{"product_id":"polari-paperback","title":"Polari - Paperback","description":"\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp style=\"text-align: right;\"\u003e\u003ca href=\"https:\/\/reportcopyrightinfringement.com\/\" target=\"_blank\" rel=\"nofollow\"\u003e\u003cb\u003eReport copyright infringement\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/a\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cp\u003eby \u003cb\u003eJohn Barton\u003c\/b\u003e (Author)\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003e\"Polari,\" from the Italian \"polare\" (\"to talk\") is a coded language, originating in the UK and dating as far back as the 16th century. Overheard in outdoor markets, the theatre, fairgrounds, and circuses, it was appropriated by gay men to provide them with cover as well as with a way to assert personal and shared identities. It spread around the English-speaking world via the Royal Navy, the merchant marine, and cruise ships, adding and subverting many foreign-language words -- like polari -- along the way.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhile \u003ci\u003ePolari\u003c\/i\u003e does not employ this jargon or probe its success as a mode of connection between gay men, the language of Barton's poems may be viewed as an effective tool for communicating a sense of history, politics, and aesthetics. Think of \u003ci\u003ePolari\u003c\/i\u003e as a cross-sectional scan of a living tree that reveals ring after ring of Barton's experience of language, with the new buds at the tips of its branches adding colour, movement, and ornament.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eMost of these poems were written using set forms drawn from Robin Skelton's \u003ci\u003eThe Shapes of our Singing: A Comprehensive Guide of Verse Forms and Metres from Around the World\u003c\/i\u003e (Spokane: Eastern Washington University Press, 2002). While the forms Barton has appropriated are not by themselves the vehicles of a particular sociolect or an anti-language, except, say, of poetry itself, he have nevertheless twisted them to follow the turns of his point of view and aesthetics.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eWhen it comes to time, geography, and subject, \u003ci\u003ePolari\u003c\/i\u003e covers a lot of ground: from child memories to the frailties and deaths of ageing parents; from Queen Victoria's coronation to the first ascent of Everest; from the October Crisis to the trial of Omar Khadr. The titles of nine poems are borrowed from the Diagram Prize, an award given out by the UK magazine, \u003ci\u003eThe Bookseller\u003c\/i\u003e, for the oddest book title of the year. The titles chosen -- an example is \"Highlights in the History of Concrete\" -- may sound frivolous, even absurd, but the poems are less or more so. The serious nature of their themes being at odds with their titles gives them an engaging tension, and will be read as signature of his particular brand of polari.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eFront Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epolari (pe 'la: ri): from Italian \u003ci\u003eparlare\u003c\/i\u003e, a coded anti-language or idiolect at one time spoken by gay men for cover -- or a précis of John Barton's unique experience of language.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this expansive collection, there are no boundaries of time, geography, or subject. Giving voice to history, to political and environmental anxieties, to the immediate past and the fluid present, Barton understands that we all live and speak in code, whether in language common to millions, in 0s and 1s, or in gestures, silences, and the most intimate of glances.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePolari\u0026gt;\u003c\/i\u003e is John Barton's eleventh collection of poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003ch3\u003eBack Jacket\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003c\/p\u003e\u003cp\u003epolari (pe 'la: ri) from Italian \u003ci\u003eparlare\u003c\/i\u003e, a coded anti-language or idiolect at one time spoken by gay men for cover -- or a précis of John Barton's unique experience of language.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003eIn this expansive collection, there are no boundaries of time, geography, or subject. Giving voice to history, to political and environmental anxieties, to the immediate past and the fluid present, Barton understands that we all live and speak in code, whether in language common to millions, in 0s and 1s, or in gestures, silences, and the most intimate of glances.\u003c\/p\u003e \u003cp\u003e\u003ci\u003ePolari\u0026gt;\u003c\/i\u003e is John Barton's eleventh collection of poetry.\u003c\/p\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eNumber of Pages:\u003c\/strong\u003e 128\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003eDimensions:\u003c\/strong\u003e 0.5 x 8.4 x 5.4 IN\u003c\/div\u003e\n            \u003cdiv\u003e\n\u003cstrong\u003ePublication Date:\u003c\/strong\u003e April 22, 2014\u003c\/div\u003e\n            ","brand":"BooksCloud","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":46891452891333,"sku":"9780864923868","price":27.75,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":false}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0757\/6718\/5605\/files\/oQbIJNYx109780864923868.webp?v=1789041098","url":"https:\/\/selloorium.com\/products\/polari-paperback","provider":"Selloorium","version":"1.0","type":"link"}