Let There Be Revolution: The Destructive Creacionismo of Vicente Huidobro and Gertrude Stein
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Date
2003-04-09
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Abstract
Throughout their writings, both Vicente Huidobro and Gertrude Stein experimented with language, emphasized the connection between visual and literary arts, and helped to redefine the relationship between reader and writer. Both Stein and Huidobro lived in Paris in the first part of the twentieth century, and both writers worked and associated with the same people. Through their works, Stein and Huidobro challenged the boundaries of rational thought while suggesting that destruction is essential to the process of creation.
Huidobro's theory of Creacionismo asserts that the poet is a 'little God' and that he has the ability to create poetic realities that are distinct from, though parallel to, our own worldly reality. Although Stein never openly practiced Huidobro's artistic theory, her works reflect Huidobro's in their attempts to create a new realm of communication that relies on nonsensical language to express meaning. This thesis examines Stein's nonsensical language, her relationship with her reader, her connection with visual art, and her tendency to use her writings to come to terms with her own identity. It also studies Huidobro's poetic creations, linguistic experimentations, and his anti-Christian writings in the context of his own spirituality and position in society. While focusing on their shared thematic interests, their distinct literary styles, and their tendencies to destroy while creating, this project explores the extent to which Huidobro's and Stein's geographical displacements influenced their experiments with the sounds, meaning, and communicative potential of language.
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Keywords
Stein, Huidobro, experimental language, Creacionismo
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Degree
MA
Discipline
English
