Therefore, If you are looking for interesting poetry to stumble upon, they can be purchased individually, or downloaded for free through Lulu.
Tuesday, September 22, 2009
Rain Over Bouville
Rain Over Bouville is a collection of works (poetry, thought, and expression) by the likes of Humphrey Astley (Founder and Editor), Adriana Sabatini, and David Mclean. Within this collection a plethora of fantastic poetry can be found. And Bouville continues to grow. Much of the work is still very surreptitious, which I enjoy the most about it.
Therefore, If you are looking for interesting poetry to stumble upon, they can be purchased individually, or downloaded for free through Lulu.
Therefore, If you are looking for interesting poetry to stumble upon, they can be purchased individually, or downloaded for free through Lulu.
Monday, September 21, 2009
Sunja Link Fall 2009.
These are just a few items from the collection, item's I like (because it's my blog).
AND My Favorite.
Sunja Link can be found at various boutiques throughout Canada; a good place to start is The Block located in Vancouver, BC.
Images taken from: sunjalink.com
AND My Favorite.
Sunja Link can be found at various boutiques throughout Canada; a good place to start is The Block located in Vancouver, BC.
Images taken from: sunjalink.com
Sunday, September 20, 2009
Canadian Poetry. 2007
In my high school social studies class (a long long long time ago) we were asked to write about current events and a famous Canadian, on the list of approved people was Leonard Cohen. I had listened to some of Cohen's music, was surprised to discover he is a respected poet, and was embarrassed (at my ignorance) to discover he is Canadian. I knew Cohen because of his music but it was his poetry that led me to discover the wealth of Canadian poets from E.J. Pratt to Margaret Atwood and many more. I was amazed to discover so many talented poets from such a short period of history and asked myself- why have I never heard of these people?
My question was one that defines much of Canada’s poetic heritage; a heritage of talented writers often ignored outside (and inside) the countries borders. Without the myriad of poetic history that many other countries have established over the course of centuries Canadian poetry is dismissed as an insignificant topic. International recognition is still a difficult task for Canadian poets to achieve. Regardless, poets like F.R. Scott, Dorothy Livesay, and Irving Layton have had a huge impact on Canadian poetry, challenging tradition, breaking down barriers, and exploring new poetic styles and themes, and in the process creating a poetic heritage. Modern and contemporary poets continue to expound a vast variety of content form and style; many of their poems with allusions to politics, economics, religion, and important social event from around the world.
One of the many established aspects of poetry that Canada’s modern poets challenged was form. Pre-modern poetry in Canada had the tendency to follow more static traditional Romantic and Victorian forms. Modern Canadian poets like P.K. Page and many others chose different forms to express their poetic vision. Page produced poems with such varying structure that they had both no, and complex form at once. Page’s poem “Arras” has at times an irregular rhyme pattern, no rhyme, and the intentional lack of rhyme: “Through whose eye / did it insulate in furled disguise […]” (5-6). Page uses an open form, changing the rhyme scheme, or lack there of, as the poem progresses. Notice the irregular rhyme scheme, the irregular length of line, and the use of enjambment, caesura, and end stopping in a single stanza, and the irregular length of the lines; “I ask, what did they deal me in this pack? / The cards, all suit, are royal when I look. / My fingerprints slipping on a monarch’s face / twitch and grow slack. / I want a hand to clutch, a heart to crack” (14-18). Although Page is well known for altering the form of her poems she is far from the only modern Canadian poet to do so. To varying degrees poets like F.R. Scott, Irving Layton, and Al Purdy would also play with form to convey new ideas.
Another convention of established poetry Canada’s modern poets rebelled against was the use of Romantic poetic language. A chief principle for these poets was to be exact in their choice of words and language, clarity and conciseness was paramount for Al Purdy and F.R. Scott. Purdy used vernacular language to set a satirical tone in much of his poetry. Purdy’s poem “At The Quinte Hotel” is overflowing with satire and vernacular: “[…] Now I am a sensitive man / so I say to him mildly as hell / “You shouldn’ta knocked over that good beer […]” (14-16). Purdy’s use of vernacular allows him to create the unexpected by juxtaposing crude language and simplistic beauty. In opposition to the (sometimes) simplistic beauty of Purdy’s vernacular are his misogynistic poems. Purdy’s representation of his wife’s grief from menstruation in “Home-Made Beer” is an attempt to identify with the common man, the attempt to create poetry for those who ‘typically’ don’t appreciate poetry.
F.R. Scott on the other hand uses the simplest language possible to convey his ideas. Scott’s poems resemble news stories you would hear on the radio or television taking only a few seconds to tell and having a significant impact considering their length. “After ten years of research / This great scientist / Made so valuable a discovery / That a big corporation actually paid him $150,000 / To keep it off the market” (Scott, Great discovery). Scott’s use of vernacular is not intended to attract the common man; rather is intended to be understood by everyone so the social message might reach as many people as possible. For Scott the subject of poetry was paramount and vernacular language a tool to achieve a wider audience.
