Commons

Fiction & Literature, Poetry
Cover of the book Commons by Myung Mi Kim, University of California Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Myung Mi Kim ISBN: 9780520927841
Publisher: University of California Press Publication: March 4, 2002
Imprint: University of California Press Language: English
Author: Myung Mi Kim
ISBN: 9780520927841
Publisher: University of California Press
Publication: March 4, 2002
Imprint: University of California Press
Language: English

Myung Mi Kim's Commons weighs on the most sensitive of scales the minute grains of daily life in both peace and war, registering as very few works of literature have done our common burden of being subject to history. Abstracting colonization, war, immigration, disease, and first-language loss until only sparse phrases remain, Kim takes on the anguish and displacement of those whose lives are embedded in history.

Kim's blank spaces are loaded silences: openings through which readers enter the text and find their way. These silences reveal gaps in memory and articulate experiences that will not translate into language at all. Her words retrieve the past in much the same way the human mind does: an image sparks another image, a scent, the sound of bombs, or conversation. These silences and pauses give the poems their structure.

*Commons'*s fragmented lyric pushes the reader to question the construction of the poem. Identity surfaces, sinks back, then rises again. On this shifting ground, Kim creates meaning through juxtaposed fragments. Her verse, with its stops and starts, its austere yet rich images, offers splinters of testimony and objection. It negotiates a constantly changing world, scavenging through scraps of experience, spaces around words, and remnants of emotion for a language that enfolds the enormity of what we cannot express.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

Myung Mi Kim's Commons weighs on the most sensitive of scales the minute grains of daily life in both peace and war, registering as very few works of literature have done our common burden of being subject to history. Abstracting colonization, war, immigration, disease, and first-language loss until only sparse phrases remain, Kim takes on the anguish and displacement of those whose lives are embedded in history.

Kim's blank spaces are loaded silences: openings through which readers enter the text and find their way. These silences reveal gaps in memory and articulate experiences that will not translate into language at all. Her words retrieve the past in much the same way the human mind does: an image sparks another image, a scent, the sound of bombs, or conversation. These silences and pauses give the poems their structure.

*Commons'*s fragmented lyric pushes the reader to question the construction of the poem. Identity surfaces, sinks back, then rises again. On this shifting ground, Kim creates meaning through juxtaposed fragments. Her verse, with its stops and starts, its austere yet rich images, offers splinters of testimony and objection. It negotiates a constantly changing world, scavenging through scraps of experience, spaces around words, and remnants of emotion for a language that enfolds the enormity of what we cannot express.

More books from University of California Press

Cover of the book Hard-Boiled Hollywood by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Ain't No Trust by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Arab France by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Artifacts and Allegiances by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book RKO Radio Pictures by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book The Poems of Exile by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Black and Blue by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book First Life by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book The Gnat and Other Minor Poems of Virgil by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Sex Cells by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Terroir and Other Myths of Winegrowing by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Jack Johnson, Rebel Sojourner by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Chocolate Cities by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Reflections of Amma by Myung Mi Kim
Cover of the book Barrio Rising by Myung Mi Kim
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy