Juliana Spahr, like every author we've read so far, brought something completely new to the discussion of poetry. Her book, This Connection of Everyone with Lungs is a collection of two poems titled "Poem Written after September 11,2002" and "Poem Written from November 30,2002, to March 27, 2003." The first poem is significantly shorter than the second but both share similar qualities. The poems are displayed in a way that is almost like a live-stream news feed. She documents current events and pop culture but really only mentions them, without reflecting on them deeply. The documentation is more of a second hand account, as if she is transferring the information from the television, filtering it through her mind and what it really means to her personally, then writing it in a journal. There is a lot of repetition in her writing as well as pretty fantastic imagery and all of it loops back to the central theme of a universal connectedness between everyone whom exists on this earth. Because everyone, on some level, shares basic entities whether they are biological, psychological, or physiological.
The documentary style of her poems are extremely inclusive. They are meant to draw the reader in in the sense that we can all remember where we were exactly when the tragedy of 9/11 occurred and how we felt. She is not only trying to perceive the message that the news portrays, but rather try and make us feel it as well by pointing to us through language, ie: "yous," and "beloved."Her poems are unpredictable because we as the readers are on the same level as she for we are soaking the information as it is provided, having no preconceived notion or guess as to what will be "said" next. The repetition in the poem causes a hypnotic, breathing effect which is calming but disorienting at the same time. There is a sense of comfort in knowing that "as everyone with lungs..." will appear at the beginning of each stanza but as you keep reading this repetition turns into hypnosis which, if you think about broadly, is a manipulation or change in your physical body but also mentally changes your perspective and makes you vulnerable. I think vulnerability is an overarching effect of Spahrs. A lot of her references and specific events that she brings up the reader might not necessarily understand or have heard of. But given the context of the poem, one can usually (with google's help) figure out the event's connection to her point. It is important for the reader to keep in mind that these events are occurring after the 9/11 attacks, which is really what brings each reader back into the poem.
I think Spahr succeeds in drawing in the audience. Although some of her references may seem random and unnecessary, it is extremely difficult to argue that humanity doesn't share similar strife and experiences, especially surround a time of such national despair. By putting an emphasis on the process of her poetry (repetition, lists, "live news stream-feel") she is allowing the reader to become a part of the experience with her but also allowing room for the reader to create their own relationship with the events brought up. I think the book really makes people think. In a time that will most certainly never be forgotten, it is interesting to look at what was going on in other parts of the world; news which we might never have known had it not been for Spahrs intricate documentation.
I'm not entirely certain how to sound intelligent about something I agree with, except to say that I agree and then move on before I babble. It might be too late for that. In any case, I agree except for one particular thing that is needling me: Spahr does not succeed in drawing in her audience. If anything, her blatant and boring (yes, it is boring the first read) repetition and seemingly difficult poetry turns readers away instead of drawing them in. I think people who read Spahr are dedicated in figuring out exactly what the class poetry reading 'mmhmmm' feeling at the end of her poems is and what it's doing. It takes work with the help of google and serious meditation on her poems to unpack exactly what they are saying. It isn't handed to you in an easy way. Yes it makes you think, and this is why it is valuable but it does not invite you in with open arms, you have to fight through the mundane blandness of her repetition and the randomness of her references before you begin to understand the depth in her simplicity.
ReplyDeleteI agree with Spahr being boring during the first read, but taken within the context of the events of and surrounding 9/11, I thought that her repetition was an interesting technique. I personally recall what seemed to be the same footage, the same headlines, the same statements playing over and over during that time period, in a way that was both numbing and flat. As for her endless references, I thought immediately of (and I mentioned this in class) a Nicole Cooley (author of The Afflicted Girls and the forthcoming Milk Dress...yes, a shameless AJB publicity plug...and the interview will be in their Fall 2010 newsletter) interview that I read. She talked about using a subject matter to open up a "new vocabulary" for her. I think Spahr is getting at this is many ways, using the language of the media in order to speak about what was going on. I think this is appropriate to the situation because most of us experienced 9/11 sort of second handle, through its consequences and through what the media told us about it. In a way, I think that Spahr recreates that time in America quite well.
ReplyDelete