Signup For Next Community Week: Exploring the Body Politic

[poetree_admin]

Poetry, chants, and song have long been a way for people to interact with their own governments and laws, a way for people to communicate support or contempt of law, to critique government, and to advocate for change. Poetry can be used as a persuasive tool to affect both cultural and legal change, and can be used a a way of critiquing government and legal systems. For our next community themed week, let's explore the various ways poetry interacts with politics.

Ideally we will have one post each day from Monday, Feb. 17th through Saturday, Feb. 22nd, related to our topic. You need feel not limited to the modern era or any particular culture or system of governance; a post about the political connotations of Sappho's conception of beauty would be as appropriate as one reflecting on, say, Pete Seeger's extraordinary testimony before the House Committee on Un-American Affairs, August 18, 1955. Original poetry, remix poetry, poetry complements, translations, meta, roundups of recommended media and more are likewise welcome.

If you would like to participate, please comment on this post to claim a particular open slot and briefly tease us with some sense of what you'll post. You may also use the comment section to solicit collaborators for a group post. Participation is not limited to current comm members or even Dreamwidth members - please contact the admins at poetree.at.dreamwidth [at] gmail if you will need someone to post on your behalf. The admins are also available for brainstorming and beta support on request.

Some recommended readings:

• Syria's New War Poetry (Studio360) (interview + links)
• D. H. Tracy and the Role of the Poet-Critic (Contemporary Poetry Review)
• California Lecture: from “Poetry and Politics” (1965) by Jack Spicer (The Poetry Foundation)
• The Poetry of Revolt by Elliott Colla (Jadaliyya Ezine)

If there are other resources you'd recommend, please share them in the comments! The ones linked above are far from exhaustive.



Monday, February 17th: [Open Slot]

Tuesday, February 18th: poetree_admin: Taxonomists 'R Us: Phylogeny of Political Metaphor

Wednesday, February 19th: leek: Carolyn Forche

Thursday, February 20th: raze: Langston Hughes

Friday, February 21st: anonymous_sibyl: Finding The Role of the Poet in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict

Saturday, February 22nd: [Temporarily Reserved]

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Last edited 2/13/14 by jjhunter

Comments

[leek]

If Wednesday, February 19 is still open, I'd love to take it for some Carolyn Forche. Thank you!

[poetree_admin]

Wed. February 19th is all yours!

[raze]

Thursday, Langston Hughes, please.

[poetree_admin]

Thursday is yours!

[anonymous_sibyl]

I have a paper on "Re-crafting Competing Narratives: Finding The Role of the Poet in the Palestinian-Israeli Conflict" that I'd love to share. I expect I'd link to the paper and include supplemental poetry from Palestinian and Israeli poets. I could do this on any open day, I have no preference.

[poetree_admin]

Friday is yours!

[anonymous_sibyl]

Pinsky, Robert. Democracy, Culture, and the Voice of Poetry. Princeton, NJ: Princeton University Press. 2002. is a wonderful resource. Sample chapters are available online.