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Bricolage verse

Technique
Pronunciation

Understanding ARPABET Pronunciation

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The pronunciation guide uses the ARPABET phonetic system—the same system used in speech recognition and text-to-speech applications.

Vowel Examples:
AE1 = cat, bat
EH1 = bed, head
IY1 = see, me
OW1 = go, boat
UW1 = boot, do
Stress Numbers:
0 = no stress (unstressed)
1 = primary stress (loud)
2 = secondary stress (medium)
Example:
AH0 TH IY1 N AH0
= a-THEE-na (Athena)

The stressed syllable (marked with 1) is pronounced louder and clearer than others.

Quick Definition

A poetic technique assembling fragments from varied sources—quotations, genres, media—into a new, often collage-like composition.

Detailed Definition
Bricolage verse is poetry assembled from diverse, often found or recycled materials—quotations, fragments, media snippets—creating a collage-like texture; it reflects postmodern eclecticism and challenges notions of originality, as in the works of Susan Howe or bpNichol.
Example
Example in poetry:
Bricolage verse assembles diverse textual fragments; example: a poem mixing news headlines, song lyrics, and diary entries: “BREAKING: skies crack / ‘Yesterday’ plays on repeat / I forgot your name.”
Additional Notes
Poetry constructed from diverse found materials and sources. Related: collage, centonization, found poetry. See also: assemblage. Postmodern practice valuing recontextualization over invention.
Also Known As
Makeshift verse Assembled poetry Improvised construction Found-object composition
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