Unconventional patterns in the experimental poetry of E. E. Cummings: A stylistic approach to punctuation marks

Abstract

For some time scholars have examined unconventional linguistic patterns in E. E. Cummings’ poetic style. Of all the aspects under consideration, it is grammar, lexis and morphology that have been most widely researched, while only a small number of studies have looked at graphology or, least of all, punctuation. This article is a contribution to the latter research field, and is aimed at developing a systematic approach to the use of punctuation marks in E. E. Cummings’ experimental poetry. I deal with two fundamental research questions: What foregrounding patterns are present in E. E. Cummings’ unorthodox use of punctuation marks, and what effects derive from his singular use of marks? Using 157 experimental poems as a corpus, I identify any instances of unconventional punctuation and classify the different devices that break with convention, determining the meaning implications (if any) that derive from these particular uses. An in-depth analysis of these poems reveals that there are three basic unconventional devices in Cummings’ use of punctuation marks (substitution, omission and insertion) and that these help Cummings to achieve a variety of purposes: emphasize certain elements within the poem, shift the tempo of the lines, create chaotic scenes, produce iconic effects, schematize any unit within the poem, omit letters and words, signal heteroglossia, indicate imperative voice, articulate the poem into different layers, create plays on words, and reproduce features of spoken language.