“A BINARIAN’S NIGHTMARE”: THE POETICS OF THE INCLUDED MIDDLE IN MINA LOY’S SONGS TO JOANNES

Abstract

In this paper, I examine some of the ways in which Mina Loy employs textual formatting and semantic play to forge a fluid relationship between the lyrical self and her lover, thereby subverting culturally significant dichotomies – such as sacred/profane, masculine/feminine, human/God, etc. – in Songs to Joannes. These effects constitute her poetics of the included middle (as opposed to the excluded middle – the blank space separating two dichotomous, binary terms) and demonstrate Loy’s capacity to subvert both literary and social conventions.