Digital works are similar to concrete poetry on the following levels: they are works that operate conceptually with space, they explore the “verbivocovisual” qualities of the letter material, mostly work with few concentrated words or letters, focusing on reduced, minimalist and structural relationships between the linguistic elements, suppressing or reducing syntactic links in favor of an exploration of multiple dynamic structures.
A concern with space and the parameters of surface is arguably one of the major poetic features of concrete poetry. Values such as positions of the signifier material, relationships between the linguistic elements and their spatial interaction, and distance, density and exact arrangement of the letter material gain structural and semantic significance.
The German concrete poet Franz Mon advocates the creative exploitation of the spatial values of the page by saying that in concrete poetry, the functions of surface replace the functions of grammar and open up new possibilities, both for poetry and thought. The relationships between spatially arranged words are not fixed and unambiguously predetermined like the relations of words firmly arranged in syntactical hierarchies, but are open and flexible and subject to continual redefinition during the process of reception. The position of the textual elements on the page, the distance between them and the density of the textual field all acquire potential semantic significance, and serve as extensions of the conventional means of structuring a poem. They become an integral part of the semiotic set up, and introduce additional particles and tools of expression. The conceptual deployment of surface values thus constitutes a novel way of charging language with meaning, and allows for the expression of what cannot be expressed within the boundaries of existing grammatical frameworks.
A concern with space and the parameters of surface is arguably one of the major poetic features of concrete poetry. Values such as positions of the signifier material, relationships between the linguistic elements and their spatial interaction, and distance, density and exact arrangement of the letter material gain structural and semantic significance.
The German concrete poet Franz Mon advocates the creative exploitation of the spatial values of the page by saying that in concrete poetry, the functions of surface replace the functions of grammar and open up new possibilities, both for poetry and thought. The relationships between spatially arranged words are not fixed and unambiguously predetermined like the relations of words firmly arranged in syntactical hierarchies, but are open and flexible and subject to continual redefinition during the process of reception. The position of the textual elements on the page, the distance between them and the density of the textual field all acquire potential semantic significance, and serve as extensions of the conventional means of structuring a poem. They become an integral part of the semiotic set up, and introduce additional particles and tools of expression. The conceptual deployment of surface values thus constitutes a novel way of charging language with meaning, and allows for the expression of what cannot be expressed within the boundaries of existing grammatical frameworks.
