"cross-language homophonic poetry" -- or something

[Jonathan Lighter]

I believe that in current usage a "macaronic" composition need not be, as OED stipulates, a "burlesque."

  JL

"Joel S. Berson" <Berson at ATT.NET> wrote:
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Sender: American Dialect Society
Poster: "Joel S. Berson"
Subject: Re: "cross-language homophonic poetry" -- or something
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A correspondent rejects "macaronic" with the following argument:

>Macaronic verse as defined here and in the article cited sounds more
>like Chuck Berry's "He truly loved that mademoiselle/C'est la vie,
>say the old folks, you never can tell" or Hank Williams' "I'm gonna
>see my ma cher ami-o". It would also be a natural mode for speakers
>of Spanglish or Franglais. Not at all the same thing as reproducing
>the sound, as opposed to the sense, of a poem from another language.

Looking at the OED2 definition and the Northwestern web page, I agree.

However, JL's reference does fit the description (but it does not use
the term "macaronic"):
>This technique has now become a useful method of scholarship :
>
> http://www.parrotshorsechat.com/Parrots_Perch/mailinglist/chap7.html

Joel

At 1/18/2006 04:33 PM, Ben Zimmer wrote:
>The general category of burlesque verse in which one language
>masquerades as another is called "macaronics" or "macaronic verse."
>But I've never come across another example of macaronics with the
>precise phonological mapping found in __Mots D'Heures: Gousses,
>Rames_.
>
>More on macaronic verse here:
>
>http://www.library.northwestern.edu/collections/garrett/frivreadings.html

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