Can you switch out little words like 'and, 'the'? Or does it have to be an exact quote? Can you mix in thoughts and images of your own, a half-and-half approach?
My immediate problem is that I have a person selected who has intriguing views and philosophies, but doesn't use much imagery/simile/metaphor in her speech. She's doing interviews and such, so she's factual -- answering questions and the like. So.....I've reached an impasse.
You set your own parameters, but if you add words that aren't in the original text, it's no longer a 'found' poem, it's a hybrid. Then you'd add 'after blah blah'.
For myself, I made a rule to use words in the order that they appear in the text. Not everyone does that.
Why not try a poem, using her as the narrator, and incorporating her ideas?
treated: changed in a profound and systematic manner; or
untreated: virtually unchanged from the order, syntax
and meaning of the original.
Not that any Wiki is dispositive, but it seems a question of whether your product is "treated" or "untreated." Source (for example "The Unknown" which is an extended quotation from Donald Rumsfeld) mentioned external to the poem seems to be sufficient.
Anything you want them to be, there's no accepted definition and no "International Rules Committee".
Almost all ready-made poems have been subject to editing and a limited amount is commonly accepted.
Certain publications and "contests" may have their own rules, and you should take that in mind when submitting.
I prefer the term "found ready-made" or just "ready-made" (it has a nice historical ring to it).
But in all this, you have to keep in mind that it's hard to simulate truly ready-made content and a bogus
sounding poem is usually not very effective. (And the stranger-than-fiction cliché is absolutely true.)
Just the act of selection is editing (and considering Google, what you have to select from guarantees
you can pretty much say anything you can think up).
What I like to do is use about 95% ready-made content and insert 5% of my own.
This follows the rule about good lies: "Good lies wrap themselves in truth."
(It's also a useful tool to label an original poem you've written "ready-made" to increase its narrative impact.)
But mainly, just like in all writing, there's not much point in doing it if it's not fun. You're the only one who
really knows how your poem was constructed, if you feel bad about altering the content, it stops being fun.
I looked around online and found this (seemed helpful).
Types of Found Poetry
Poets employ a variety of techniques to create found poetry. Common forms and practices include:
Erasure: Poets take an existing source (usually limited to one or a few pages) and erase the majority of the text, leaving behind select words and phrases that, when read in order, compose the poem. Examples include Tom Phillips’ A Humument, Jen Bervin’s Nets and Austin Kleon’s newspaper blackouts, just to name a few.
Free-form excerpting and remixing: Poets excerpt words and phrases from their source text(s) and rearrange them in any manner they choose
Cento: Poets unite lines from other authors’ writings into a new poem. The original lines remain intact; the main intervention comes in arrangement and form. Read more about centos.
Cut-up: Poets physically cut or tear up a text into words and phrases, then create a poem by rearranging those strips. Arrangement may be intentional or haphazard. Read more about the cut-up method of composition.
Found Poetry and Fair Use
The Found Poetry aims to adhere to section two of American University’s Center for Social Media’s “Code of Best Uses in Fair Use for Poetry,” copied in its entirety below
NEW WORKS “REMIXED” FROM OTHER MATERIAL: ALLUSION, PASTICHE, CENTOS, ERASURE, USE OF “FOUND” MATERIAL, POETRY-GENERATING SOFTWARE
DESCRIPTION: What is now called remixing is a contemporary version of allusion or pastiche and has long been an important part of poetic practice. In general, it takes existing poetry (or literary prose) as its point of reference. In some cases, however, the stuff of poetic remix may come from other sources, including (but not limited to) advertising copy and ephemeral journalism. Members of the poetry community also recognize that technology has extended the range of techniques by which language from a range of sources may be reprocessed as new creative work.
PRINCIPLE: Under fair use, a poet may make use of quotations from existing poetry, literary prose, and non-literary material, if these quotations are re-presented in poetic forms that add value through significant imaginative or intellectual transformation, whether direct or (as in the case of poetry-generating software) indirect.
LIMITATIONS:
–Mere exploitation of existing copyrighted material, including uses that are solely “decorative” or “entertaining,” should be avoided.
–Likewise, the mere application of computer technology does not, in itself, render quotation or re-use of an existing poem fair.
–If recognizable in the final product, quotations should be brief in relation to their sources, unless there is an articulable rationale for more extensive quotation.
–The poet should provide attribution in a conventionally appropriate form unless it would be truly impractical or artistically inappropriate to do so.
Here's one of mine (he includes humbly) that uses actual wording taken
from the abstract of a U.S. patent and re-formatted in my usual style.
This one, unlike most found poetry, can be readily verified by looking it up
by its patent number which is included in the poem.
< dog diaper > (found ready-made)
The patents for this dog diaper
are basic patents
because they comprise
structural features
not contained
in prior designs
which only propose pouches
placed under the tail
which produce friction
against the anus
and do not prevent
the leakage of waste
outside the pouch.
This pouch
on the other hand
provides an entrance
encircling
the root of the tail
and the anal region
of the dog
and a top portion
formed either
as a sleeve
or straps
which are effective
in holding the pouch
by overlying the tail
and in association with it
keep the pouch
away from the anus
and allow enough room
to comfortably
discharge the waste
and to avoid
leakage
or friction
beneath the tail.
The issued patents are:
U.S. Patents: 4,537,153
4,779,573 5,146,874
UK Patent: GB2,187,374
Canada Patent: 1,254,456
EPO Patent: 0231171
German Patent: P 35 84 520.1-08
Belgium Patent: 85903909.1
Luxembourg Patent: LU-85 903 909
French Patent: EPO 0231171
Switzerland Patent: EPO 0231171
Australia Patent: 586828
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And:
(05-19-2017, 05:33 AM)Lizzie Wrote: ...
My immediate problem is that I have a person selected who has intriguing views and philosophies, but doesn't use much imagery/simile/metaphor in her speech. She's doing interviews and such, so she's factual -- answering questions and the like. So.....I've reached an impasse.
I don't think the ready-made (found) poetry concept really works for this.
What I'd do (advice follows) is to become familiar enough with her "intriguing views and
philosophies" that you can write your own poem in your own words that says what's
important to you about these ideas and includes all the imagery/simile/metaphor that your
heart desires.
(05-19-2017, 05:33 AM)Lizzie Wrote: What's the proper way to cite the quote-ee?
Directly under the title say: "Inspired by _Name of Person_", or "Inspired by the writings of _Name of Person_ ",
or "ideas of", or "views of", or whatever combination you think is appropriate.
Thanks so much for all the help and info, everybody! I'm going to keep on pressing with the one that I'm working on now with her as the narrator. But, I probably won't do that again. All of these types of found poems are intriguing though! I'm very inspired to do found poems now, copiously, like humping bunnies....
(05-19-2017, 05:33 AM)Lizzie Wrote: Can you switch out little words like 'and, 'the'? Or does it have to be an exact quote? Can you mix in thoughts and images of your own, a half-and-half approach?
My immediate problem is that I have a person selected who has intriguing views and philosophies, but doesn't use much imagery/simile/metaphor in her speech. She's doing interviews and such, so she's factual -- answering questions and the like. So.....I've reached an impasse.
How do YOU approach found poems?
What's the proper way to cite the quote-ee?
I agree with Ray in that they should be called "read-mades" in the spirit of Duchamp and the dadaists. THere is a full discussion of this concept somewhere on this site.
In my opinion (which isn't necessarily worth much) any changes to the original source should be noted. My favourite technique for ready-mades is to take an existing text and change the meaning entirely by using a title that juxtaposes it.
