--- title: "Meaning & Key Takeaway of: New formalism is writing with language as…" description: "\"New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the flow from a dam, running through a desert that has had no rain for decades.\" — Shirley Geok-li..." image: "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png" --- # New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the… ![“New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the flow from a dam, running through a desert that has had no rain for decades.” quote by Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png) [Download](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png) [Open image](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png) > “New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the flow from a dam, running through a desert that has had no rain for decades.” [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) ## About This Quote This interpretation was drafted with AI assistance. It is one reading of the quote, not the author's own explanation. New formalism treats language as a flowing river, moving through barren, dry landscapes, highlighting scarcity and effort. **In simple terms:** Language flows like a river through dry land. Key Takeaway Use structure to convey scarcity. Themes creativity structure scarcity Mood analytical inspirational Type literary educational When to use this quote - creative workshops - literary analysis - teaching writing Key Concepts formalism flow desert metaphor Questions to Reflect On - How does structure shape meaning? - Can constraints inspire innovation? A Different Perspective Rigid forms may limit spontaneity. ★ ★ ★ ★ ★ No ratings yet [Desert](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/desert/) [Flow](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/flow/) [Formalism](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/formalism/) [Language](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/language/) [Rain](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/rain/) [Running](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/running/) [Writing](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/about/writing/) ## Related quotes > [A lot of video directors took it literally and had us running through a desert. -Jay McGuiness](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/the-wanted/a-lot-of-video-directors-took-it-literally-and-had-us-running-through/) [The Wanted](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/the-wanted/) > [I always have this image of a woman running across a desert carrying children, trying to find water and food, not knowing when they'll…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sue-townsend/i-always-have-this-image-of-a-woman-running-across-a-desert-carrying/) [Sue Townsend](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sue-townsend/) > [“Formalism, in opting for the functional mode making possible precise quantitative determinations within a closed system of variables, forgoes the possibility of making meaningful…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-lachmann/formalism-in-opting-for-the-functional-mode-making-possible-precise/) [Ludwig Lachmann](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-lachmann/) > [The rejection of all abstract formalism. Materialism reminds every science of its real source: the world men transform. No science can, whether in its…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/louis-althusser/the-rejection-of-all-abstract-formalism-materialism-reminds-every/) [Louis Althusser](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/louis-althusser/) > [“But there is yet time to change our ways. Give up all those old discussions, old fights about things which are meaningless, which are…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/but-there-is-yet-time-to-change-our-ways-give-up-all-those-old/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [“To the average mathematician who merely wants to know his work is securely based, the most appealing choice is to avoid difficulties by means…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/paul-joseph-cohen/to-the-average-mathematician-who-merely-wants-to-know-his-work-is/) Paul Joseph Cohen > [Nature allows only experimental situations to occur which can be described within the framework of the formalism of quantum mechanics](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/werner-heisenberg/nature-allows-only-experimental-situations-to-occur-which-can-be/) [Werner Heisenberg](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/werner-heisenberg/) > [Most of my formal choices are a combination of everything I learned about form - semiotics, linguistics, and the history of style experimentations tethered…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lidia-yuknavitch/most-of-my-formal-choices-are-a-combination-of-everything-i-learned/) [Lidia Yuknavitch](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lidia-yuknavitch/) > [“A good practice carried to an extreme and worked in accordance with the letter of the law becomes a positive evil.”](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/swami-vivekananda/a-good-practice-carried-to-an-extreme-and-worked-in-accordance-with/) [Swami Vivekananda](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/swami-vivekananda/) > [Art has a double visage: it looks before and after. Romance is its forward-looking face. The germ of growth is in romanticism. Formalism, on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/george-edward-woodberry/art-has-a-double-visage-it-looks-before-and-after-romance-is-its/) [George Edward Woodberry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/george-edward-woodberry/) > [“What exactly is the new verse movement? The New Verse Movement of the 1910's was to make poetry relevant again by immersing it into…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/r-m-engelhardt/what-exactly-is-the-new-verse-movement-the-new-verse-movement-of-the/) [R.M. Engelhardt](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/r-m-engelhardt/) > [Form as a goal always ends in formalism. For this striving is directed not towards an inside, but towards an outside. But only a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/form-as-a-goal-always-ends-in-formalism-for-this-striving-is-directed/) [Ludwig Mies van der Rohe](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/ludwig-mies-van-der-rohe/) > [But it is certainly not possible to insist on one hand that the formalism is complete and to insist on the other hand that…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/karl-popper/but-it-is-certainly-not-possible-to-insist-on-one-hand-that-the/) [Karl Popper](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/karl-popper/) > [Before economics can progress, it must abandon its suicidal formalism.