aisyalam

A few months ago I was teaching the first of two Digital Poetry courses I taught online last year when an odd request came in by email. The editor of a somewhat hipster music magazine, Scene Missing, wrote to me requesting that I send an anecdote that he could publish in his journal. Once I took a look at the zine, I realized he must have thought I was Chris Funk (which I’ve always been known as by friends) of the band The Decemberists (see his interview at Scene Missing, http://www.scenemissingmagazine.com/2004/12/interview-w-chris-funk-musician.html). I followed through on the invitation anyway, and sent him an anecdote from my world. Of course, it was never published until now:

Processing the Constitution through TRAVESTY:
Anecdotes from a Digital Poetry Classroom.

Just after Ronald Reagan was elected the literary critic Hugh Kenner and computer scientist Joseph O’Rourke collaborated to produce the computer program TRAVESTY, which was introduced to the public in a 1984 article that appeared in Byte magazine. In their exposition on the project, the author/programmers argue and support the thesis that the frequency with which combinations of letters appears in a text can be used to generate plausible randomized texts (which they call “pseudo-texts”) when the computer program mimics those frequencies. In brief, the program analyzes a text, identifies successive patterns of letters and spaces (known as “character groups”), and makes a “frequency table” for each character group in the source text of a document. The user of the program is prompted to set the amount of output desired, and to set the size of the pattern length (or Order number). The authors’ claim that random nonsense can preserve many “personal” characteristics of a source text is proven reasonable. Of course, since the program essentially creates nonsense out of the patterns of letters, it is highly unconventional in terms of the literary product it creates, and—despite the presence of an interactive webpage that emulates the program (see http://www.eskimo.com/~rstarr/poormfa/travesty.html) — it has largely been ignored or forgotten.

These days the ideals of the Constitution are not given but have instead become fodder for various forms of biased tug-of-war, and in which the interpretation of the language of the document are dubious, and too often create a gulf from their initial intent, so recently I randomly—almost thoughtlessly —took the Preamble and first article of the US Constitution and made the following "Order 8" Travesty (1000 character output), which in many ways portray the document for what it is at this historical moment:

(See Note 6) They shall issue Writs of Elections for Senators of the Consent of the Congress may at any time by Law make or alter such Reconsidered, and if approve he shall sign it, but if not he shall keep a Journal of its Proceedings, and from time to time published from any State on Imports or Exports, except what may be chosen. Clause 1: The Migration of the Government of Debts; pass any Bill shall be vested by this Constitution for their Service for a Term of Years, and been nine Years a Citizen of their respective Writings and Discoveries; Clause 3: Every Bill which shall have been encreased during the Obligation of the United States; but a smaller Number may adjourn from day to day, and may be absolutely necessary (except on a question shall be a Law, be presented to the Age of the Treasury of the United States; but the Senate may propose or concur with Amendments as on other Bills. Clause 3: No Person holding any Office under the United States is

While some may appreciate the condensation of thought in the passage, and be humored by the newly fangled phrases, “The Migration of the Government of Debts” and “No Person holding any Office under the United States is,” a really delightful and inventive shredding occurs in this “Order 3” Travesty:

(See Congresentates, and unifor thority of the House the Emolutive of the Jour Presidence in a Laws: but the according shall issue as may after, any The which Hous ority the Perselves of Limit of and by yeases, Rhode-Islations, anot each Majoriginators for as and othe Joursey of throul of each State, unting such Land Represpections publish Justion of Revisited it, shall nor likewises and and Commeding and Name; and at make Mility. Clause 5: The neces; If and House 4: Note, ex post numerit shall Law, accordings own first of the coin Oath Amented be nevenumeral Welfare shall who shall be nection. Clause 7) Clausetts Prefencess, during for withority, but the Ruless shall have have Proceed by Law. But the Least factors and Exports, in the shall, with he Congresent Day. Section. 10: The United by and puniforts, Impose 1: The Expirativel

This is my anecdote and poetic contributions of new language—made through TRAVESTY—to the culture at present…

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By the way, I’ve also had a great deal of fun processing Whitman’s “Song of Myself” through the program. TRAVESTY makes great neologisms, a concern central to two of my favorite digital poets, Huth and aND (ever seen the online version of the now nearly 20 year old project The Internalational Dictionary of Neologism?). The more text you put into TRAVESTY, in my perspective, the better the text is.

Later, one of my oddball students came to class on the first night wearing a t-shirt that said “I make stuff up.” Even though it wasn’t a digital poetry class, I knew he was in the right place…

More anecdotes tomorrow, CF