[a:o] › the riddle of understanding beyond the semantic language
the riddle of understanding beyond the semantic language
author:
denisa mirena piscu, university bucarest, 2009
the poem "wosisog", created in 1985, is a voice-voice-chorus poem using asemantic language - not really meaningful, but still containing some plays on (fragments of) words; in this sense the title is a mixture of semantic fragments which can be read as “what i said?” technically, the poem was recorded on a four-track cassette – its composition started with one voice on one track, a second voice was added on a second track and, later on, the chorus was also introduced. the composition is very structured, in quite a classical manner, based on the repetition of the same principle, in a crescendo. the first phrase is repeated with a slight variation, the third phrase applies the same principle, with another variation, and so on; in between the five sections of the poem, the disguised rhetorical question “wosisog” runs like a refrain. it is interesting to notice where this variation comes from: ide is playing on words creating verbs (which he pretends to be conjugating, in the context) from nouns which don’t even exist as such: "huach-huachln, bod-bodn, gluppn-glopfn" etc. he pretends to be meaningful, while assuming he is not so. the main point in this poem is the intonation. the rhythm of the poem creates a very viennese melody; the language that the artist drew on is the popular austrian language, the speakers of which could probably understand some of the lines as: "what a plague / every day / what i say". the name of hitler also occurs at one time.
for a non-speaker of austrian or german, on the other hand, who doesn’t have access to the (partly) semantic language, the poem is suggestive due to the very discrepancy between the serious tone of the voice and the meaningless sentences it utters. it is as if someone was pretending to give a speech, or deliver a lecture, or simply tell a story, in a language that he is aware his listeners don’t have access to. but his rhetoric skills prevail over the content of the message: he makes all the necessary brakes, he has a very rhythmical speech; when he enumerates various things, towards the end of each of the five sections, he tells it in one breath; and not only this, but he is supported by the chorus at once. so, by taking himself seriously, he is able to convince the public of his truth. the line wosisog is repeated like a riddle used in order to test the ability of the audience to go deeper into the deconstructed semantics of the poem.
there is an obvious irony in wosisog, coming from both the intonation and the presence of the chorus, specific to the greek tragedies (with its role of questioning and answering); in this context, the chorus is only imitating the meaningless speech of the main character, emphasizing the absurd situation and playing the role of a speaking trumpet for him. the later also reminds of a harlequin from commedia dell’ arte, asking serious questions in a seemingly mock circumstance.
ide hintze is not really concerned with the different approaches that an austrian and a foreigner could have towards this poem, for example. he says it was basically composed for listeners of all languages, and the inhabitants of vienna will be able to have another dimension as well. but he is glad to be able to use language as the old egyptian priests, who were sending different messages to different social categories, at the same time, using the same wording. “because our usage of language is never one-dimensional, so, as poets, we can work with that”.
(denisa mirena piscu, literary theorist, on ide's poem "wosisog", from the album "30 rufe" ("30 callings"), master thesis on "sound poetry - three sound poets trying to escape the abusive domination of word: henri chopin, sainkho namtchylak, christian ide hintze", written in english language. university of bucarest, rumania, february 2009)
the poem "wosisog", created in 1985, is a voice-voice-chorus poem using asemantic language - not really meaningful, but still containing some plays on (fragments of) words; in this sense the title is a mixture of semantic fragments which can be read as “what i said?” technically, the poem was recorded on a four-track cassette – its composition started with one voice on one track, a second voice was added on a second track and, later on, the chorus was also introduced. the composition is very structured, in quite a classical manner, based on the repetition of the same principle, in a crescendo. the first phrase is repeated with a slight variation, the third phrase applies the same principle, with another variation, and so on; in between the five sections of the poem, the disguised rhetorical question “wosisog” runs like a refrain. it is interesting to notice where this variation comes from: ide is playing on words creating verbs (which he pretends to be conjugating, in the context) from nouns which don’t even exist as such: "huach-huachln, bod-bodn, gluppn-glopfn" etc. he pretends to be meaningful, while assuming he is not so.
the main point in this poem is the intonation. the rhythm of the poem creates a very viennese melody; the language that the artist drew on is the popular austrian language, the speakers of which could probably understand some of the lines as: "what a plague / every day / what i say". the name of hitler also occurs at one time.
for a non-speaker of austrian or german, on the other hand, who doesn’t have access to the (partly) semantic language, the poem is suggestive due to the very discrepancy between the serious tone of the voice and the meaningless sentences it utters. it is as if someone was pretending to give a speech, or deliver a lecture, or simply tell a story, in a language that he is aware his listeners don’t have access to. but his rhetoric skills prevail over the content of the message: he makes all the necessary brakes, he has a very rhythmical speech; when he enumerates various things, towards the end of each of the five sections, he tells it in one breath; and not only this, but he is supported by the chorus at once. so, by taking himself seriously, he is able to convince the public of his truth. the line wosisog is repeated like a riddle used in order to test the ability of the audience to go deeper into the deconstructed semantics of the poem.
there is an obvious irony in wosisog, coming from both the intonation and the presence of the chorus, specific to the greek tragedies (with its role of questioning and answering); in this context, the chorus is only imitating the meaningless speech of the main character, emphasizing the absurd situation and playing the role of a speaking trumpet for him. the later also reminds of a harlequin from commedia dell’ arte, asking serious questions in a seemingly mock circumstance.
ide hintze is not really concerned with the different approaches that an austrian and a foreigner could have towards this poem, for example. he says it was basically composed for listeners of all languages, and the inhabitants of vienna will be able to have another dimension as well. but he is glad to be able to use language as the old egyptian priests, who were sending different messages to different social categories, at the same time, using the same wording. “because our usage of language is never one-dimensional, so, as poets, we can work with that”.
(denisa mirena piscu, literary theorist, on ide's poem "wosisog", from the album "30 rufe" ("30 callings"), master thesis on "sound poetry - three sound poets trying to escape the abusive domination of word: henri chopin, sainkho namtchylak, christian ide hintze", written in english language. university of bucarest, rumania, february 2009)