american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
american political poetry in the 21st century - STIBA Malang
Create successful ePaper yourself
Turn your PDF publications into a flip-book with our unique Google optimized e-Paper software.
There is great facetiousness <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> penultimate l<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> speaker’s<br />
declaration that her students will respond to questions of “Do you<br />
speak English?” with “of course. I love English!” This voice and <strong>the</strong><br />
exclamation mark suggest that <strong>the</strong> students’ “love” of English is an<br />
act. The poem’s f<strong>in</strong>al l<strong>in</strong>e is slow and measured after a poem of quick,<br />
enjambed rhythms and fast l<strong>in</strong>es. The speaker concludes that speak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
English will be undergirded by o<strong>the</strong>r more ancient rhythms. She says,<br />
“And you’ll hum / a Mextec chant that touches la tierra and <strong>the</strong><br />
heavens.” Because <strong>the</strong> speaker says this l<strong>in</strong>e immediately follow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
“I love English!” it is a rem<strong>in</strong>der that <strong>the</strong> immigrant students will<br />
make sense of <strong>the</strong> world with <strong>the</strong>ir native expressive traditions.<br />
English will be <strong>the</strong> language of <strong>the</strong> everyday bus<strong>in</strong>ess transaction,<br />
Spanish and o<strong>the</strong>r <strong>in</strong>digenous languages <strong>the</strong> media of song, <strong>poetry</strong>, of<br />
“la tierra and <strong>the</strong> heavens.” In this poem, <strong>the</strong>n, <strong>the</strong> alternat<strong>in</strong>g use of<br />
English and Spanish enacts <strong>the</strong> sociol<strong>in</strong>guistic agency of <strong>the</strong> migrant<br />
even as it foregrounds <strong>the</strong> glass ceil<strong>in</strong>g that traps and channels <strong>the</strong>m<br />
<strong>in</strong>to careers migrat<strong>in</strong>g between restaurants and, <strong>in</strong> light of potential<br />
crackdowns on illegal immigrants, safe houses.<br />
Migratory Agency and<br />
<strong>the</strong> ITALICS Question<br />
MIGRATORY AGENCY 139<br />
The previous three poems of migratory agency require competent<br />
bil<strong>in</strong>gual readers. They would frustrate monol<strong>in</strong>gual readers, send<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong>m to <strong>the</strong> dictionary/diccionario too many times to have a fluid<br />
read<strong>in</strong>g experience. This disruption is a critical aspect of <strong>the</strong>se poems’<br />
figures of voice; each disruption highlights <strong>the</strong> rift between languages<br />
and cultures enacted for bil<strong>in</strong>gual and non-English-speak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
Lat<strong>in</strong>as/os on a daily basis. Code switch<strong>in</strong>g also <strong>in</strong>terrupts <strong>the</strong> dom<strong>in</strong>ance<br />
of English and challenges its “mastery” of lesser “foreign” languages.<br />
As such, <strong>the</strong>se poems are <strong>in</strong>tended for competent bil<strong>in</strong>gual<br />
readers. If a poet must imag<strong>in</strong>e her audience, <strong>the</strong> imag<strong>in</strong>ed audience<br />
for <strong>the</strong> previous poems of migratory agency is bil<strong>in</strong>gual.<br />
There are, however, poems of migratory agency that are not fully<br />
bil<strong>in</strong>gual. These primarily English poems highlight or foreground<br />
Spanish words, phrases, and titles without exclud<strong>in</strong>g monol<strong>in</strong>gual<br />
English speakers from comprehend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>m. Novelist and poet Pat<br />
Mora’s comments on her use of Spanish <strong>in</strong> primarily English works is<br />
<strong>in</strong>structive: “I’m writ<strong>in</strong>g to a great extent for an English-speak<strong>in</strong>g<br />
audience. I am bil<strong>in</strong>gual, though English-dom<strong>in</strong>ant. I’m <strong>in</strong>terested <strong>in</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong>clud<strong>in</strong>g Spanish because it’s part of my world, it’s part of my<br />
m<strong>in</strong>d . . . There is subversion <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> use of Spanish, very consciously.”