One inspiring model of the political poet is Muriel Rukeyser (who also went
to Spain). Her poem The Book of the Dead, about the silicosis suffered by
miners in West Virginia in the 1930s, is to me an exemplar of what a
political poem can be - first of all, a great poem. And her book The Life of
Poetry is a totally inspiring text about what poetry can be and mean.
Another example is Akhmatova, though I have always wondered about her claim
that she can "say this" (in Requiem). Or Milosz at his best, that absolute
bitte. Or Kamau Brathwaite, and his wonderful evocations of the history and
mythology and language of the African diaspora. There are so many ways and
means.
I don't know how it is possible to maintain that poetry is outside politics,
if politics is taken in its widest sense, the study of power. To maintain
poetry is "above" politics is in itself political, and in a way that seems
to me to deny its own agenda and ideology, which I trace from Matthew
Arnold's thoughts on culture and the State in _Culture and Anarchy_.
All best
Alison
> > -----Original Message-----
> > From: Poetryetc provides a venue for a dialogue relating to
> > poetry and poetics [mailto:[log in to unmask]] On
> > Behalf Of Caleb Cluff
> > Sent: 13 September 2006 03:48
> > To: [log in to unmask]
> > Subject: Re: Political poetry
> >
>
> > To use the dead white male canon,
> > Auden/Orwell/Hemingway/Brenan saw action in Spain. The
> > singular horrors of that war would distill political thought, surely.
> >
> > Caleb
> >
>
--
Editor, Masthead: http://www.masthead.net.au
Blog: http://theatrenotes.blogspot.com
Home page: http://www.alisoncroggon.com
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