I take Exercises in Style as a methodological perspective, employing the ‘notation’ and ‘retrograde’ writing styles (Queneau 1958, pp. 19, 25) to re-present passages from Invisible Cities, thereby exploring how different writing styles instigate changes in perception and a reconstruction of logic (Calvino 2010, p. 29).
Based on this, I treat writing as a medium for constructing cognitive forms through linguistic structures. When text passes through these stylized ‘filters’, content shifts from mere transmission to active construction. In other words, the mode of writing determines not only how content is expressed, but more crucially, how it is perceived.
Here is my re-present experiment:
Notation
Kublai Khan noticed that Marco Polo’s descriptions of cities were remarkably similar, as if he were merely rearranging elements rather than actually traveling. So whenever Marco Polo began describing a city, Kublai Khan would mentally dismantle it piece by piece, then swap, shift, and invert its elements, reassembling them in new configurations.
As Marco Polo continued recounting his travels, Kublai Khan stopped listening and interrupted him. He ordered that he himself would now describe the city, demanding only that Marco Polo confirm whether these cities existed. Kublai Khan described a city on stairs, set on a half-moon bay, where hot winds are constantly blowing. It possessed many wonders: a glass pool as tall as a cathedral, where swallow fish glided; a palm tree whose leaves produced harp-like sounds when the wind blew; and a square encircling a horseshoe-shaped marble table laden with food and drink, all carved from marble.
Marco Polo pointed out that Kublai Khan had drifted off, and this was precisely the city he had just been describing.
Retrograde
‘Sire, your mind has been wandering.’ Marco Polo said, ‘This is precisely the city I was telling you about when you interrupted me.’
Just moments ago, Kublai Khan interrupted Marco Polo’s narration to describe the city he envisioned. This is a city built upon stairs, set in a half-moon bay, where hot winds blow continuously. The city featured a glass pool as tall as a cathedral, where people could watch swallow fish glide through the water; palm trees whose leaves produced harp-like sounds when stirred by the wind; and a square surrounding a horseshoe-shaped marble table laden with food and drink carved from marble.
Before this, Kublai Khan interrupted Marco Polo’s travel account. He described the characteristics of his own city, while Marco Polo was only required to confirm whether this imagined city actually existed. This scene unfolded as Kublai Khan mentally deconstructed and reassembled elements from each city, reconstructing them in entirely new ways.
From the very beginning of their conversation, Kublai Khan had already sensed that the cities Marco Polo described were so alike, as if he were merely changing the combination of their elements, without ever needing to travel.
Reference:
Calvino, I. (2010) Invisible Cities. London: Vintage Digital.
Queneau, R. (1958) Exercises in Style. London: John Calder.
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