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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EQUIVOCAL AGENCY 79<br />
events, <strong>the</strong> poems <strong>in</strong> chapter 2 may not refer directly to a discrete<br />
event or to a historical period. For example, <strong>the</strong> Charles Simic war<br />
poems I discuss do not refer to a particular war or socio<strong>political</strong> context;<br />
<strong>in</strong> contrast, most of Yusef Komunyakaa’s Vietnam poems are<br />
bounded by that war and a soldier’s experience of it. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, Robert<br />
Bly’s poems about <strong>the</strong> Vietnam War do not rely on poetic agency<br />
from experience. Instead, his protest poems are surreal, imagistic<br />
pieces with startl<strong>in</strong>g juxtapositions and strange disconnections from<br />
<strong>the</strong> referential world.<br />
There is also a sharp divide with<strong>in</strong> <strong>political</strong> poems of equivocal<br />
agency. Whereas many have a referential context discernable from <strong>the</strong><br />
poem’s content, subject, title, or strategic placement <strong>in</strong> a volume of<br />
<strong>poetry</strong>, o<strong>the</strong>rs do not have a specific context or subject. To utilize <strong>the</strong><br />
above examples, Komunyakaa’s Vietnam poems appear <strong>in</strong> a volume of<br />
exclusively Vietnam poems, Dien Cai Dau, where <strong>the</strong> title is <strong>in</strong><br />
Vietnamese. Fur<strong>the</strong>r, <strong>the</strong> front cover features photographs of soldiers,<br />
<strong>the</strong> back cover a photograph of Komunyakaa <strong>in</strong> uniform, <strong>the</strong> epigraph<br />
is dedicated to his bro<strong>the</strong>r “who saw The Nam before” Komunyakaa<br />
did, and <strong>the</strong> first l<strong>in</strong>e <strong>in</strong> <strong>the</strong> volume is “We tied branches to our helmets”<br />
(“Camouflag<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Chimera”). In contrast, even though<br />
many readers may know that Simic grew up <strong>in</strong> German-occupied<br />
Belgrade dur<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> 1940s, “Paradise Motel” (A Wedd<strong>in</strong>g <strong>in</strong> Hell<br />
1994) and “Cameo Appearance” (Walk<strong>in</strong>g <strong>the</strong> Black Cat 1996) do<br />
not have specific contexts as part of <strong>the</strong>ir rhetorical strategies. The<br />
architecture of <strong>the</strong>se poems is designed to suspend time, place, and<br />
experience <strong>in</strong> favor of imag<strong>in</strong>ative breadth. 1<br />
There are two primary rhetorical strategies <strong>in</strong> poems of equivocal<br />
agency. The first strategy is comprehensive, <strong>in</strong> which <strong>the</strong> poem is<br />
divested of identifiable context <strong>in</strong> order to create a more encompass<strong>in</strong>g<br />
and <strong>in</strong>clusive vision of a socioeconomic reality. These poems are<br />
largely unbounded by <strong>the</strong> limitations of strict context-formed discourse.<br />
To cont<strong>in</strong>ue with <strong>the</strong> war example, <strong>the</strong>se comprehensive<br />
poems are about war <strong>in</strong> general or some aspect, result, or effect of<br />
contemporary warfare. The second strategy is particular. These<br />
poems are directed at and comment on a specific context, situation, or<br />
dynamic. They are not about war or about poverty; <strong>the</strong>y are about a<br />
war <strong>in</strong> Vietnam or poverty <strong>in</strong> Detroit. There is, however, a substantial<br />
area of overlap between <strong>the</strong> two types of equivocal agency. Both types<br />
employ similar strategies, but <strong>the</strong>ir <strong>in</strong>tended <strong>in</strong>terventions diverge.<br />
A poem that speaks to racism <strong>in</strong> general uses a different strategy and<br />
perhaps has potentially different effects than one that speaks to racism<br />
<strong>in</strong> South Africa. I do not <strong>in</strong>tend to create a strict global/local