Ars Soliloquy
by
Dale J. Sprague
There may be other literary works relevant to 'ars soliloquy,' but James Joyce's work, "Ulysses," seems most relevant. A friend, after reading one of my first drafts, said that I should look at the last pages of 'Ulysses.' I did, and was surprised and assured to see another writer making an attempt at the same method. I knew what James Joyce was up to, writing as he did, the last 50 pages of 'Ulysses.' This form was termed "streaming consciousness," and literary scholars have maintained the use of that term. Where James Joyce left it as a final form of composition, I use it as a beginning for mine.
Because I adopted certain elements of conventional form, revising some, and extended the function of others, I was able to maintain my attention span throughout the length of the composition in the process of polishing it, by whatever means available until the expression completed itself. I termed this discipline, for lack of a better one, "ars soliloquy." While I use some elements characteristic of poetry, my compositions are essentially soliloquy.
For my purposes, I need to impose more of a discipline to what was defined as 'streaming consciousness,' which is more of a state of concentration, a kind of alpha trance, than a composition discipline. I needed the freedom and depth of 'streaming consciousness,' but also a discipline that shapes the final form of the composition to the end of aiding the reader, including myself, to maintain that alpha state of mind with an indefinite attention span. Indefinite attention span. In this sense Ars Soliloquy is a method of eastern meditation in that 'no thinking' is required, only reading. If the writing form is 'streaming consciousness,' so must be the reading of that form.
Effect of Ars Soliloquy
Ars soliloquy requires a reader to maintain an attention span throughout the composition, and as a result of turning one's attention over indefinitely, as it may seem, the reader's consciousness tends to deepen into their own alpha state, or dream state, the same state in which the composition was conceived, which will eventually evoke sensations as what might be experienced in a dream. In this sense, 'streaming consciousness' tends to induce a dreamstate, 'ars soliloquy' focuses it, and the composition orchestrates it, and the resulting psycho'sensual interaction may induce a vision or sound.
Ars Soliloquy uses time notation
Notation Symbol Relative time
interval ordercomma , 1 two-dot ellipsis .. 2 three-dot ellipsis ... 3 Extended language stop function
The language stop with reference mainly to the period is used by conventional composition to denote the end of a complete thought, which is a sentence. Complete thoughts accumulate into paragraphs, paragraphs into chapters, and chapters into books, in that, at the end of a paragraph, the reader sums up the meaning of the sentences. At the end of a chapter, the reader sums up the chapter, and chapters are summed up after finishing a book...all something like the process of an adding machine. This is the general reading process that is taught in schools and employed in business. By reassigning the use of the language stop, the composition form does not inhibit the reader to maintain attention to the streaming words, as fast or slow they may proceed, until the expression ends. This is effected by:
- Removal of language stops, or periods, from end of paragraphs; occasional use within a paragraph is allowed. The effort here, is to break up the subliminal mental summation process by having each paragraph end without a language stop.
- Within a paragraph, language stop, a period, in addition to denoting a complete thought, can also denote a word or phrase as they may relate metaphysically or metaphorically to the reality of the composition. If a word by itself equates to a feeling, an object, or an idea, its meaning will flash in the reader's mind in the reader's streaming process of reading. No time to think about it...only feel, see, or hear until the journey is over.
- The purpose of ars soliloquy is to disrupt the subliminal summation process to make the reader read without thinking about what they are reading until the journey is over, which, during the journey, induces feeling, vision, and even sound. After the journey, if there is any wake, is the time of thinking.
Revised operant
In conventional reading, the operant process is "logic." Logic, as we know, is as much a process of unpopular assumptions as it is a process of correct or popular ones, where 'everyone is virtually logical;' it is just a matter of examining the assumptions when an expression seems "illogical". Ars soliloquy requires "continuity" to override the dominance of logic. Continuity is everything, and any means is used to thread the words and phrases together, including logic, but logic is not the only means, and usually its path is brief. Continuity is effected with:
- Harmonics, such as rhyme, or alliteration.
- Imagery or occasional pun.
- When harmonics, imagery, or pun is not used, then continuity is effected by insight and as its light dominates "theme."
- When continuity is not apparent, the reader's concentration is forced to deepen to maintain the streaming. Ambiguity and even contradiction here, is useful to inspire emotion, vision, or sound.
General continuity is effected by the overall aesthetics of the language and the aesthetics of its orchestrated semantics, as those semantics may relate metaphysically and epistemically to the reader.
Ars soliloquy attempts to aid the reader to levitate in the alpha state throughout the orchestration of words, which will require the function of both brains...one's right, and one's left. And in this process, there is the possibility that the reader will experience more than just the light of streaming words, phrases, and thoughts..but perhaps also feeling, color, sound..perhaps even texture to the extent that my ever evolving maturity and skill, such as it is, can effect.
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