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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INTRODUCTION 29<br />
Alegría once commented that she would refuse to shake <strong>the</strong> hand of<br />
any Nicaraguan writer who did not address <strong>the</strong> revolution and U.S.<br />
<strong>in</strong>tervention <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> 1980s (Jaffe 3).<br />
Consequently, <strong>the</strong> bil<strong>in</strong>gual and transcultural Lat<strong>in</strong>o/a poems<br />
I discuss <strong>in</strong> chapter 3 are emblematic of <strong>the</strong> heightened possibilities<br />
for <strong>poetry</strong> as public discourse and as a way to create community, to<br />
call disparate languages and experiences <strong>in</strong>to communion—a type of<br />
accord through discord—even though many of <strong>the</strong>se poems are<br />
laments for <strong>the</strong> difficulties of liv<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> United States. English alone<br />
is <strong>in</strong>sufficient for <strong>the</strong> k<strong>in</strong>ds of <strong>political</strong> and social work <strong>the</strong>se poems<br />
attempt. Ra<strong>the</strong>r than serve as a supplement to English, Spanish is a<br />
crucial partner <strong>in</strong> remak<strong>in</strong>g “America,” where most people speak<br />
Spanish, not English. Moreover, <strong>in</strong> poems such as Jimmy Santiago<br />
Baca’s “Mi Tío Baca el Poeta de Socorro,” <strong>poetry</strong> itself has a palpable<br />
agency tied directly to be<strong>in</strong>g Chicano, to speak<strong>in</strong>g Spanish—<strong>the</strong><br />
speaker’s uncle’s “poems roused la gente / to demand <strong>the</strong>ir land<br />
rights back.” Poems of migratory agency, <strong>the</strong>refore, traverse<br />
geographical and l<strong>in</strong>guistic boundaries and make apparent <strong>the</strong> <strong>political</strong><br />
character of language, migration/immigration, and community.<br />
In chapter 4, I argue that hip-hop, especially when performed live<br />
at small clubs, has <strong>the</strong> most <strong>political</strong> power of any contemporary<br />
<strong>poetry</strong> because it can activate a powerful collective agency and a<br />
participatory <strong>political</strong> experience. Some readers only familiar with <strong>the</strong><br />
hip-hop culture <strong>the</strong>y see and hear on MTV and BET and <strong>in</strong><br />
McDonalds commercials may be tempted to dismiss this claim offhand.<br />
My claim, <strong>in</strong>deed, requires qualification. Not all hip-hop is<br />
<strong>political</strong>ly progressive or resistant to corporate, governmental, and<br />
societal structures of oppression, poverty, violence, racism, and <strong>in</strong>justice.<br />
Much commercial hip-hop, especially <strong>the</strong> multi-plat<strong>in</strong>um pop<br />
variety, could be said to embody an <strong>in</strong>dividualistic, hypermaterialistic,<br />
and consumptive agency. It no longer scares politicians, pundits, or<br />
parents because it can seem ludicrous on its surface and because it<br />
implicitly supports many dom<strong>in</strong>ant American values concern<strong>in</strong>g consumption<br />
and <strong>the</strong> pursuit of <strong>in</strong>dividual wealth. However, hip-hop<br />
culture is richer, more varied, and much more complex than ma<strong>in</strong>stream<br />
radio and cable television suggest. Many hip-hop artists make<br />
<strong>in</strong>cisive, creative, and socio<strong>political</strong>ly conscious music; <strong>the</strong>se artists,<br />
I would argue, have <strong>the</strong>ir f<strong>in</strong>gers on <strong>the</strong> pulse of <strong>the</strong> nation’s multicultural<br />
urban spaces more so than poets who work <strong>in</strong> pr<strong>in</strong>t. Many of<br />
<strong>the</strong>se artists’ lyrics and live performances display a powerful type of<br />
community-based agency, what I call a contestatory urban agency. 15<br />
These artists, moreover, challenge not only <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>justices of <strong>the</strong> larger