The subject matter in modern Canadian poetry ranges far and wide from scenes of nature to politics to one-night stands. F.R. Scott was a lawyer, a socialist and a poet; his poems were a reflection of his values and political beliefs. In Scott’s poem “W.L.M.K” he asserts Mackenzie King as a man of “Ambiguity, inactivity, and political longevity” (32). Scott attacks the Canadian Prime Minister accredited with creating the old-age pension, unemployment insurance, and the family allowance; a curious reaction for an avid socialist I thought; soon, however, I realized the poets beliefs were part of a poem’s significance, and varies from one poet to another, the other significant aspect of modern Canadian poetry is it’s constant challenging of our beliefs.
Modern Canadian poets did not, however, stop at challenging the Canadian resolve solely on domestic issues. Dorothy Livesay concerned herself with important international issues and the Canadian response to them, likely contributing to our strong national sense of international justice. Livesay’s “Spain” is in response to the complacency in Canada to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Many countries from around the world including Ireland, the Soviet Union, Mexico, and the United States (unofficially for the U.S.A) allied themselves with a side in the conflict, historians see the Spanish Civil War as the prelude to World War II. The comfortable Canadian middle class should have been more attentive to the political situation in Europe-for their ignorance they paid a dear price, the loss of thousands in the Second World War. Modern Canadian poets confronted every aspect of life they could, from the kind of words we considered fit for literature to our notions of politics, and justice, and by doing so dare Canadians to define themselves.
Despite Canada’s rather short existence many poets have contributed to its poetic history and in doing so have created a poetic and literary heritage for future generations to follow. Canada’s modern poets contributed a tireless struggle against complacency, ignorance, and convention to our literary heritage that lives on in poets like Margaret Atwood and Leonard Cohen. Although Margaret Atwood was only beginning her career at the end of the modern Canadian poetic movement she espoused the struggle against injustice her predecessors began. Margaret Atwood was an important voice for the feminist movement in Canada using her poems to expose, not only, the inequalities faced by women, but also, the patriarchal ideas common in Canadian society. The situation in Atwood’s “They Eat Out” is an allegory to Canadian society and the problems faced by women “In restaurants we argue / over which of us will pay for your funeral” (1-2); Atwood represents the struggle for women to be accepted as having the right to work, illustrating the patriarchal and sometimes misogynistic outlook of men before and after the 1960’s.
Leonard Cohen too exemplifies the living heritage of Canadian Poetry. In his poems Cohen often highlights the struggle against prejudice and social problems affecting marginalized people. Cohen’s “The Music Crept By Us” demonstrates the social problems faced by the disadvantaged such as poverty alcoholism and sexually transmitted diseases “I’d like to remind / the management / that the drinks are watered / and the hat-check girl / has syphilis […]” (1-5). Cohen also demonstrates the prevalence of racism and the struggle against it in “The Genius” by sarcastically adopting stereotypes of Jewish people to illustrate the absurdity of racism “For you / I will be a ghetto jew / and dance / and put white stockings / on my twisted limbs / and poison wells/ across the town […] / For you / I will be a banker jew […] / For you / I will be a doctor jew […]” (1-27). Cohen’s poems and others serve as continuations and contributions to Canada’s literary heritage.
Canada’s literary heritage is one with a rich variety of form, language, theme and style; it has developed for over a hundred years and has been significantly contributed to by Canada’s modern poets. They have created a tough poetic and literary landscape that: refuses to be idle, challenges Canadians to be open minded and accepting of new ideas, challenge convention, and always demand better from ourselves. No doubt the modern Canadian poets have helped to sculpt Canadians sense of justice and morality, to become a nation of many peoples, creeds, religions, and affiliations. Irving Layton sums up the poet’s role as a voice against ignorance: “There are brightest apples on those trees / but until I, fabulist, have spoken / they do not know their significance” (Layton, “The Fertile Muck”).
My question was one that defines much of Canada’s poetic heritage; a heritage of talented writers often ignored outside (and inside) the countries borders. Without the myriad of poetic history that many other countries have established over the course of centuries Canadian poetry is dismissed as an insignificant topic. International recognition is still a difficult task for Canadian poets to achieve. Regardless, poets like F.R. Scott, Dorothy Livesay, and Irving Layton have had a huge impact on Canadian poetry, challenging tradition, breaking down barriers, and exploring new poetic styles and themes, and in the process creating a poetic heritage. Modern and contemporary poets continue to expound a vast variety of content form and style; many of their poems with allusions to politics, economics, religion, and important social event from around the world.
One of the many established aspects of poetry that Canada’s modern poets challenged was form. Pre-modern poetry in Canada had the tendency to follow more static traditional Romantic and Victorian forms. Modern Canadian poets like P.K. Page and many others chose different forms to express their poetic vision. Page produced poems with such varying structure that they had both no, and complex form at once. Page’s poem “Arras” has at times an irregular rhyme pattern, no rhyme, and the intentional lack of rhyme: “Through whose eye / did it insulate in furled disguise […]” (5-6). Page uses an open form, changing the rhyme scheme, or lack there of, as the poem progresses. Notice the irregular rhyme scheme, the irregular length of line, and the use of enjambment, caesura, and end stopping in a single stanza, and the irregular length of the lines; “I ask, what did they deal me in this pack? / The cards, all suit, are royal when I look. / My fingerprints slipping on a monarch’s face / twitch and grow slack. / I want a hand to clutch, a heart to crack” (14-18). Although Page is well known for altering the form of her poems she is far from the only modern Canadian poet to do so. To varying degrees poets like F.R. Scott, Irving Layton, and Al Purdy would also play with form to convey new ideas.
