Compression: Christina Murphy
“A prose poem invites compression as the major focus is on imagery and the ability of images to create and carry a narrative. There are theories as to how the image flow in prose poetry is related to stream of consciousness narration only with the exception that the narrative techniques are not always focused upon the interiority of characters. I like prose poetry for its capacity to compress and focus in on a range of philosophical perspectives. These perspectives might involve interiority, but often they involve an externalization of ideas and feelings so that the reader is the one placed at the center of interpreting the meaning of the experiences described. Thus, in this regard, prose poetry embodies a mode of subjectivity that Jean-Paul Sartre in The Psychology of the Imagination defines as a ‘shut imaginary consciousness, or a consciousness without the dimension of being-in-the-world.’ Rather than a full or even significant focus upon the traditional components of narration—character and plot being foremost—prose poetry manifests what Roland Barthes in ‘The Death of the Author’ deems as the creation of a “methodological field” that both occupies and creates a “multidimensional space.” In my opinion, this “multidimensional space” offers opportunities for narration that are experimental in nature, often lyrical, and certainly not focused upon the traditional domains of narrative, especially as found in its primary expression of traditional realism. I am tempted to say, too, that prose poetry as a “methodological field” and a “multidimensional space” invites comparisons to magical realism in its efforts to shift the lens from traditional realism to an exploration of reality as complex, multidimensional, and subjectively indefinite. There are no “easy reads” with a narrative progressing to a denouement and a moment of epiphany for the main character. Instead, there is the indefinite sense of “reality” being more indeterminate and of experience itself inviting multiple modes of interpretation. In this regard, compression is a valuable ally for the prose poet in having each image add to the indeterminacy as well as the progression of the prose poem itself in engaging the reader in a highly subjective act of experience and interpretation.” — Christina Murphy
