LITERATURE AND NATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

j. kristen urbanof man) is not beyond possibility. Integration along both the synchronic and thediachronic axes can be trans-individual and trans-cultural:… but he [Columbus] can’t seem to believethat all men are born equal, like air and water,outside the domain of his map!That they are born the sameas people in Barcelona are born, exceptthat they happen to worship naturein everything, not only gold. [Section 2]Yet because the white man has chosen the course of materialism and conquest,abandoning his synchronic, or essential nature, the possibility of wholenessseems at this point, remote. Further, since as human beings we are interconnected(from the point of view of the American Indian, who for Darwish lives metaphysicallyalong the synchronic dimension), the self-destructive path of thewhite man spells destruction for the rest of humanity as well:Isn’t it time, stranger, for us to meetin the same age, same land strangers bothwho happen to meet at the tipof an abyss? We havewhat is ours, what you have of sky. [Section 2]Where, white master, O where are you takingmy people, and yours?Into what abyssis this robot bristling with aircraft-carriers and jetscarrying the earth? To what fathomless pit will you ascend? [Section 6]This is the tragedy, the enduring pain. Resigned, the drama closes with:Have it your way.A new Rome, a technological Sparta andideology for the insane.But we’d rather depart an ageWe have not made our minds to accept. [Section 6]This is not a concern for vengeance but a recognition of historical facts – apreservation of the memories – surrounding the way in which the AmericanIndian (and any colonised people) view their pain. It lays itself out as a bridgebetween the two cultures in an historical paradigm, prophesying what thedestructive orientation of the West’s ‘progress’ will ultimately mean, if itcontinues to move forward in this fashion. The irony is that progress has notbrought understanding: the achievements along the diachronic axis have not ledto comparable achievements in the realm of the synchronic.Audience and Participation. 6 While a contemporary Arab poet who integratesa wide variety of poetical forms, Darwish also writes for an audience still— 84 —www.taq.ir