Another convention of established poetry Canada’s modern poets rebelled against was the use of Romantic poetic language. A chief principle for these poets was to be exact in their choice of words and language, clarity and conciseness was paramount for Al Purdy and F.R. Scott. Purdy used vernacular language to set a satirical tone in much of his poetry. Purdy’s poem “At The Quinte Hotel” is overflowing with satire and vernacular: “[…] Now I am a sensitive man / so I say to him mildly as hell / “You shouldn’ta knocked over that good beer […]” (14-16). Purdy’s use of vernacular allows him to create the unexpected by juxtaposing crude language and simplistic beauty. In opposition to the (sometimes) simplistic beauty of Purdy’s vernacular are his misogynistic poems. Purdy’s representation of his wife’s grief from menstruation in “Home-Made Beer” is an attempt to identify with the common man, the attempt to create poetry for those who ‘typically’ don’t appreciate poetry.
F.R. Scott on the other hand uses the simplest language possible to convey his ideas. Scott’s poems resemble news stories you would hear on the radio or television taking only a few seconds to tell and having a significant impact considering their length. “After ten years of research / This great scientist / Made so valuable a discovery / That a big corporation actually paid him $150,000 / To keep it off the market” (Scott, Great discovery). Scott’s use of vernacular is not intended to attract the common man; rather is intended to be understood by everyone so the social message might reach as many people as possible. For Scott the subject of poetry was paramount and vernacular language a tool to achieve a wider audience.
The subject matter in modern Canadian poetry ranges far and wide from scenes of nature to politics to one-night stands. F.R. Scott was a lawyer, a socialist and a poet; his poems were a reflection of his values and political beliefs. In Scott’s poem “W.L.M.K” he asserts Mackenzie King as a man of “Ambiguity, inactivity, and political longevity” (32). Scott attacks the Canadian Prime Minister accredited with creating the old-age pension, unemployment insurance, and the family allowance; a curious reaction for an avid socialist I thought; soon, however, I realized the poets beliefs were part of a poem’s significance, and varies from one poet to another, the other significant aspect of modern Canadian poetry is it’s constant challenging of our beliefs.
Modern Canadian poets did not, however, stop at challenging the Canadian resolve solely on domestic issues. Dorothy Livesay concerned herself with important international issues and the Canadian response to them, likely contributing to our strong national sense of international justice. Livesay’s “Spain” is in response to the complacency in Canada to the Spanish Civil War (1936-39). Many countries from around the world including Ireland, the Soviet Union, Mexico, and the United States (unofficially for the U.S.A) allied themselves with a side in the conflict, historians see the Spanish Civil War as the prelude to World War II. The comfortable Canadian middle class should have been more attentive to the political situation in Europe-for their ignorance they paid a dear price, the loss of thousands in the Second World War. Modern Canadian poets confronted every aspect of life they could, from the kind of words we considered fit for literature to our notions of politics, and justice, and by doing so dare Canadians to define themselves.
Despite Canada’s rather short existence many poets have contributed to its poetic history and in doing so have created a poetic and literary heritage for future generations to follow. Canada’s modern poets contributed a tireless struggle against complacency, ignorance, and convention to our literary heritage that lives on in poets like Margaret Atwood and Leonard Cohen. Although Margaret Atwood was only beginning her career at the end of the modern Canadian poetic movement she espoused the struggle against injustice her predecessors began. Margaret Atwood was an important voice for the feminist movement in Canada using her poems to expose, not only, the inequalities faced by women, but also, the patriarchal ideas common in Canadian society. The situation in Atwood’s “They Eat Out” is an allegory to Canadian society and the problems faced by women “In restaurants we argue / over which of us will pay for your funeral” (1-2); Atwood represents the struggle for women to be accepted as having the right to work, illustrating the patriarchal and sometimes misogynistic outlook of men before and after the 1960’s.
Leonard Cohen too exemplifies the living heritage of Canadian Poetry. In his poems Cohen often highlights the struggle against prejudice and social problems affecting marginalized people. Cohen’s “The Music Crept By Us” demonstrates the social problems faced by the disadvantaged such as poverty alcoholism and sexually transmitted diseases “I’d like to remind / the management / that the drinks are watered / and the hat-check girl / has syphilis […]” (1-5). Cohen also demonstrates the prevalence of racism and the struggle against it in “The Genius” by sarcastically adopting stereotypes of Jewish people to illustrate the absurdity of racism “For you / I will be a ghetto jew / and dance / and put white stockings / on my twisted limbs / and poison wells/ across the town […] / For you / I will be a banker jew […] / For you / I will be a doctor jew […]” (1-27). Cohen’s poems and others serve as continuations and contributions to Canada’s literary heritage.
Canada’s literary heritage is one with a rich variety of form, language, theme and style; it has developed for over a hundred years and has been significantly contributed to by Canada’s modern poets. They have created a tough poetic and literary landscape that: refuses to be idle, challenges Canadians to be open minded and accepting of new ideas, challenge convention, and always demand better from ourselves. No doubt the modern Canadian poets have helped to sculpt Canadians sense of justice and morality, to become a nation of many peoples, creeds, religions, and affiliations. Irving Layton sums up the poet’s role as a voice against ignorance: “There are brightest apples on those trees / but until I, fabulist, have spoken / they do not know their significance” (Layton, “The Fertile Muck”).
