For once I agree with you Geraldine. Rightly or wrongly, there is nothing emotionally or humanistically at stake in Western poetry for it to ultimately matter.
I don’t think we should have a poetry X-Factor here, though, as we have too many poetry competitions and prizes as it is.
Original Message:
Alison,
I would say A Touch of Evil embraces the tragic - in fact the film is the most brilliant portrayal of the tragic brought about by corruption I can think of. I think you a being unfair to Hollywood.
I do think there is a tendency to be more lenient with other cultures and unfairly rubbish our own which is unhelpful. So we love an Arabic talent show for poetry but if we did one it would be, as Peter puts it, a 'facile travesty' - and he's probably right except it won't happen so he isn't right. Poetry has always flourished in repressive cultures - almost in ratio to the repression and the real story here is not game shows and the likes of John Cage not risking his life but of that fabulously courageous woman who has dared to speak out in such a starkly repressive culture knowing that a fatwa against her was inevitable. That takes some spunk.
G.M.
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