Blankness in post‐post‐postmodern poetry

Abstract Jameson's “myth” identifies reification as the leading cause of cultural change. The myth also adumbrates the semiotic form of post‐postmodernism and post‐post‐postmodernism, which Jameson himself did not explore. One of the most extreme varieties of post‐post‐postmodern verse is the would‐be blank poem, pursued by Russian Futurists, Lettrists, and language writers. The necessity of the title is a productive stumbling block for the would‐be blank poem. Some African American poets have integrated the blankness of the page into grayscale experiments that respond to both cultural reification and racist injustice. If utter blankness is an unrealizable ideal for experimental poets, the attempt to incarnate the ideal enables them to allegorize the end of capitalism.