Tuesday, September 15, 2009
Sockets and Frizz.
The title of this item is vague; it evokes thoughts of fingers poking into electrical sockets and, as a result, hair standing on end. This said, it can't be further from the truth and the truth of the matter is; I recently moved to place where the sockets are different from the last place I resided. I have a magnificent hair iron, a HAI classic, with layered ceramic plates and adjustable heat settings. But only works in Canada, the US, and Mexico.
What options are available to me? Well, I could purchase a very expensive converter, or, just purchase a new iron all together...
Now, which iron to choose among all the wonderful irons out there. Here, the popular choice seems to be a GHD but I am not sold on that. The one I wanted, FHI platform, that would work in these sockets could not be shipped to my address; so what did I do...
I did what any narcissistic-hair-obsessed victim does, call up a friend over seas that it could be shipped to, made them receive it, and then resend it. An expensive process, but in the end worth it.
Three layers of ceramic plating, tourmaline somethingorother, adjustable heat settings, and some magical ionic stuff; to maintain the health and look of my hair. The later always causes some confusion. You see, heating your hair up in such a way fries it, no matter what anyone states as fact, but; when something locks in moisture with these tiny wizards (ions), it doesn't do nearly as much damage.
How do I know? To be honest I don't, I completely buy into selling features of certain desirable items and what else can I say? I'm a hopeless consumer whore. Point is, I'm satisfied.
Additionally, I have some recommendations for hair care as well. And while I'm no hair stylist or part thereof. These "recommendations" come from my years of experience with my own unruly, temperamental hair.
For paste, if ever I use any, usually I don't have to; due to great irons or a really well-done cut. My number one choice is Davines no.5; it doesn't leave a greasy feel or look and you really only need enough to form a teeny tiny residue on your finger, depending on what you are creating. This residue is best for "fly-aways."
For shine and general conditioning effects; any of Aveda's "brilliant" collection work wonders.
I have yet to find a favorite shampoo or conditioner but I've still got some life to live.
And that's enough of this useless crap.
What options are available to me? Well, I could purchase a very expensive converter, or, just purchase a new iron all together...
Now, which iron to choose among all the wonderful irons out there. Here, the popular choice seems to be a GHD but I am not sold on that. The one I wanted, FHI platform, that would work in these sockets could not be shipped to my address; so what did I do...
I did what any narcissistic-hair-obsessed victim does, call up a friend over seas that it could be shipped to, made them receive it, and then resend it. An expensive process, but in the end worth it.
Three layers of ceramic plating, tourmaline somethingorother, adjustable heat settings, and some magical ionic stuff; to maintain the health and look of my hair. The later always causes some confusion. You see, heating your hair up in such a way fries it, no matter what anyone states as fact, but; when something locks in moisture with these tiny wizards (ions), it doesn't do nearly as much damage.
How do I know? To be honest I don't, I completely buy into selling features of certain desirable items and what else can I say? I'm a hopeless consumer whore. Point is, I'm satisfied.
Additionally, I have some recommendations for hair care as well. And while I'm no hair stylist or part thereof. These "recommendations" come from my years of experience with my own unruly, temperamental hair.
For paste, if ever I use any, usually I don't have to; due to great irons or a really well-done cut. My number one choice is Davines no.5; it doesn't leave a greasy feel or look and you really only need enough to form a teeny tiny residue on your finger, depending on what you are creating. This residue is best for "fly-aways."
For shine and general conditioning effects; any of Aveda's "brilliant" collection work wonders.
I have yet to find a favorite shampoo or conditioner but I've still got some life to live.
And that's enough of this useless crap.
Booze and Broads. 11/8/07
The relationship, specifically between a husband and wife, is the theme in Al Purdy’s “Home-Made Beer.” Through satirical illustrations of the speaker’s encounters with his wife, Purdy presents an almost stereotypical image of married life. This stereotypical marriage is certainly not that of the circa 1950’s nuclear family, but rather a dark comedy version of the uncaring husband and manic wife. The poem casually portrays the husband’s unsympathetic attitude towards his wife’s feelings and, figurative or not, the wife’s violent reaction to her husbands uncaring nature. Purdy emphasizes the relationship through the juxtaposition of romantic language and violent and graceless action. With reference to imagery and diction, I will show that “Home-Made Beer” illustrates Purdy’s satirical representation the relationship between a husband and wife.
The imagery in the poem suggests the couple’s dysfunctional relations are more than just bickering. The first physically violent ‘blow’ between husband and wife is demonstrated in her attacking “[him] with a broom-” (14) followed by “[…] she grabbed the breadknife and made / for me with fairly obvious intentions-” (17-18); revealing this marriage as the opposite of the archetypical nuclear family. The image of “[icicles dropping] from her fiery eyes” (22) illustrates the wife’s tears as she threatens the speaker’s life and reveals her guilt for attacking him, “cleverly concealing” her love for him. The speaker exhibits the ongoing danger of their relationship in stating: “[…] I had to distribute / the meals she prepared among the neighbouring / dogs because of the rat poison […]” (28-30). In “[…] it can never again- / Sept.22, 1964: I was wrong-” (35-36) Purdy deliberately hints that the speaker’s wife continues to try and poison him.