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/robert-heilbroner/before-economics-can-progress-it-must-abandon-its-suicidal-formalism/) [Robert Heilbroner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/robert-heilbroner/) > [Formalism is music that people don't understand at first hearing.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/sergei-prokofiev/formalism-is-music-that-people-don-t-understand-at-first-hearing/) [Sergei Prokofiev](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/sergei-prokofiev/) ## More by Shirley Geok-lin Lim > [Now that I'm more middle class, I have access to consumer goods. I do enjoy feminine frippery, feminine doo-da, stuff like that.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/now-that-i-m-more-middle-class-i-have-access-to-consumer-goods-i-do/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [The poem might come to you as you're preparing to teach a lecture, right? And when you say, "no" to that occasion, that poem…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/the-poem-might-come-to-you-as-you-re-preparing-to-teach-a-lecture/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Once you stop talking about the female body empowering itself vis-à-vis male forays or invasions or male demands or the necessity to respond to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/once-you-stop-talking-about-the-female-body-empowering-itself-vis-vis/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I have a muse who's very powerful, but I'm still a hopeless deadbeat of a poet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-have-a-muse-who-s-very-powerful-but-i-m-still-a-hopeless-deadbeat/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Free verse is chained in sentence-to-sentence links and breaks free in line breaks.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/free-verse-is-chained-in-sentence-to-sentence-links-and-breaks-free/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [ I feel compassionate, because I know \[students\] all have to go down this road of suffering and it's going to be tough. ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-feel-compassionate-because-i-know-students-all-have-to-go-down-this/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Even after the mothering dropped because my son grew up, the writing - the muse - was always the third wheel, the lowest on…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/even-after-the-mothering-dropped-because-my-son-grew-up-the-writing/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [If you've been in a symbolic struggle long enough, even when the struggle is over, you don't know it's over.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/if-you-ve-been-in-a-symbolic-struggle-long-enough-even-when-the/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > ["I want to be always happy," Maxine Hong Kingston announces . But, as this interview makes clear, for me, it was the desire to…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-want-to-be-always-happy-maxine-hong-kingston-announces-but-as-this/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I'm in my 60s, and a cancer scare just makes you more aware of mortality.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-m-in-my-60s-and-a-cancer-scare-just-makes-you-more-aware-of/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [Crows appear in many of my new unpublished poems. In these walks, they take on a symbolic life apart from their irritating, undeniable, interruptive…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/crows-appear-in-many-of-my-new-unpublished-poems-in-these-walks-they/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [People called me a tomboy. That was the term used then. I was very much someone who was comfortable in male clothing, and even…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/people-called-me-a-tomboy-that-was-the-term-used-then-i-was-very-much/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I'm much more comfortable in pants and shirts, running around. There was a typical construction about womanhood when I was growing up that I…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-m-much-more-comfortable-in-pants-and-shirts-running-around-there/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [I have some weak poems in that new collection, which is why I'm not ready to send the collection out yet.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/i-have-some-weak-poems-in-that-new-collection-which-is-why-i-m-not/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) > [If I could write a novel while I'm walking, I probably would.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/if-i-could-write-a-novel-while-i-m-walking-i-probably-would/) [Shirley Geok-lin Lim](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) [Explore all 137 Shirley Geok-lin Lim quotes ](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/) ## More Dams quotes > [The flood of photos sweeps away the dams of memory. Never before has a period known so little about itself. In the hands of…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/siegfried-kracauer/the-flood-of-photos-sweeps-away-the-dams-of-memory-never-before-has-a/) [Siegfried Kracauer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/siegfried-kracauer/) > [No man-made structure in all of American history has been hated so much, by so many, for so long, with such good reason, as…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/edward-abbey/no-man-made-structure-in-all-of-american-history-has-been-hated-so/) [Edward Abbey](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/edward-abbey/) > [There comes a day of public ceremonial, and a chance to make a speech… A million voters with IQs below 60 have their ears…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/h-l-mencken/there-comes-a-day-of-public-ceremonial-and-a-chance-to-make-a-speech/) [H. L. Mencken](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/h-l-mencken/) > [I started inventing things, and then I couldn't stop, like beavers, which I know about. People think they cut down trees so they can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-safran-foer/i-started-inventing-things-and-then-i-couldn-t-stop-like-beavers/) [Jonathan Safran Foer](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-safran-foer/) > [Never give up; for even rivers someday wash dams away.