Absurdism: Philosophy versus Literature
I have recently stumbled upon a realization about something that I have slowly been questioning for some time now. That is, how the literary community and the philosophical community view absurdism.
I was under the impression for quite some time that absurdist poetry was poetry touching on the philosophy of absurdism. This is not quite true but also not quite false. There is a large selection of absurdist poetry that exists today, and the majority of it leans towards stuff that is barely comprehensible and exists merely to deny any formality or form to poetry. While it does not always appear to be rigorously made, and it does not appear to touch on the philosophy of absurdism, it actually uses the philosophy as a backboard for the work itself. Absurdism purports that life is inherently absurd; it is a strand of existentialism. Absurd here means something along the lines of unwieldy, inexplicable, and insane. If this is the case, then these absurdist works I have seen surely match this description, existing as a celebration of life through the lens of absurdist philosophy. These poems are certainly entertaining. Not quite the vain of poetry I would be writing, in which I typically veer towards having a sense of form and discussing the deep spirituality, horror, or beauty present in the discussion of absurdist and existential philosophy. Although I do occasionally go a little nuts and spit out a Jabberwocky.
Some absurdist poets I recommend are Russel Edson, Thomas Lux, and T.S. Eliot. Some journals to check out are ubu and dadakuku.