Purdy’s choice of words is both formal and colloquial. He juxtaposes his violent images by casually displaying a poetic “savoir faire”. “[With excessive moderation I yodelled […] “Keep your ass out of my beer!”]” (7-9) it is obvious there had been no “excessive moderation” and no actual “yodelling,” rather, yelling on account of the punctuation and words “keep your ass out.” Additionally, what about the excess of l’s in the word “yodelling?” Perhaps a typing mistake but I highly doubt that; it is more likely Purdy’s clever invention to have the reader look twice and assume he intended yelling, or, it is one of Purdy’s representations of his colloquial type character. This misspelling of particular words is again noted in line thirty-one “Missus” justly confirms the expression of the colloquial type of character the speaker is. Purdy’s alliteration of ‘b’ sounds reveals the speaker’s colloquial attitude towards his wife’s menstruation in: “where she had been brooding for days / over the injustice of being a woman […]” (12-13). The speaker’s colloquial attitude is thus continued throughout the second stanza and is reaffirmed in his “minimum boredom” over her knife wielding threat of murder.
Purdy’s “Home-Made Beer” presents a stereotypical relationship of a married couple. He emphasizes the theme satirically through language and diction. The characters are portrayed colloquially in their speech and their actions. The poem’s theme expresses the speaker’s misogynistic desire to trivialize the feminine experience.
Photo taken from: harbourpublishing.com
Smith and Pratt, Similarily. But not the Same. 9/13/07
In A Rejected Preface A.J.M. Smith postulates a theory that modern poetry should be “aware of it’s duty to take cognizance of what is going on in the world[…]” (p.4 Modern Canadian Poetry ENGL376 2007 course pack Concordia University) in order to develop “mental and emotional attitudes that will facilitate the creation of a more practical social system” (p.6). Smith purports that the poet should (at least for the time being) abandon: conventional, sentimental, self-absorbed poetry that purposes to record the poet’s lofty, isolated, and private emotion; for satirical, intelligent, poetry that raises awareness of, and reflects the current social situation. The following will explore the areas of agreement in E.J. Pratt’s poetic vision and Smith’s theory of modern poetry, specifically the use of satire, awareness of important world events, and social consciousness.
Sentimentality, according to Smith, is a common and unfortunate trait of Canadian poetry, one best replaced by satire. Pratt’s melancholic “Text of the Oath” is a satirical account of a young impressionable boy, “[t]here was another lad I knew […] Who scarcely had outgrown the child,” (5, 8) seduced by propaganda “[t]here was a virus in the air” (9) to fight against an enemy he did not know “[c]omposed of foreign names to spell / These to defend and these to hate,” (14-15). Pratt’s dissention from war is expressed by juxtaposing conventional beliefs with satirical tone, imagery, and language. The first stanza of the poem is a series of questions juxtaposing the traditional religious belief that murder is wrong “Upon what Bible will you swear?” (1) and the eventuality of killing in war “[w]hen the kettle-drum and trumpet-blare / Attest you at the witness stand?” (3-4). Pratt employs satirical imagery describing the propaganda that “[b]reath[es] romance on [the] sleet and mud” (12) of the battlefield. Finally and Pratt mocks the valor and courage associated with war juxtaposing the image “[t]hey pinned a medal on his breast” (17) with the sardonic language of “[h]e had from a machine-gun nest / Annihilated a platoon” (20).
Another important element of Smith’s theory and Pratt’s poetic vision is the awareness of global events. For Pratt this element is most clearly defined by war, in “Text Of The Oath” his young soldier composes a list “[…] of foreign names to spell- / These to defend and These to hate” (14-15) clearly evoking an image of the a World War(s), the only time(s) in modern history where many nations were in direct conflict with one another, it is arguably the most significant world event of the twentieth century. Similarly, “The Prize Cat” alludes to a military conflict between Abyssinia (Ethiopia before the twentieth century) and Italy. The first stanza: “Pure blood domestic, guaranteed / Soft mannered, musical in purr / The ribbon declared the breed [the Italian flag] / Gentility was in the fur” is little more than a reference to the ‘pure’ Italian breed of Europeans (domestic), ‘gentility’ was in the color of their skin. Pratt uses the image of the cat to explore parallels between domestication and the European civilization in: “And when I mused hot Time had thinned / the jungle strains within the cells, / How Human Hands had disciplined / Those prowling optic parallels;” (9-12). However, despite how seemingly civilized humanity may have been, Pratt sees the passing of human history “[a]long the reflex of a spring,” (14). Pratt personifies Italy’s dash for colonial greatness “[b]ehind the leap so furtive wild” (17) and the determination of the Italian people to control Modern Day Ethiopia “[w]as such ignition in the gleam” (18) after Italy was defeated in their first attempt.
