The Semiconducting Dictionary (Our Strindberg): (Our Strindberg)

"A playful, feminist revisioning of a historical literary figure, this part poetry collection, part biography reimagines August Strindberg-the misanthropic, misogynistic, hotly debated master of modern theater and a contemporary of Ibsen-as a woman playwright living as a man. In mixing prose and poetry of various forms from different historical periods this work presents a loving portrait of Strindberg and Europe in the late 19th century. Capturing the essence of the Enlightenment and the shift in power between the faith of the church and the facts of science, this book highlights the flaws of human nature with a beautiful, loving light."--Publisher Copyright......Page 5 Table of Contents......Page 6 See me in the embryo......Page 12 Timeline......Page 13 Christmas Poem by My Mother......Page 16 Smash the Poem......Page 17 Be a Child then and I Can Kiss It Better . . .......Page 19 Poem for My Mother......Page 20 Franz Says......Page 21 Discarded......Page 22 The Servant’s Girl: The Story of the Evolution of a Human Being......Page 23 Recipe for Heart Troubles......Page 24 Laura and the Captain......Page 25 A Country Road. A Tree. Evening.......Page 27 Notes for a New Play......Page 28 Characters......Page 29 The Stupid Father......Page 30 We Don’t Speak of Eternal Love......Page 32 Origin of Species......Page 33 Eavesdropping......Page 41 Poem from the Play......Page 42 Cheerful Books Believe......Page 43 The Playwright Interviews Herself to Stave Off Loneliness......Page 44 Life in One Act......Page 47 To Have Done With the Judgment of Dogs......Page 48 Too Much......Page 49 Siri......Page 50 Perfect Early Days......Page 51 Darling Siri Writes a Christmas Poem by Pretending to Read French......Page 52 Precious Arrival......Page 53 For You......Page 54 Happy Animal......Page 55 Letter from Paris, 1883......Page 56 Sunday in Stockholm......Page 59 J. W. Turner’s Will......Page 60 Revolution......Page 61 Escape......Page 62 Action Always Action......Page 63 M......Page 64 Modern Sins......Page 65 Look Back......Page 66 Insults......Page 67 Your Attention PLEASE [A Poem by Once-Darling Siri]......Page 68 Darling Troublemaker [Siri]......Page 69 Please [Siri]......Page 70 Ours [Siri]......Page 71 Quiet August [One Last Try by Siri]......Page 72 She Leaves Me......Page 73 Illustrations......Page 74 Declaration......Page 75 Dear Siri (For hurting me)......Page 76 Dear friend Ibsen......Page 77 Self-portrait......Page 78 Darling Daughter......Page 79 Fetish: Baby Dragon......Page 80 Dear Siri (cancel spell)......Page 81 Dear Future......Page 82 Dear Reader......Page 83 Fetish: Mummy and Baby when Baby Was a Llama......Page 84 Scene One......Page 85 Scene Two......Page 86 Scene Three......Page 87 Scene Four......Page 88 Scene Five......Page 89 I......Page 90 Ghost Sonata......Page 92 I Miss You......Page 93 Dear Friend......Page 94 Darling Daughter According to the I Ching......Page 95 Instructions to My Child......Page 96 Painting of Sweden......Page 97 Twelve Syllables in Paris......Page 98 Small White Room......Page 99 Do You Understand......Page 100 A New Wife......Page 101 Letter to the Doctor After Suffering from Delusions......Page 102 Failures......Page 106 Resist......Page 107 Excerpts from Gold as a Remedy in Disease......Page 108 I have observed......Page 109 Titles......Page 110 I left the walnut seven days before I slid......Page 111 My Genius Is Better Than Your Genius......Page 112 Bone Ash Lead Melted on a Bed......Page 113 The Condemned Man’s Toilette......Page 114 Sonnet of Chapters......Page 115 The purpose of this book......Page 116 Mirror Painting......Page 117 True Again......Page 118 My Funeral......Page 119 Acknowledgements......Page 120 ?The Semiconducting Dictionary: Our Strindberg is a playful original re-visioning of the life of notorious misogynist and modern drama master August Strindberg, mixing prose and poetry of various forms from different historical periods including straightforward lyric, found poetry, haibun, list poems, magic spells, and alchemical recipes to construct a portrait and to tell a story. August Strindberg is a hotly debated figure, a master of the Modern theatre and a contemporary of Ibsen; the influence of Strindbergâ#x80;#x99;s work continues to this day. However, in contemporary times his often outrageous misanthropy and misogyny (he claimed that women were demons) have been variously apologized for as poetic licence, self-portrait, critical posture, or simply mistaken (how could he be a misogynist when there were so many women in his life?). Caple contributes to the apologist literature surrounding him by pretending that he was actually a woman playwright living as a man and his supposed hatred either part of the disguise or else self-loathing. By embracing Strindberg, Caple is able to highlight the excessive beauty of human complications and to represent a world at the end of the enlightenment, as the magic of the church gave way to the magic of the sciences