Dear Maria,
your answer is a honest one. And I think that it fundamentally accepts the
honesty of Nietzsche as well.
As a free researcher and genius.
And I would like to add poet, as well.
Jill noticed your passionate:
"I am more and more
often having to look to the past for inspirational, philosophical or
truly honest and passionate writing"
I might be interested in whom you chose from the past, but I do agree, even
if I also try to read and deal with contemporary poetry, avoiding the
pre-packed material coming from specialized courses, as much as you do.
Take care Maria, till soon, Anny
Hi Anny,
It has to do with passion - and honesty.
To paraphrase Judith Wright:
...though we are apt to think of Australian life and thought (during the
19th century) as spiritually impoverished because of its isolation from
the main stream of European thought, it was in fact the main stream of
European thought and feeling that largely impoverished the life of
Australia...when the circulation of the blood is poor, the first parts
to suffer are the outlying parts...this is what happened to Australia,
the most distant outpost of Western civilization; the blockage of
thought and feeling, the increasing sense of separation...and of the
'death of God' that Nietzsche announced with lament and triumph was felt
less consciously here, but its effects were even more devastating...
As Europe struggled with a fading traditional christian culture, and
Nietzsche was struggling towards a type of affirmation in Zarathustra,
replacing man, who had come to an end (with God), Australian poets had
little to look to for a unified tradition - Nietzsche, in his elevation
of Man, and his inherent belief in the ability of man to raise himself,
was a guide to poets seeking to versify a national literature or
identity.
The Australian character of bush poetry, the effect of the land,
drought, flood and fire, the nomadic life of a large population of men,
with little or no literacy, led to the growth of the bush ballad, a
"womanless" tradition, hard, naïve - ready for reinvention through poets
such as Boake - whose honesty about bush life - "this is the only life
worth living that I see" was not a sentimental rejection of
civilization, for him "civilization was a dead failure" and he chose to
end his life, hanging from a stockwhip.
"what happened to Boake was, in its essentials, what had happened to the
much more deep and comprehensive conciousness of Nietzsche. God was
dead for Boake in Australia"
I too consumed the existentialists and camus in my twenties, but look in
my present writing for a meaningful move forward from the work of Boake
and the bush poets - far away from the current entrenched and expected
cringe that becomes a stock response from contemporary poets, generally
educated in creative writing classes.
There is a true need in Australia for debate on the urbane and inwardly
reflective nature of much contemporary poetry - and, perhaps the
motivation of poets for looking beyond the Australian landscape - it is
a debate I am trying to have in my own writing, and I am more and more
often having to look to the past for inspirational, philosophical or
truly honest and passionate writing.
maria
-----Original Message-----
From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to poetry and
poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On Behalf Of Anny Ballardini
Sent: Monday, 12 August 2002 10:53 PM
To: [log in to unmask]
Subject: Re: back to the bush
hi maria,
i would be very interested if you developed more your statement on
Nietzsche
(i am less interested in the concept of "a drifting Europe", i guess the
topic could find too many opposite voices) -
against which Australian poets sought an identity. being a person who
developed her thought on Nietzsche, i was in my twenties when i devoured
him, together with Camus and the existentialists, i am very interested
in
your, or maybe better, that part of Australia that joins your thought,
explanations.
take care, anny
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