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
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144 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
representative, <strong>in</strong> a l<strong>in</strong>e extend<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> Americas from Whitman to<br />
Neruda to numerous rappers. For Baca’s speaker, though, <strong>the</strong> imperative<br />
to fight for <strong>the</strong> oppressed is still urgent, but <strong>the</strong> means to do so<br />
seem <strong>in</strong>accessible <strong>in</strong> an age of cynicism. Yúdice longs for <strong>the</strong> au<strong>the</strong>nticity<br />
of “non-mediated communication that testimonio makes<br />
possible” (Rosman 128; orig<strong>in</strong>al emphasis), but <strong>the</strong> speaker-poet <strong>in</strong><br />
Baca’s poem <strong>in</strong> fact suggests that <strong>the</strong> word—prayers, poems, testimonios,<br />
stories—always mediates between generations and cultures, and that<br />
without <strong>the</strong> word, any hope for “faith, prayer, and forgiveness” is lost.<br />
Baca and <strong>the</strong> testimonio critics are skeptical of <strong>the</strong> poet’s role as representative;<br />
however, U.S. Puerto Rican poet Martín Espada’s self-proclaimed<br />
“<strong>poetry</strong> of advocacy” speaks “on behalf of those without an<br />
opportunity to be heard” (Dick 29). For <strong>the</strong> former immigrant rights<br />
lawyer, creat<strong>in</strong>g a global poetics of justice is a primary aes<strong>the</strong>tic concern.<br />
Like Robert Hass, who has claimed—as discussed <strong>in</strong> chapter 1—that<br />
creat<strong>in</strong>g images of justice and <strong>in</strong>justice is <strong>the</strong> best way for a poet to be<br />
<strong>political</strong>, Espada is primarily concerned with <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>tersections of<br />
<strong>poetry</strong> and justice. Espada’s “Mariano Expla<strong>in</strong>s Yanqui Colonialism to<br />
Judge Coll<strong>in</strong>gs” actuates a poetic agency that migrates between three<br />
different discourses/languages, while simultaneously search<strong>in</strong>g for a<br />
voice that advocates for justice. This brief poem looks like a fragment<br />
of a play:<br />
Judge: Does <strong>the</strong> prisoner understand his rights?<br />
Interpreter: ¿Entiende usted sus derechos?<br />
Prisoner: ¡Pa’l carajo!<br />
Interpreter: Yes. (45; orig<strong>in</strong>al emphasis)<br />
The courtroom dialogue features three voices, each of which<br />
illum<strong>in</strong>ates a primary space <strong>in</strong> migratory agency—often oppressive<br />
U.S. <strong>in</strong>stitutional power structures (“Judge”), U.S. citizens who<br />
mediate between presumably extralegal migrants and those<br />
structures (“Interpreter”), and migrants who live outside those structures<br />
(“Prisoner”). I argue, <strong>the</strong>n, that <strong>the</strong> Prisoner has not broken a<br />
specific law, but <strong>the</strong> system itself; thus, Espada’s title addresses <strong>the</strong><br />
encompass<strong>in</strong>g context <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> migrant “prisoner” f<strong>in</strong>ds himself.<br />
Peruvian economist Hernando de Soto expla<strong>in</strong>s that extralegal<br />
migrants to cities <strong>in</strong> develop<strong>in</strong>g countries—which can be extrapolated<br />
here to immigrants from <strong>the</strong>se countries to <strong>the</strong> United States, where<br />
<strong>the</strong>y still live extralegally—do not “so much break <strong>the</strong> law as <strong>the</strong> law<br />
breaks <strong>the</strong>m,” so “<strong>the</strong>y opt out of <strong>the</strong> system.” He cont<strong>in</strong>ues that “it<br />
is very nearly as difficult to stay legal as it is to become legal” because