Smith and Pratt would no doubt agree that social consciousness is of the utmost significance, it is the central aspect of Smith’s theory, is an important thematic element of Pratt’s poetic vision, and unlike global awareness requires a position to be taken. The Holocaust is, to many, the worst example of human atrocity in history; Pratt’s “The Convict Holocaust” communicates the importance of social awareness by identifying some of the horror’s experienced by Jews under the Nazi regime. The use of the word “fiery” in: “After their fiery contact with the walls” (2) and “fire” in: “The fires consumed their numbers with their breath” (5) relates a sense of searing and pain to create an awareness of the pain these people endured. Pratt’s use of the word “numbers” has the dual purpose of relating the huge numbers of people who were slaughtered and describing the practice of tattooing numbers on the Jews, essentially denying their names and eventually their humanity. The final and most atrocious experience is related in: “And with the ink-brush got the thumb-prints well” (12), the thumb-printing equates being Jewish to being a criminal.
Smith’s theory of modern poetry and Pratt’s poetic vision are often very similar, they both attest to the importance of satire, global awareness, and social consciousness. One might conclude these elements are necessary to create a more practical social system in the wake of the destruction of capitalism, but to others that might seem like a lofty dream.
Sentimentality, according to Smith, is a common and unfortunate trait of Canadian poetry, one best replaced by satire. Pratt’s melancholic “Text of the Oath” is a satirical account of a young impressionable boy, “[t]here was another lad I knew […] Who scarcely had outgrown the child,” (5, 8) seduced by propaganda “[t]here was a virus in the air” (9) to fight against an enemy he did not know “[c]omposed of foreign names to spell / These to defend and these to hate,” (14-15). Pratt’s dissention from war is expressed by juxtaposing conventional beliefs with satirical tone, imagery, and language. The first stanza of the poem is a series of questions juxtaposing the traditional religious belief that murder is wrong “Upon what Bible will you swear?” (1) and the eventuality of killing in war “[w]hen the kettle-drum and trumpet-blare / Attest you at the witness stand?” (3-4). Pratt employs satirical imagery describing the propaganda that “[b]reath[es] romance on [the] sleet and mud” (12) of the battlefield. Finally and Pratt mocks the valor and courage associated with war juxtaposing the image “[t]hey pinned a medal on his breast” (17) with the sardonic language of “[h]e had from a machine-gun nest / Annihilated a platoon” (20).
Another important element of Smith’s theory and Pratt’s poetic vision is the awareness of global events. For Pratt this element is most clearly defined by war, in “Text Of The Oath” his young soldier composes a list “[…] of foreign names to spell- / These to defend and These to hate” (14-15) clearly evoking an image of the a World War(s), the only time(s) in modern history where many nations were in direct conflict with one another, it is arguably the most significant world event of the twentieth century. Similarly, “The Prize Cat” alludes to a military conflict between Abyssinia (Ethiopia before the twentieth century) and Italy. The first stanza: “Pure blood domestic, guaranteed / Soft mannered, musical in purr / The ribbon declared the breed [the Italian flag] / Gentility was in the fur” is little more than a reference to the ‘pure’ Italian breed of Europeans (domestic), ‘gentility’ was in the color of their skin. Pratt uses the image of the cat to explore parallels between domestication and the European civilization in: “And when I mused hot Time had thinned / the jungle strains within the cells, / How Human Hands had disciplined / Those prowling optic parallels;” (9-12). However, despite how seemingly civilized humanity may have been, Pratt sees the passing of human history “[a]long the reflex of a spring,” (14). Pratt personifies Italy’s dash for colonial greatness “[b]ehind the leap so furtive wild” (17) and the determination of the Italian people to control Modern Day Ethiopia “[w]as such ignition in the gleam” (18) after Italy was defeated in their first attempt.
Smith and Pratt would no doubt agree that social consciousness is of the utmost significance, it is the central aspect of Smith’s theory, is an important thematic element of Pratt’s poetic vision, and unlike global awareness requires a position to be taken. The Holocaust is, to many, the worst example of human atrocity in history; Pratt’s “The Convict Holocaust” communicates the importance of social awareness by identifying some of the horror’s experienced by Jews under the Nazi regime. The use of the word “fiery” in: “After their fiery contact with the walls” (2) and “fire” in: “The fires consumed their numbers with their breath” (5) relates a sense of searing and pain to create an awareness of the pain these people endured. Pratt’s use of the word “numbers” has the dual purpose of relating the huge numbers of people who were slaughtered and describing the practice of tattooing numbers on the Jews, essentially denying their names and eventually their humanity. The final and most atrocious experience is related in: “And with the ink-brush got the thumb-prints well” (12), the thumb-printing equates being Jewish to being a criminal.
Smith’s theory of modern poetry and Pratt’s poetic vision are often very similar, they both attest to the importance of satire, global awareness, and social consciousness. One might conclude these elements are necessary to create a more practical social system in the wake of the destruction of capitalism, but to others that might seem like a lofty dream.
Issue’s of gender in Margaret Atwood’s poetry. 11/29/07
Margaret Atwood is one of Canada’s: most prolific poets, most respected authors, and first feminist writers. As an important figure in Canada’s literary and poetic heritage her work has been analyzed and scrutinized many times over. These analyses are usually focused on Atwood’s work as feminist literature often using bibliographical references as support. This essay will use Margaret Atwood: A Critical Companion by Nathalie Cooke, “Nearer by Far: The Upset ‘I’ in Margaret Atwood’s Poetry” by Dennis Cooley, Zygmunt Bauman’s “On Postmodern uses of Sex”, and Frank Davey’s essay “Atwood’s Gorgon touch [Seven books of poetry, from Double Persephone to You Are Happy]” to synthesize an analysis of Margaret Atwood’s feminist perspective. Specifically I will discuss Atwood’s personal history in relation to her notions of gender and sex roles, the use of person, the use of mythological characters, and sex in Margaret Atwood’s “They Eat Out” and selected poems.
