Combinatory poetics is an intriguing genre due to its chance and randomness. In Electronic Literature, Scott Rettberg explains that “poetry and story generators and other combinatory writing systems are characterized by structured complexity and procedurality” (37). The theme of chance and randomness is on display in Jason Nelson’s this is how you will die and Nick Montfort’s Taroko Gorge. Nelson’s work functions like a slot machine in that each spin results in a different death. Each death scenario is composed of multiple poems and short videos that appear on the side. Each spin costs a certain number of credits and if you’re lucky, the machine will give you more credits. After several spins, I began to see the same poems in different death scenarios. Taroko Gorge is an endless poem with many possible combinations. Nature is a common theme throughout the poem, giving Montfort’s work a certain peacefulness. Rettberg explains that Taroko Gorge’s “code is open and accessible” (47). This allows anyone interested in combinatory poetics to create their own version of Montfort’s work, with many having done so already. I found this particularly interesting because, as Rettberg explains, it serves as an opportunity for people to become authors of electronic literature (48).
I think it’s interesting to compare combinatory poetics with standard poetry. While standard poetry is more cohesive and contains more meaning, the chance and randomness present in combinatory poetics does not allow for as much cohesiveness but does give the reader an element of surprise, something that is evident in both Nelson’s and Montfort’s works.