On typographic space, Ong dedicates a section in Orality and Literacy. He discusses the relationship between words, or more specifically type and the white space of paper – what artists call ‘negative space,’ meaning the space or shapes defined by what is leftover after a ‘real’ medium has carved out its shape. Ong makes reference to poetry by e.e.cummings:
"White space is so integral to cumming’s poem [Poem No. 276 (1968)] that it is utterly impossible to read the poem aloud. The sounds cued in by the letters have to be present in the imagination but their presence is not simply auditory: it interacts with the visually and kinesthetically perceived space around them." (Ong, 129)
Ong continues on the topic of concrete poetry claiming that it "climaxes in a certain way the interaction of sounded words and typographic space.” (Ong, 129) demonstrating an inter-sensory play that does not depend on or privilege a particular sense, but ‘via technology’ extends the senses.
"White space is so integral to cumming’s poem [Poem No. 276 (1968)] that it is utterly impossible to read the poem aloud. The sounds cued in by the letters have to be present in the imagination but their presence is not simply auditory: it interacts with the visually and kinesthetically perceived space around them." (Ong, 129)
Ong continues on the topic of concrete poetry claiming that it "climaxes in a certain way the interaction of sounded words and typographic space.” (Ong, 129) demonstrating an inter-sensory play that does not depend on or privilege a particular sense, but ‘via technology’ extends the senses.