The information provided in Margaret Atwood a Critical Companion by Nathalie Cooke supplies chronological events filled with biographical and contextual evidence of Atwood’s life. Cooke discusses the issues faced by Atwood being a woman writer during the late 1950s and later. The information presents insight into the feminine world of Atwood’s poetry and literature; “Atwood’s upbringing, education, and early formation as a writer provided a foundation for the direction of her writing, particularly its central themes of […] feminism” (Cooke, p.3). Cooke states that: “Atwood makes the issues of the day – the politics of her times and her profession (censorship, feminism, sexuality) – compelling: by making them personal, […]” [emphasis added] (Cooke, p.1). In Atwood’s poem “They Eat Out,” the speaker (assumed as a woman) displays an empowered role (feminist approach) in the relationship between two people; “[…] only I / can do it and so / I raise the magic fork / over the plate of beef fried rice / and plunge it into your heart” (They Eat Out, 5-9).
Elements of feminism are abundant within Atwood’s poetry, the events taking place while Atwood attended university, as Cooke posits, “[hardened] Atwood’s resolve on feminist issues” (Cooke, p.7); Cooke states that: “[…] when Atwood arrived at Radcliffe College […] she found that it too, was largely a man’s world. Women weren’t given entrance to Lamont Library […]” (Cooke, p.8). Atwood mocks the patriarchal male perspective in: “you hang suspended above the city / in blue tights and a red cape” (They Eat Out, 16-17), by satirically illustrating the superman archetype- the strong man swooping in to save the helpless woman.
Typical of a patriarchal society was the idea of men being the ‘bread winners’ in a relationship; Cooke explains this in: “[instrumental] in cementing Atwood’s distinctly feminist resolve were her experiences in the workplace in the 1960s, […] women did not earn the same salaries as [men] and were not expected to keep their jobs after marriage” (Cooke, p.8). Atwood’s feminist view of gender roles and the ‘bread winner’ issue is revealed in the opening lines of the poem “They Eat Out:” “[in] restaurants we argue / over which one of us wall pay for your funeral.” [emphasis added] (1-2)
The obvious social and economic inequalities faced by Margaret Atwood during the 1950s and later were pivotal forces in developing Atwood’s feminist position. “[…] Atwood was acutely aware of the double standards facing women and was prepared to use her writing to expose them” (Cooke, p.9). Atwood attacked many of the structures of a patriarchal society (specifically concerning male dominance over women) using her writing to challenge the idea’s that: women should take a secondary role in the work place, have no place in certain academic areas, the patriarchal conceptions of the ‘bread-winner,’ and others later discussed.
In “Nearer by Far: The Upset ‘I’ in Margaret Atwood’s Poetry” by Dennis Cooley the use of the first-person pronoun is discussed. Cooley explores how: “in style and grammar – how in varying and telling strategies - the speakers situate themselves by virtue of supervising their own narratives” (Cooley, p.69). Margaret Atwood’s poem “They Eat Out” employs the first-person point of view that supervises and directs revealing the speaker’s feminist mind-set.
Cooley posits: “[…] the voice […] loves to direct and to inform […] her language often moves into discursive formations, close to bald statement in fact” (Cooley, p.71); the fact is that speaker is unfulfilled in her relationship and reveals the discontentment of women in a patriarchal society. Cooley states that: “[from] the outset the speaker anchors herself as the one who does all the thinking, the one who is in charge” (Cooley p.74); the speaker controls the narrative in “They Eat Out:” “I will make” [emphasis added] (4), “only I can do it” [emphasis added] (5-6), and “I continue” [emphasis added] (23); ‘directing’ the reader one way and omitting the other side to the story: the voiceless partner’s story. Cooley asserts: […] the central figure does preside over whose grammar confers upon her not only power, not only power to do things, but power to do things to other people, notably to govern ‘you’” (Cooley, p.80); the speaker in Atwood’s poem can be “[made] immortal” (They Eat Out, 4), and be “[raised by] magic fork” (They Eat Out, 7) to supernatural existence. This linguistic technique of ‘directing,’ as Cooley explains: “serves to reinforce how concerned the speaker is with defining and maintaining her own space” [emphasis added] (Cooley, p.72). Cooley articulates: “[the speaker] never accords him speech nor admits him to escape from silence into the independence of dialogue where he could be supposedly self-commissioned […]” (Cooley, p.85); the speaker only provides information illustrating that “[they] argue” (They Eat Out, 1) and the partner “[was] always ambitious” (They Eat Out, 25), affirming his preoccupation with patriarchal conceptions (those being, more or less, conceptions of power). The speaker in the poem declares her control through her power to make her partner “immortal;” either by sex or, more importantly, the act of telling the story (in Atwood’s case, writing) about the partner and allowing for an audience (those who read the poem). This importance of immortality via language Cooley suggests is: “[one] of the most dramatic forms of control she exercises [it] is metalingual, language and art being the arena in which the self is tested and defined” (Cooley, p.84) and the speaker defines herself as the creator.
