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
You also want an ePaper? Increase the reach of your titles
YUMPU automatically turns print PDFs into web optimized ePapers that Google loves.
CONCLUSION 195<br />
The debate about <strong>the</strong> usefulness of <strong>poetry</strong> began <strong>in</strong> earnest <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong><br />
United States <strong>in</strong> 1991 with <strong>the</strong> appearance of poet-critic Dana Gioia’s<br />
“Can Poetry Matter?” <strong>in</strong> The Atlantic. Noth<strong>in</strong>g, however, has been<br />
resolved or calcified <strong>in</strong> this debate but <strong>the</strong> debate itself. As mentioned<br />
<strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> preface, <strong>the</strong> debate pits—centuries after Tu Fu—those who want<br />
to make <strong>poetry</strong> “obviously important” and those disparate factions<br />
who want to disparage <strong>poetry</strong> as useless at best, an obstruction to<br />
might and power at worst. 7 My goal here is not to stake my own claim<br />
<strong>in</strong> this debate; I mention it simply as a checkpo<strong>in</strong>t on <strong>the</strong> way to a more<br />
critical question. In lament<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> place of <strong>poetry</strong> <strong>in</strong> U.S. culture,<br />
many critics miss most of its places. Tu Fu wrote, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> poem that<br />
laments <strong>poetry</strong>’s solitude, “Everywhere <strong>the</strong> workers s<strong>in</strong>g wild songs”<br />
(29). These songs, <strong>the</strong> poem suggests, thrive and <strong>in</strong>spire even as we<br />
lament for “<strong>poetry</strong>.” Poetry, <strong>the</strong>n, is song—Bob Dylan’s, Bright<br />
Eyes’s, and Jill Scott’s; slave spirituals and work<strong>in</strong>g-class chants <strong>in</strong><br />
stands of soccer stadiums <strong>in</strong> Quito and Lima; and Rita Dove’s, June<br />
Jordan’s, Anthony Hecht’s, Simon Ortiz’s, Li-Young Lee’s, and Def<br />
Poetry Jam. But it is also <strong>the</strong> force that <strong>in</strong>spires, enchants, and mobilizes<br />
poor city youth <strong>the</strong> world over <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> many forms of hip-hop<br />
music, <strong>in</strong> Tokyo, New York, Cape Town, Mexico City, Vancouver, and<br />
Los Angeles. What is needed <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> debate about <strong>poetry</strong>, and what<br />
I have tried to create <strong>in</strong> this book, is a wider frame of reference for<br />
<strong>poetry</strong> and for <strong>the</strong> criticism that should nurture, challenge, and<br />
promote it.<br />
The terms of <strong>the</strong> debate, <strong>in</strong> o<strong>the</strong>r words, have not kept up with <strong>the</strong><br />
object of <strong>the</strong> debate. Poetry re<strong>in</strong>vents itself, much as hip-hop does, as<br />
it goes, and our critical understand<strong>in</strong>g of it lags beh<strong>in</strong>d. David Haven<br />
Blake’s recent article “Read<strong>in</strong>g Whitman, Grow<strong>in</strong>g up Rock ‘n’ Roll”<br />
claims that if Whitman were alive <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1960s and 1970s <strong>in</strong>stead of<br />
one hundred years previously, he would have been a rock star or folk<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ger-songwriter. 8 Bob Dylan has mentioned <strong>in</strong> pass<strong>in</strong>g that if he<br />
were born <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1970s or 1980s he would be a rapper ra<strong>the</strong>r than a<br />
s<strong>in</strong>ger. These two anecdotes suggest that <strong>poetry</strong>—both performed<br />
and pr<strong>in</strong>ted—reifies itself <strong>in</strong> unpredictable ways over time. Critics,<br />
unfortunately, have a difficult time keep<strong>in</strong>g up with <strong>the</strong> changes and<br />
<strong>the</strong> ways that <strong>poetry</strong> lives and re<strong>in</strong>vents itself <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> marg<strong>in</strong>s.<br />
Both anecdotes also <strong>in</strong>dicate that <strong>poetry</strong> is reify<strong>in</strong>g as a musical<br />
ra<strong>the</strong>r than literary form. Poets such as Joy Harjo, Miguel Algarín,<br />
Sherman Alexie, and o<strong>the</strong>rs perform <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>poetry</strong> with bands. Robert<br />
Hass’s comments about <strong>the</strong> <strong>political</strong> nature of rhythm po<strong>in</strong>t directly<br />
to <strong>the</strong> power of <strong>poetry</strong> and music toge<strong>the</strong>r: “Because rhythm has