LITERATURE AND NATION IN THE MIDDLE EAST

j. kristen urbanIn fact, so convoluted has the set of operative values become that, to preservethemselves, the audience of ‘Indian Speech’ are faced with the dilemma ofreconciling themselves to the contradiction that their noble past has somehowlived beyond itself. What then, is the point of memory?In order for us to live through out timethen leave, and return: return the spirits, one by one, to her.We keep the memory of our loved onesin jars, like oil and salt – whose nameswe tied to the wings of waterbirds.We were the first, no ceiling to separateour blue doors from the sky, no horses to grazewhere our deer used to graze.No strangers to intrude on the night of our wives.Let the wind have the flute to weep for the peopleof this wounded place, and tomorrow weep for you.And tomorrow, weep for you. [Section 4]In order for this drama to become a participatory dialogue between the poetand his audience, it must be understood that there is a public space dedicated tosuch conversation. 11 The anthropological principle of sacred space suggests thatfrom early historical times, human communities have understood the importanceof ritualised performance through which, as participants, they experienced ashared power of community, the effects of which transcended time and place.At the particularist level, the meaning of this experience would rest with thedegree to which empathic exchange has occurred. Levels of empathy, in turn,depend upon the perceived distance between the performer and his audience,which is also reflective of the extent to which boundaries between the two aredrawn.In the present instance, the space is sacred precisely because it invites anarration of stories, stories which define the meaning of the tribe – and here,the tribe is the audience. Thus the boundaries between the performer and hisaudience are blurred, the level of empathy is high, and the experience resonateswith a transcendent power of community. Darwish is a member of the tribe. Hespeaks not only with empirical credibility – having shared the Palestinian experienceof suffering – but with the force of a visionary, sensitive to the universalswhich exist through time.In this sacred space, the one in which the poet narrates his story, theaudience understands what this means. He writes in Section 5:Tending our last fires, we neglect to acknowledgeyour greetings: don’t write the commandmentsof your new god, the steely one, for us.Don’t demand a peace treaty from those— 88 —www.taq.ir