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/arthur-golden/never-give-up-for-even-rivers-someday-wash-dams-away/) [Arthur Golden](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/arthur-golden/) > [All this piling up of one technology on top of another-railroad on steamboat, interstate highway on railroad, hydroelectric dam on watermill-had reduced the Mississippi…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/jonathan-raban/all-this-piling-up-of-one-technology-on-top-of-another-railroad-on/) [Jonathan Raban](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/jonathan-raban/) > [When dams were erected on the Columbia, salmon battered themselves against the concrete, trying to return home. I expect no less from us. We…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/derrick-jensen/when-dams-were-erected-on-the-columbia-salmon-battered-themselves/) [Derrick Jensen](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/derrick-jensen/) > [Go around asking a lot of dam fool questions and taking chances. Only through curiosity can we discover opportunities, and only by gambling can…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/anonymous/go-around-asking-a-lot-of-dam-fool-questions-and-taking-chances-only/) [Anonymous](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/anonymous/) > [The spirit of rebellion is present in every great city, and the great task of wise government is to keep it dormant, for if…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/giacomo-casanova/the-spirit-of-rebellion-is-present-in-every-great-city-and-the-great/) [Giacomo Casanova](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/giacomo-casanova/) > [Tragedy can break the heart but not the dam of the tearducts while schmaltz can dissolve the most hardened sophisticate.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/cornelia-otis-skinner/tragedy-can-break-the-heart-but-not-the-dam-of-the-tearducts-while/) [Cornelia Otis Skinner](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/cornelia-otis-skinner/) > [The river is of the earth and it is free. It is rigorously embanked and bound, and yet it is free. To hell with…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wendell-berry/the-river-is-of-the-earth-and-it-is-free-it-is-rigorously-embanked/) [Wendell Berry](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/wendell-berry/) > [An unspoiled river is a very rare thing in this Nation today. Their flow and vitality have been harnessed by dams and too often…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/lyndon-b-johnson/an-unspoiled-river-is-a-very-rare-thing-in-this-nation-today-their/) [Lyndon B. Johnson](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/lyndon-b-johnson/) > [A direful death indeed they had That would put any parent mad But she was more than usual calm She did not give a…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/marjorie-fleming/a-direful-death-indeed-they-had-that-would-put-any-parent-mad-but-she/) [Marjorie Fleming](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/marjorie-fleming/) > [The sound of water escaping from mill dams, etc., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things.](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/the-sound-of-water-escaping-from-mill-dams-etc-willows-old-rotten/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) > [But the sound of water escaping from mill-dams, &c., willows, old rotten planks, slimy posts, and brickwork, I love such things. Shakespeare could make…](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/john-constable/but-the-sound-of-water-escaping-from-mill-dams-c-willows-old-rotten/) [John Constable](https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/john-constable/) Browse all 138 Dams quotes ```json { "@context": "https://schema.org", "@graph": [ { "@type": "Quotation", "text": "New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the flow from a dam, running through a desert that has had no rain for decades.", "creator": { "@type": "Person", "name": "Shirley Geok-lin Lim" }, "isPartOf": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website" }, "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-as-flow-like-the-flow-from-a/", "about": { "@type": "Thing", "name": "Dams" }, "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-as-flow-like-the-flow-from-a/#quotation", "image": { "@type": "ImageObject", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png", "contentUrl": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/i/fe5/shirley-geok-lin-lim-3190_dams_new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-a_803713.png", "width": 1080, "height": 1080, "caption": "“New formalism is writing with language as flow, like the flow from a dam, running through a desert that has…” — Shirley Geok-lin Lim", "creditText": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "creator": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } } }, { "@type": "BreadcrumbList", "itemListElement": [ { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 1, "name": "Home", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 2, "name": "Quotes", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 3, "name": "Shirley Geok-lin Lim", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/author/shirley-geok-lin-lim/" }, { "@type": "ListItem", "position": 4, "name": "New formalism is writing with language...", "item": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-as-flow-like-the-flow-from-a/" } ], "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/shirley-geok-lin-lim/new-formalism-is-writing-with-language-as-flow-like-the-flow-from-a/#breadcrumb" }, { "@type": "WebSite", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#website", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "publisher": { "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization" } }, { "@type": "Organization", "@id": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/#organization", "name": "SMS4Smile Quotes", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/", "logo": { "@type": "ImageObject", "url": "https://sms4smile.com/quotes/wp-content/themes/sq/assets/icons/icon-512.png", "width": 512, "height": 512 } } ] } ```