The Use and Abuse of Literature - Marjorie Garber [87]
Can Poetry Make “Nothing” Happen?
The combination of poetry and advocacy, we might note, is as vital and necessary today as it was centuries ago. When the poet Robert Bly accepted the National Book Award for poetry in 1969, he invoked the moral authority of the radical intellectuals of the sixties:
We have some things to be proud of. No one needs to be ashamed of the acts of civil disobedience committed in the tradition of Thoreau. What Dr. Coffin did was magnificent; the fact that Yale University did not do it is what is sad. What Mr. Berrigan did was noble; the fact that the Catholic church did not do it is what is sad. What Mitchell Goodman did here last year was needed and in good taste … In an age of gross and savage crimes by legal governments, the institutions will have to learn responsibility, learn to take their part in preserving the nation, and take their risk by committing acts of disobedience. The book companies can find ways to act like Thoreau, whom they publish. Where were the publishing houses when Dr. Spock and Mr. Goodman and Mr. Raskin—all three writers—were indicted? …
You have given me an award for a book that has many poems in it against the war. I thank you for the award. As for the thousand-dollar check, I am turning it over to the draft-resistance movement, specifically to the organization called the Resistance …28
The only dated part of the speech is the amount of the check. Today’s National Book Award winners each get ten thousand dollars and a trophy.
But there is something moving about the spectacle of a poet trying to change the world with “many poems against the war” and a thousand-dollar check. Especially when we contrast it to the cancellation of a proposed White House symposium on “Poetry and the American Voice” convened by First Lady Laura Bush for Lincoln’s birthday, February 12, 2003. When the poet and editor Sam Hamill responded to the invitation by sending out an e-mail urging invitees to send him poems and statements opposing the invasion of Iraq, he received over 5,300 submissions, from poets as well known as Adrienne Rich, Lawrence Ferlinghetti, Philip Levine, and Diane di Prima. The symposium was postponed indefinitely, and the White House put out the following statement: “While Mrs. Bush understands the right of all Americans to express their political views, this event was designed to celebrate poetry.”
Slam Dunk
Outside of the classroom poetry is often a specialized interest, what consumer guides call a niche product. But in recent years audiences have been drawn to two kinds of in-person cultural performances: the poetry reading and the poetry slam. The former typically takes place in a bookstore, café, or college auditorium. The speaker is a well-known poet or several—often, but not always, appearing in connection with the publication of a new book. The slam features individuals or teams who speak within a strict time limit (three minutes) and are awarded points by a judge for their performance. Participants in poetry slams are usually young, often influenced by hip-hop or dub poetry, and sometimes connected to youth poetry organizations. Although in both formats—the reading and the slam—poets occasionally recite works by others, the characteristic mode is personal performance of one’s own work.
Responses to slam culture have, predictably, been varied. The New York Times reported that Harold Bloom called poetry slams “the death of art.”29 Still, it’s undeniable that poetry has attracted new enthusiasts, younger participants, and high energy in recent years, in part through this medium of performance.*
The Renaissance lyric gained popularity through the performances of troubadours and the global phenomenon of Petrarchism, so it’s not so unlikely that a new generation, for whom downloading songs on iPods and other MP3 players is second nature, should make the connection between song and poem. The word lyric dates back etymologically to a time when a poem was sung