It is understood who is writing and who is reading these articles, but why and how are they communicated?
Through research, it is evident that the style in which authors in this field write about Concrete Poetry is through analytical essays and analytical research. This is common in the English Literature world. All three of the below use this analytical style, quotes and paratext (usually in the form of an inserted image) in their work to fuel their arguments and display their knowledge in the field.
Narrative in Concrete / Concrete in Narrative: Visual Poetry and Narrative Theory 2014
Illusions of simplicity A cognitive approach to visual poetry* 2010
The Poesis of Space: Prosodic Structures in Concrete Poetry 1977
Mike Borkent of the University of British Columbia, in his piece, “Illusions of simplicity: A cognitive approach to Visual Poetry*,” follows a slightly different format though it is still a literary analysis. Borkent sets up his argument in a research style, somewhat lab report-esque fashion. This makes his piece orderly and allows the reader to go back to certain sections, that are neatly titled. Thus being said, his piece still employs dense language and complex sentence structures, so it would take someone with a real interest in the field to parse through it.
The final element for examination is publishing dates. It took an extremely detailed search to find works that were written in this decade. Nothing has been written in 2015, but 2014 is not far behind. Most of the rhetoric in this field dates back to the 1970’s. Two of the above sources were the only scholarly articles found that came close to being “new” and in this sphere they are new. Though there is not much variation in rhetoric over time, which was a surprise, I think there is something to be said about the lack of information. The lack of information implies the dormant nature of writing about Concrete Poetry that has been experienced since the movement was hot. This leads one to believe that maybe because of the current technology, and maybe human tendency to repeat history, that there may be a revival of rhetoric in the field of Literary Theory and Concrete Poetry.
Concrete Poetry? 