps the reader further interpret the piece. Its chaotic presentation parallels the atrocities of war. Moreover, one can actually //see// a battle scene on the page: the M's may be mountains while the long S's are roads or rivers; the soldiers may be represented by the blocks of words, and the percussive artillery fire is seen as the recurring + and -.



Hugo Ball
All referential meaning is cast aside as we realize //Karawane// (left) is not written in any known language on the planet, though it may be inspired by some European language, potentially German. With no relation to the words, we have to interpret the poem's meaning by how it sounds and the experience of reading it. The font style and size is also different from line to line, which gives some insight on how to read the non-words and even what emotion is associated with each line. //Karawane// is not a poem that can be read to gain understanding, as the words on the page have no referential meaning to anyone, and must be interpreted the same way as a painting or a piece of music. Some personal interpretations of //Karawane// include: what a battle sounds like, a shell-shocked soldier trying to explain his experience in a battle, or even the movements of an elephant. The nature of //Karawane// and its multiple but still all plausible meanings makes it an indeterminate poem as well.

Gertrude Stein
//"The settling of stationing cleaning is one way not to shatter scatter and scattering. The one way to use custom is to use soap and silk for cleaning. The one way to see cotton is to have a design concentrating the illusion and the illustration."// by Gertrude Stein, //Tender Buttons//

In this tiny fragment of Stein's work, one can see there is no definite "meaning" to the words when applying the standard rules of syntax and semantics. Instead, the reader must pay close attention to the way the words interact with each other in a different sense, like, for example, sonic patterns, or the relationship of colors after truly ideated in the mind.

//"A rose is a rose is a rose is a rose."// by Gertrude Stein, //Sacred Emily//

Above is a very well-known example of Stein's use of compositional meaning. In the Law of Identity, A=A is a tautology; that is, it is and always will be true. A will always equal, or be the same as, A. Stein crumbles this concept, exclaiming each rose in the phrase is a different rose entirely, each one their own unique concept and idea. Stein is known to have explained this retort to the law of identity in a conference at Oxford. She notes early Romantic poetry might have used the word "rose" in reference to the actual plant--the constant metamorphosis of language and culture cannot retain that sole use of the word. "Rose" is an excellent example of varying meanings of words in that it can be used to refer to a flower, a color, or even a name.

William Carlos Williams
"so much depends upon

a red wheel barrow

glazed with rain water

beside the white chickens."

by William Carlos Williams

This very famous and seemingly simple poem by Williams is a great utilization of compositional meaning. The reader might first notice the unique line enjambment: three words followed by one word on the next line, repeating in each stanza. Not only does this convey a sort of "dipping" rhythm, not unlike that rhythm one using a wheelbarrow might feel, but the form itself actually takes on the shape of a wheel barrow. Another unique observation in regards to the poem's form, is the use of prepositional phrases. All but "a red wheel\barrow" is a prepositional phrase, that second stanza being the only true "unit of experience" able to stand alone. Through further pondering and analysis, one might question where the true "dependence" lies in this poem: the red wheel barrow, and by corollary the entire poem, does not mean anything without its surrounding prepositions.

=External Resources=

Audio recording of Karawane by Hugo Ball, read by Christian Bök A number of essays on "The Red Wheelbarrow" Robert Grenier's //Sentences,// digitally shuffled for your convenience

=References=

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