Recombinant Theory - (Brave & Brilliant) by Joel Katelnikoff

Book Synopsis

Recombinant Theory is a collection of literary essays that challenge how readers interact with and perceive text, context, and critical writing. Working with printed pages and scissors, Joel Katelnikoff applies literal cut-up techniques to the complete works of ten contemporary poet-theorists: Annharte, Charles Bernstein, Christian Bök, Johanna Drucker, Lyn Hejinian, Steve McCaffery, Erín Moure, Sawako Nakayasu, Lisa Robertson, and Fred Wah. He then compiles the cut-ups into new essays, each reflecting the concepts of the original text while producing new lyric and theoretical formulations.

Using the techniques of constraint poetry as a path to theoretical writing, Katelnikoff creates a methodology that is uniquely true to poststructuralist thought. These recombinant essays do not attempt to present a singular transparent message and do not insist on their own authority. Instead, they function as a catalyst for critical analysis. Recombinant Theory is a vast database of material to be searched through, replete with unexpected connections and surprising combinations ready to be discovered and considered.

Recombinant Theory is a daring movement away from a critical model that claims to speak on behalf of a text. It rejects the idea of critical writing as a simple transfer of information from one person to another, instead inviting collaboration and engagement. This an act of poetic theory that disrupts the expected with its radical recombination and its readers to discover their own diverse paths through the materials of the texts.

Review Quotes

Katelnikoff offers critique through repurposing the language being critiqued, taking the process a whole other level, writing essays from the inside . . . It's a fascinating process, and a fascinating read.