THE HEAD OF ORPHEUS: Voice, Song and the Poetics of Resistance and Transformation Legend tells us that after the Thracian women tore the body of Orpheus into pieces, they threw his head into the Hebrus river. As it floated downstream, he kept on singing. In more recent times, Victor Jara sang "Venceremos" a cappella when his fingers were broken by Pinochet's soldiers and he could no longer play the guitar. Are voice and song primary modes of communication? How is it that voice-work can affect us in such a powerful way? In this issue of the journal, we explore the primacy of the voice in poetry and song, seeking to understand its communicative and transformative power. Our authors explore the resurgence of the oral tradition, the origins of the poetic, the extreme reaches of vocal expression and the ways in which digital media both close off and open up new possibilities for primary vocalization. More than an academic exploration of voice, the issue speaks to us as we read it, and sometimes it even seems to sing. And for the first time, the journal has links to audio and video presentations connected to the theme - we can look and listen as well as read. Articles: Rishma Dunlop, "Vox Humana," Elizabeth Gordon McKim, "Ride the Poetry Bus: An Excursion Into the Oral Tradition of Song/Story/and Poem," Fides Krucker, "Chiaroscuro: The Bodhisattva in the Voice," Vivian Darroch-Lozowski, "Making Worlds: the Extended Voice Work of Richard Armstrong," Richard Armstrong, "The Irritant," Linda Wise, "Voice and Soul: The Alfred Wolfsohn/Roy Hart Legacy," Enrique Pardo, "Figuring out the Voice: Object, Subject, Project," Allucquére Rosanne Stone, "Song and Resistance," Christina Foisy, "Gloomy Sunday on a Tuesday: The Unsound Voices of Suicide re-membered Through Sound Poetics," Peter Price, "Digital Sound and the Post-Human Future" Poetry: Norman Minnick, Rebecca Chamberlain, Shara Claire, Jeffrey Thomson, Domenico Capilongo, Alison Luterman, Stephen K. Levine, Tomas O'Leary, Vivian Darroch-Lozowski, Maxine Yalovitz-Blankenship, Kristin Briggs, Andrew Sofer, Ewan Whyte, Lamont B. Steptoe, Phil Woods, Barry Dempster, Mihku Paul, James P. Lanfestey, Frank Miller Art Work: Jenn E. Norton, Yi Xin Tong, Nicholas Hooper, Martha Townsend, Erin Gee, Rory Dean, Faye Mullen, Michael Caines, Nicola Woods, Jennifer Chan, Audio Lodge Featured Artist: Elise Kermani Click here to view the Audio and Video Gallery |