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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32 AMERICAN POLITICAL POETRY<br />
Mov<strong>in</strong>g Forward<br />
As I often tell my students, all writ<strong>in</strong>g is about choice. The choices<br />
I made <strong>in</strong> writ<strong>in</strong>g this book reveal much about my biases, aes<strong>the</strong>tic<br />
preferences, and <strong>political</strong> commitments. In <strong>the</strong> conclusion of this<br />
book I consider some notable exclusions—Language Poetry, spoken<br />
word, and <strong>poetry</strong> with o<strong>the</strong>r primary forms of agency—I made <strong>in</strong><br />
writ<strong>in</strong>g about <strong>the</strong> landscape of contemporary American <strong>poetry</strong>.<br />
Fur<strong>the</strong>r, my basic categories of <strong>political</strong> <strong>poetry</strong> are not exhaustive nor<br />
are <strong>the</strong>ir borders hermetically sealed aga<strong>in</strong>st <strong>the</strong> <strong>in</strong>fluences of o<strong>the</strong>r literary<br />
figures of voice. As such, <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> conclusion I give a read<strong>in</strong>g of a<br />
poem that spans strategies—Dove’s “The House Slave”—and of one<br />
that uses humor as its primary form of poetic agency.<br />
The most obvious choice I made was <strong>in</strong> terms of my <strong>the</strong>oretical<br />
framework. In this book I put forth a new model for understand<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong> varieties of American <strong>political</strong> <strong>poetry</strong> from <strong>the</strong> mid-1960s to <strong>the</strong><br />
present. Most critical studies of American <strong>poetry</strong> are organized by<br />
<strong>the</strong>me (Vietnam War <strong>poetry</strong>, for <strong>in</strong>stance), by writer identity (that is,<br />
Chicana/o <strong>poetry</strong>, African American <strong>poetry</strong>), or by conceptual category<br />
(that is, <strong>poetry</strong> of “witness”). These frames are limit<strong>in</strong>g, often<br />
lead<strong>in</strong>g us away from <strong>the</strong> language itself and <strong>in</strong>to ever-narrow<strong>in</strong>g<br />
<strong>the</strong>matic concerns and/or identity categories. I argue that <strong>political</strong><br />
<strong>poetry</strong> overflows <strong>the</strong>se boundaries and settles more dynamically <strong>in</strong>to a<br />
collection of dist<strong>in</strong>ct, but overlapp<strong>in</strong>g, rhetorical strategies. These<br />
strategies foreground various k<strong>in</strong>ds of poetic agency that have unique<br />
ways of act<strong>in</strong>g <strong>political</strong>ly. Analyz<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> ways that <strong>political</strong> agency is<br />
actualized <strong>in</strong> poems’ rhetorical strategies, specifically <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong>ir figures of<br />
voice, allows for <strong>the</strong> cont<strong>in</strong>gencies of identity positions and <strong>the</strong>matic<br />
concerns while emphasiz<strong>in</strong>g how poems address social, economic, and<br />
<strong>political</strong> issues. Most importantly, I believe, it allows us to talk about<br />
<strong>poetry</strong> <strong>in</strong> a more expansive manner, and it move us away from arguments<br />
that <strong>poetry</strong> “makes noth<strong>in</strong>g happen” to conversations about<br />
how poems <strong>the</strong>mselves happen.<br />
I hope, <strong>the</strong>n, that this book illustrates successfully <strong>the</strong> various poetic<br />
strategies and types of agency contemporary American poets use to<br />
give <strong>the</strong>ir poems <strong>political</strong> life. I believe that hip-hop music and pr<strong>in</strong>ted<br />
<strong>poetry</strong> are vibrant and excit<strong>in</strong>g aspects of contemporary American culture.<br />
By plac<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong>se various forms of contemporary American <strong>poetry</strong><br />
<strong>in</strong> conversation with each o<strong>the</strong>r, this project contends that <strong>poetry</strong> grapples<br />
ably and <strong>in</strong> myriad ways with <strong>the</strong> complexities of geopolitics, social<br />
<strong>in</strong>justices, and politics writ large. In juxtaposition <strong>the</strong>y can tell us much<br />
about each o<strong>the</strong>r’s vulnerabilities and competencies. However, I do