(Changed my e-mail address, it looked as though I was spamming! Sorry.)
Dear Stephen,
I doubt there is anything outside of politics.
Politics: the art and science of government
Government: the act or manner of governing
Govern: rule, control, influence, sway
A coral reef rules and is ruled by, controls and is controlled by,
influences and is influenced by, sways and is swayed by creatures dependant
upon it, creatures it depends on, factors (wind,waves,homo-sapiens) that
control / influence those other factors that control / influence it...and on
and on and on...
It doesn't have to do anything to be political and it cannot do anything to
prevent itself from being political.
Existence is about control / influence. The theory of evolution is the
theory of politics.
It isn't reductive. It isn't demeaning. It isn't awful though it should
inspire awe.
I don't feel reduced by this idea. Even pre-lifeform geology was political.
We are not alone. That makes us political.
Directly concerning poetry/art: there are people who by describing certain
work as political appear to be attempting
to consign such work to a lesser realm than the "non-political". Trouble
is, the second sort doesn't exist.
The statement "I will not be political" is a political statement.
Cliff Richard /The Osmonds / Boyzone / Pam Ayres / Rolf Harris are as
political as Dylan (B or T) or Len (non or in).
Sadly, I could not deny the argument that the first groups influence has
been and continues to be the greater.
Labi
----- Original Message -----
From: pain <[log in to unmask]>
To: Xavier Books <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Monday, November 15, 1999 5:34 AM
Subject: RE: Introduction
> Dear Labi,
>
> I had to think about this for a while!
>
> A coral reef in itself is not political, as it is outside politics, but
as
> a thing, it occupies space within territory and as such is subject to
man's
> terroritorial imperative. It is exploited. So we have two notions, two
> worldviews, one that is from the coral reef's point of view, and one from
> our own. Ah this intrigues me. At what stage does sexuality become
> political? I mean the relations between plants and animals are not in
> themselves political, only when they are subjected to human scrutiny.
> I suppose that politics and being human are synonymous --once we breath we
> exist within a political world, and yes every step we take is politicised.
> But something in me baulks at this reductionism, to reduce our relations
> with others and our outside world to politics, is an awful determinism.
That
> is why for me I consider my sexuality and my predilections and desires
> something different, something private, because it represents for me a
> freedom. In this respect I am a pragmatist recognising that others do see
> and view their sexuality in political terms, and they have every reason
for
> doing so because of the discriminatory practices of society at large, yet
I
> do on the otherhand see my private relations and sense of my sexuality to
be
> apolitical. I do not sign a social contract when I fall in love. But
perhaps
> that Cartesian notion of individuality that stretches back to the time
when
> that great misogynist Augustine looked in the mirror, has been
overturned?Is
> the "I" entirely arbitrary? Is love just a set of political relations? I
> suppose one might along Foucauldian lines argue that I have empowered by
my
> body, that I am a male, that I am white, and that my heterosexuality is a
> prime example of sexual imperialism along the lines of savoir/pouvoir
> axis --and undoubtedly it is true, that I cannot change, that is my
> political sexual identity, but just as one has different statuses, from
> library user, to voter, from employee, from this or that, I would like to
> argue that I do have a private sexual identity, and it is this one that I
> privilege. Of course then you might consider if I am deceiving myself,
that
> I am incapable of having a private sexual identity. Yet aren't they both
> epistemological constructs? The only difference is a question of
belief --if
> one believes this private identity to be political too. At that point I
> differ from you. Unless you will have politics ubiquitous, like Dickens'
> Chancery, and have it enter the core of my being. So yes we live in a
> politicised world, and one's sexuality is political, but for myself,
whether
> it be a touch of romanticism or what, I believe that I have a private
sexual
> identity. And in that respect I suspect I am no different from the coral
> reef. Lol.
>
> Yours Stephen.
>
>
----- Original Message -----
From: <[log in to unmask]>
To: pain <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Sunday, November 14, 1999 5.45 PM
> Hello Stephen
Thanks for the welcome.
You say, "I however do not politicise my sexuality".
You don't have to...your sexuality and everything about you is politicised
by dint of your existence. A coral reef is politicised merely by being a
coral reef in a world inhabited by humans; it doesn't need to write poetry
to be political.
Every breath we take...every move we make is political, politicised by our
existence (apologies to Sting).
Labi :-)
----- Original Message -----
From: pain <[log in to unmask]>
To: Xavier Books <[log in to unmask]>; <[log in to unmask]>
Sent: Saturday, November 13, 1999 2:50 AM
Subject: RE: Introduction
> Hello Labi,
>
> Good to have you on board the list. I remember your songs --and your
> performance -- and of course "It must be Love" for Madness. So you are in
> Wales. My twin brother is a Vicar in Monmouth --he used to be the vicar in
> Risca --I'm sure there is a limerick there somewhere. I'm in Japan, the
> outer reaches of consumerism, an island Disneyland, it is 11.33 in the
> morning, sun shining, an unbelievable 22 C today! Something has gone awry
> with the weather. Listening to a cheap, cheap cd, The Girl Can't Get It,
and
> Julie London singing " Cry Me A River". I know your bio --it is similar in
> some respects to mine, and very different in other respects. I was born in
> London --and I went to a boarding school in Northumberland where I
suffered
> a form of discrimination, a suble form, nothing as explicit and blatant as
> you did, it was the kind of discrimination meted out upon a shy boy who
had
> lived abroad (Singapore) and was different. My twin brother was better at
> dealing with that -- I on the otherhand could think of nothing but running
> away. I left school at sixteen on account of that, With regard to
sexuality
> or identity, well I lean more towards the heterosexual, but that is much
> more complicated than it seems --like the parameters of gay sexuality as
you
> know-- I however do not politicize my sexuality or give it borders --My
> ethnicity is interesting. Because I am caucasian to look at, my mother is
> English, but my biological father was American and of unknown ethnic
> background --I only learnt my English father wasn't my real father after
> thirty eight years. It was extraordinary, a great relief because he had
been
> a role model I could never follow, and it took a toll on my confidence in
> myself, and undoubtedly undermined my sense of identity --all those years
I
> thought something was amiss --strange.
>
> I would love to hear your comments regarding rhythmic
considerations --check
> the Britishpoets archives.
>
> Yours,
>
>
> Stephen Pain
>
> -----Original Message-----
> ol : Xavier Books <[log in to unmask]>
> ^ : [log in to unmask] <[log in to unmask]>
> "Zz : 1999"N11OZ13" 3:30
> O- : Introduction
>
>
> >Hello British Poets
> >
> >This is Labi Siffre signing in
> >
> >12th November 1999
> >
> >Best wishes to you all
> >
> >
> >
>
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