Atwood uses the technique of first-person point of view to symbolically represent the changing attitude of many women over the notions of patriarchal society. Notions of women being the lesser sex and having no control are sardonically tossed out the window by Atwood through her verse. Person is only one of the techniques and concepts Atwood employs to reject the patriarchal notions of her generation; as Frank Davey explains Atwood often uses the concepts of postmodernism to challenge the patriarchal.
Frank Davey’s essay “Atwood’s Gorgon touch [Seven books of poetry, from Double Persephone to You Are Happy]” explores the use of space and time in many of Margaret Atwood’s poems to express mans fragility and mortality. Davey posits mythological characters are employed to produce a “denial of time” (Davey, p.138), the result of those characters static nature. In Margaret Atwood’s “They Eat Out”, the Superman image of popular mythology represents a denial of time Davey refers to as ‘evasions’. These evasions “are all extensions of [the] human need to “believe that nothing can change” ” (Davey, p.138), Atwood illustrates this need in “I liked you better the way you were” (They Eat Out, 24). Essentially the denial of time is a “[crutch] used by the weak in the face of mutility” (Davey, p.141) an attempt to deny the very human fear of change and the unknown with a static mythological element.
The denial of time is expressed in many different forms, in Atwood’s “Progressive insanities of a Pioneer” the pioneer represents Atwood’s “philosophic evasion of humanism” (Davey, p.138) the pioneer attempting to assert “man’s timeless centrality” (Davey, p.138), “He stood, a point/ on a sheet of green paper/ proclaiming himself the center” (Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer, 1-3). The pioneer builds fences and a house, but in the end time defeats man and the land again becomes an unstructured deluge “the green/ vision, the unnamed/ whale invaded” (Progressive Insanities of a Pioneer, 7, 16-19)
Similarly “A Night At the Royal Ontario Museum” expressed Atwood’s Anti-humanism clearly being sickened by the “perverse museum” (32) and all the artifacts that act as physical reminders of man’s timelessness. Ultimately man’s attempt to immortalize himself is the result of his fear of change is only one aspect of a much greater fear, the fear of the unknown and by extension the fear of death, an allusion to man’s quest for immortality.
Zygmunt Bauman briefly approaches the elements of eroticism, reproduction, identity, and love in “On Postmodern uses of Sex.” He discusses the links between these elements and Sex (intercourse) “Sex is involved – centrally and inextricably – in the greatest feat and most awe-inspiring of cultural miracles: that conjuring up immortality out of mortality, the interminable out of the temporal, the imperishable out of the evanescent” (Bauman, p.7). In Margaret Atwood’s poem “They Eat Out” Sex, reproduction, and identity are illustrated.
Bauman states: “Sex, as we know, is nature’s evolutionary solution to the issue of continuity, durability of life forms; it sets mortality of every individual living organism against immortality of the species” (Bauman, p.7); in Atwood’s poem the speaker identifies her ability to immortalize her partner: “[…] I will make you immortal” (They Eat Out, 4). The idea of immortality achieved through Sex (figuratively in Atwood’s poem) is assumed in re-reading the poem and deducing the characters involved to be in a heterosexual relationship. The engagement of Sex between the characters is noted in: “whether or not I will make immortal. / At the moment only I / can do it […]” (They Eat Out, 4-6). The speaker offers immortality through the possibility of sexual reproduction.
Love and Sex is rather anti-climatic within Atwood’s poem. The display of an orgasmic sensation experienced by both characters ends in the speaker being unsatisfied and the partner having been elevated to a supernatural height:
I raise the magic fork / […] / and plunge it into your heart […] / you rise up glowing; / the ceiling opens / a voice sings Love Is A Many / Splendoured Thing / you hang suspended above the city / in blue tights and a red cape […] / As for me, I continue eating; / I liked you better the way you were,” (They Eat Out, 7- 24).
Bauman suggests that postmodern culture (that of which includes Margaret Atwood) is more concerned with Orgasm: “In its postmodern rendition, sexual activity is focused narrowly on its orgasmic effect; for all practical intents and purposes, postmodern sex is about orgasm” (Bauman, p.6).
Bauman’s “On Postmodern uses of Sex” allow us to interpret the allusions to Sex in Atwood’s “They Eat Out”. The postmodern interpretation reveals the significance of orgasm, while another interpretation posits immortality of the individual through the survival of the species as the driving force for Sex. The speaker in Atwood’s poem teases her partner with her sexual prowess and offers a chance at immortality but is left unsatisfied; a banal reflection over the conceptions of patriarchal society and the movement towards change- for women.
Denis Cooley, Nathalie Cooke, Frank Davey, and Zygmunt Bauman would all agree Margaret Atwood is a champion of the feminist cause and has spent much of her career exposing the many patriarchal misconceptions of a woman’s role. From these many analyses one central idea is clear- Margaret Atwood believes it is her role (the role of the artist) to challenge the notions common to society, to champion those who have no voice, and to effect change in some of our social misconceptions. Margaret Atwood one of Canada’s first and most influential feminists; more she is a postmodernist and a naturist but that is a topic for another time.
Photo taken from: canadianshakespeares.ca
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