Signe Gjessing, Tractatus Philosophico-Poeticus, Trans. from the Danish by Denise Newman, Lolli Editions, 2022
An exquisite, lyrical reimagining of Wittgenstein’s philosophical work of 1922, from a rising star on par with Inger Christensen
Ludwig Wittgenstein’s Tractatus Logico-Philosophicus, often noted as the most important philosophical work of the 20th century, had a broad goal: to identify the relationship between language and reality, and to define the limits of science.
Following on from Wittgenstein 100 years later, Signe Gjessing updates and reimagines the Tractatus, marrying poetry with philosophy to test the boundaries of reality. Stunning, knowing, and revitalising, and glinting with stars, silk, and ecstasy, this is poetry which exacts the logical consequence of philosophy, while locating beauty and significance in the nonsense of the world.
Marking the 100th anniversary of the English publication of Wittgenstein’s epoch-defining work, Signe Gjessing turns the original on its head, reimagining its 525 intense logical statements in 112 playful and aphoristic bullet points that simultaneously mock and pay homage to Wittgenstein’s numerical hierarchy. Gjessing finds poetry and freedom in the philosopher’s restrictive lexicon: “3.121111 Worlds are roses in a children’s edition.” The book, however, is wilder and more generous than a straightforward satirical pastiche. It generalises without being bland, condenses without being narrow, and philosophises without being poetical. For example: “5.2211 Love creates small medallions of universality”, or “6.22 The world believes its possibility deserves to be seen.” An enchanting pocketbook, both mind-bending and mind-straightening. - Kit Fan
https://www.theguardian.com/books/2022/apr/01/the-best-recent-poetry-review-roundup
SIGNE GJESSING (b. 1992) is a Danish poet. She graduated from the Danish Academy of Creative Writing, Forfatterskolen, in 2014. She has published several collections of poetry and a novella, and is the recipient of numerous awards and prizes, including the prestigious Bodil & Jørgen Munch Christensen Prize for emerging writers. Tractatus Philosophico-Poeticus is her first work to appear in English.
