ASEMIC: The Art of Writing
By Peter Schwenger
By Peter Schwenger
University of Minnesota Press | 192 pages | December 2019
ISBN 978-1-5179-0697-9 | paper | $25.00
ISBN 978-1-5179-0696-2 |
In
recent years, asemic writing—writing without language—has exploded in
popularity, with anthologies, a large-scale art exhibition, and
flourishing interest on sites like tumblr, YouTube, Pinterest, and
Instagram. Asemic is the first critical study of this fascinating
field, proposing new ways of rethinking the nature of writing and
exploring how asemic writing has evolved and gained importance today.
ABOUT THE AUTHOR:
Peter Schwenger is resident
fellow at the University of Western Ontario’s Centre for the Study of
Theory and Criticism. He is the author of several books, including The Tears of Things: Melancholy and Physical Objects and At the Borders of Sleep: On Liminal Literature (both from Minnesota).
PRAISE FOR ASEMIC:
"How
does the noncommunicative communicate? This is the seemingly innocent
question Peter Schwenger unpacks. At once storehouse and treatise, Asemic has
the clarity of a dictionary entry, its sagacity delivered with
deceptive ease, revealing a domain vaster than anyone would have
thought: a Copernican marvel." —Jed Rasula, author of History of a Shiver: The Sublime Impudence of Modernism
"Asemic is
a long-overdue study of poetries that occupy liminal spaces between
art, like Cy Twombly's paintings, and recognizable words, like Henri
Michaux's poetry. Peter Schwenger offers an extended theory and an
introductory survey of contemporary asemic writing by Michael Jacobson,
Rosaire Appel, Christopher Skinner, and others. From this book one can
learn to read and, by extension, teach asemiological texts." —Craig Saper, co-editor of Readies for Bob Brown's Machine
"This
is the first full-length exploration of the history and meaning
of asemic writing. Important figures such as Michaux, Twombly, Barthes,
Jim Leftwich, and Rosaire Appel are included, as well as examples from
Chinese culture. Well-chosen illustrations accompany Peter Schwenger's
insightful text. This book is a solid first map of a territory
previously unknown to academic study." —Tim Gaze, publisher of Asemic magazine
For more information, including the table of contents, visit the book's webpage:
Asemic The Art Of Writing is also available at Amazon: https://www.amazon.com/dp/1517906970/?coliid=I39Q0KY70LAZWR&colid=RCOJWWCHZFSL&psc=1&ref_=lv_ov_lig_dp_it
