Unconventional patterns in the experimental poetry of E. E. Cummings: A stylistic approach to punctuation marks

Abstract

For some time scholars have examined unconventional linguistic patterns in E. E. Cummings’ poetic style. Of all the aspects under consideration, it is grammar, lexis and morphology that have been most widely researched, while only a small number of studies have looked at graphology or, least of all, punctuation. This article is a contribution to the latter research field, and is aimed at developing a systematic approach to the use of punctuation marks in E. E. Cummings’ experimental poetry. I deal with two fundamental research questions: What foregrounding patterns are present in E. E. Cummings’ unorthodox use of punctuation marks, and what effects derive from his singular use of marks? Using 157 experimental poems as a corpus, I identify any instances of unconventional punctuation and classify the different devices that break with convention, determining the meaning implications (if any) that derive from these particular uses. An in-depth analysis of these poems reveals that there are three basic unconventional devices in Cummings’ use of punctuation marks (substitution, omission and insertion) and that these help Cummings to achieve a variety of purposes: emphasize certain elements within the poem, shift the tempo of the lines, create chaotic scenes, produce iconic effects, schematize any unit within the poem, omit letters and words, signal heteroglossia, indicate imperative voice, articulate the poem into different layers, create plays on words, and reproduce features of spoken language.

‘nearerandnearerandNEARER’: Foregrounding effects of the unconventional capitalization in the experimental poetry of E. E. Cummings

“…While Von Abele (1955: 916) claimed that, although unconventional capitalization sometimes emphasizes, "quite for no discoverable reason letters midway of words are honored", my close analysis leads to an opposite conclusion. As already suggested in previous approaches to the topic (Tartakovsky 2009;Gómez-Jiménez 2015;Gómez-Jiménez 2017), a close look at Cummings' poetry demonstrates that his unconventional use of capital letters can be analysed stylistically, and that both the foregrounding devices and their corresponding effects can be examined systematically.…”

Literary stylistics, authorial intention and the scientific study of literature: A critical overview

“… 4. The same might be said for a more recent study of the significance of unconventional punctuation in the poetry of E E Cummings. Gómez-Jiménez’s (2017) identification of patterns in the punctuation irregularities that some earlier critics had dismissed as the result of eccentricity or immaturity is certainly suggestive of a hitherto underappreciated creative intent. However, it remains an open question as to whether readers recognise and respond to the hypothesised foregrounding functions, and thus whether these punctuation irregularities do contribute significantly to the ‘pleasure’ (and thus to an appreciation of the literariness) of the text in the manner suggested by Gómez-Jiménez. …”