06-05-2016, 07:46 AM
We use the word "critique" around here a lot, but what do we actually mean by that?
To me, critique does not mean censure or praise, nor does it mean proofreading. It means evaluating a piece of writing holistically, making judgments about style choices, ensuring that meaning is not obscured by unnecessary fluff, bathos or burlesque bullshit and critically analysing a poem's worth based on comparison with other works of its type. It involves making suggestions for rewrites as deemed necessary to clarify unwanted ambiguity or to minimise the use of prosaic language that jars with the poem's purpose.
It also means highlighting the good in a poem, encouraging the writer to draw out what is truly poetic (if necessary, by abandoning other parts) and assisting the process of building a better, more complete poem.
It does not mean puffing up egos, treading on eggshells, forcing others to accept my opinion or denying a poet's right to exist as a poet, regardless of whether I believe that particular poem is of high quality or not. There is no such thing as a poem that should be discarded entirely -- but there definitely exists a breed of "poet" whose inability to accept imperfection or difference makes them unworthy of the time spent on detailed, valuable critique.
To me, critique does not mean censure or praise, nor does it mean proofreading. It means evaluating a piece of writing holistically, making judgments about style choices, ensuring that meaning is not obscured by unnecessary fluff, bathos or burlesque bullshit and critically analysing a poem's worth based on comparison with other works of its type. It involves making suggestions for rewrites as deemed necessary to clarify unwanted ambiguity or to minimise the use of prosaic language that jars with the poem's purpose.
It also means highlighting the good in a poem, encouraging the writer to draw out what is truly poetic (if necessary, by abandoning other parts) and assisting the process of building a better, more complete poem.
It does not mean puffing up egos, treading on eggshells, forcing others to accept my opinion or denying a poet's right to exist as a poet, regardless of whether I believe that particular poem is of high quality or not. There is no such thing as a poem that should be discarded entirely -- but there definitely exists a breed of "poet" whose inability to accept imperfection or difference makes them unworthy of the time spent on detailed, valuable critique.
It could be worse