Nathaniel Mackeys Bedouin Hornbook Essay -- Nathaniel Mackey Bedouin

Nathaniel Mackey's Bedouin Hornbook A Bedouin is a nomad and a nomad a wanderer. Nathaniel Mackey seems to wander far and away in his Bedouin Hornbook, a series of fictional letters addressed to an â€Å"Angel of Dust† and signed by the ambiguous â€Å"N.† N. interprets passages of improvisation, analyzing others’ musical expression in surprising detail to the point that his unquestioning sincerity and self-assurance are almost laughable. That N. can glean meaning from music in such a direct and certain manner is problematic because his tone implies that there is only one correct interpretation of music. In addressing the issue of how music conveys meaning, Mackey seems to wander in two disparate directions. After asserting each seemingly contradictory view, first that music and speech are simply ends in themselves and second that they are means to a separate end, Mackey reconciles the question through his motivic discussion of absence and essence. In the first passage, Mackey draws out the nuances of this problem by directing two characters to argue over the meaning of a particular musical piece. He focuses on the style rather than the content of the dispute, suggesting that its value lies in the graceful unfolding of the argument itself. In the subsequent passage, N.’s lecture on â€Å"The Creaking of the Word† uses metaphor in such a way as to highlight the explosive possibility of words and music to transmit meaning. During the first episode, Mackey uses the same style of writing when N. repeats another character’s speech as when he reiterates another’s musical ideas, which confuses the boundary between music and speech. N. uses the same tone when retelling the verbal dispute between Lambert and Aunt Nancy as when interpreting La... ... Bottle’s] lecture/demonstration, as far as Djamilaa was concerned, would take the form of a serenade† (206). Here the forms of music and speech converge as one, signaling a convergence of their parallel roles throughout the novel. That the speech is an â€Å"after-the-fact† version, or a re-interpretation, is evidence of Mackey’s commitment to artistic evolution. The book ends in relative confusion: a phone rings repeatedly with no answer and Djamilaa wistfully dreams of a potentially shared blocked opera (208). Despite lacking a concrete conclusion, by raising and resolving numerous contradictions, the novel offers a complex and layered understanding of how meaning is conveyed through and in art. Mackey shows through words that music may be both a means and an end. Ultimately, Bedouin Hornbook pays homage to the wandering man and his wandering sport, improvisation.