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Let me begin this month’s blogpost with a poem. I suppose I am still recovering from Poetry Month’s poet interviews. In case you missed April’s highly inspirational blogpost with interesting anecdotes, useful advice and more, find it here.
FORK / Charles Simic (b. 1938)
This strange thing must have crept
Right out of hell.
It resembles a bird’s foot
Worn around the cannibal’s neck.
As you hold it in your hand,
As you stab with it into a piece of meat,
It is possible to imagine the rest of the bird:
Its head which like your fist
Is large, bald, beakless and blind.
This poem is about an inanimate object. Notice how the object is brought to life, giving us a fresh look at something as ordinary as a fork. This type of usage in poetry results in an “Object Poem”. The term “Object Poem” is a translation of the German Dinggedicht, or “thing poem,” which in simple terms is how a poet may transform a strange object into something familiar.
On the opposite side of this spectrum is the use of “Objectification”, meaning, literally, the treatment of a living person (or being) as a tool or a toy. Now, “objectification” has historically had a negative connotation. Many have accused the acclaimed Japanese writer Haruki Murakami of his “objectification of women”. In Murakami’s 1Q84, one of the main characters, Fuka-Eri, is described as a 17-year-old girl with “large and perfectly ripe breasts.” In one such criticism, Anya Yang gives an example: As the female protagonist, Aomame, grieves the gruesome deaths of her only two friends, she reflects on the physical loss of their bodies as well. Murakami writes that she mourns “their lovely breasts – breasts that had vanished without a trace.” In a 2004 Art of Fiction interview, Murakami stated, “women are mediums – harbingers of the coming world. That’s why they always come to my protagonist; he doesn’t go to them.” This is a prime example of what the theoretical definition of “objectification” is, as if the living being is an object with no brain, no flesh, no blood.
Needless to say, objectification is neither desirable nor recommended. However, certain things may just need to be “objectified”. Moving away from the attached stigma of “objectification”, let us see other examples. For instance, one can objectify an idea into an object. This technique can create a narrative through its corporeal symbolism. In A Haunted House by Virginia Woolf, from empty hands to the heartbeat of a home, the heavy symbolism of the story helps contain its concise, hyperbolic emotion.
Similarly, the story can take several objects and arrange them in such a manner that not only does the narrative become exciting, but at every sentence-level, the reader learns something about the character being spoken about. Sara Hill’s Flash fiction here is a good example. My own “Of Foliage” was recently included in the Best Small Fictions Anthology 2024. I use a Gulmohar tree, a palm tree and grass to do the heavy lifting of the narrative. Also read, The Pepper Tree in the Kalahari Review. Auntie Annitjie’s warm soup; the pepper tree from whose perch the narrator stared down towards the terminus ‘where my mother was to return’; and longing and loss–are all beautifully entwined here.
How about something as innocuous as a ball as the pivotal object of the story? Read this piece by James Montgomery in BFFA.
Now, how we choose objects and how we objectify them depends on how we come to look at our art of writing. There should be, what I call, “Objectivity”, or better still, I’d call it “Perennial objectivity”.
Perennial Objectivity is, to my mind, the constant and continuous evaluation of the piece against the stream of thoughts that come naturally and organically as a result of our biases, and to sift them out again and again. Unlike longer fiction, flash stories in particular must be free from personal beliefs to reach a wider readership. This is where objectivity, passiveness and some level of interiority is deeply desirable.
In the short scope of this craft essay, I am unable to elaborate more or provide you with more examples, but the field is rich with possibilities. Whether you want to use an object/s or objectify something, the flash form is such that the mere step towards that direction can supply rich dividends.
THIS IS YOUR PROMPT 1 [DIFFICULTY LEVEL: BEGINNERS] My contributor copy of Iron House Literary Review Vol. 26.1 was recently delivered home. There was a featured article titled “In the Saddle” where readers peeked into poet Chelsea Harlan’s writing studio. Each object was then written about. A total of seven paragraphs emerged including one about a ‘floral wrapping paper’. I thought that was an interesting project.
As a writing exercise, write 50 words each about the different objects you can find now in your car/desk/bedroom/living room.
THIS IS YOUR PROMPT 2 [DIFFICULTY LEVEL: INTERMEDIATE]
Can you “objectify” this statue? Write a flash story where the setting is at or near the Statue of Liberty.
THIS IS YOUR PROMPT 3 [DIFFICULTY LEVEL: EXPERT] Write a list story where you describe a day in the life of Shakespeare through the objects you can imagine were used daily by the great playwright.
TO CONCUDE: I hope this post effectively explores the concept of “Object Poem” and “Objectification” in poetry and fiction writing, providing valuable examples and prompts for writing exercises. Here’s also hoping that the blend of theoretical discussion and practical exercises is beneficial, providing a comprehensive learning experience for writers of different skill levels.
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ABOUT THIS BLOG
Last day of the month, I post craft essays ruminating on writing life and craft, highlighting stories on a particular chosen theme, prompts for Beginners/Intermediate/Experienced writers, Pro-level tips and selected free submission opportunities.
