Discussion Post #4: Recycling Fragments of Language: Harryette Mullen and Lauren Russell

You might find yourself lost in Harryette Mullen’s lyric poetry. Baffled, even:

Sapphire’s lyre styles

plucked eyebrows

bow lips and legs

whose lives are lonely too

These first lines of Muse and Drudge (Mullen’s 4^th book of poetry, we are only reading a small section of it) give us a taste of the signature playfulness and flexibility of Mullen’s language: her penchant for wordplay, puns, rhythms, even non-sensical phrases. 

Mullen explains, “On the one hand, I feel that because Muse and Drudge is so fragmentary, wherever parts of the text came from really doesn't matter because it is really not a complete thought about anything. It is very much a book of echoes. Some of the fragments rhyme and some don't, and that is basically the principle of the book- the recycling of fragments of language” (Mullen, in Interview with Elisabeth Frost) You don’t have to decode the “fragments,” but it does help to recite them aloud—you’ll hear them a different way each time you read them. 

Master of Allusion 

There’s a method to the madness of Muse and Drudge: sprinkled throughout each quatrain (4-line stanza) of this book are a number of allusions—indirect references—to classic literature, American history, jazz and blues. 

The first quatrain contains references to Sappho (the ancient Greek poet known for her lyric poetry); Sapphire (a stereotype for a raucous black woman) lyres (the ancient bowed instrument that originally accompanied lyric poetry) and song lyrics: “whose lives are lonely too” is the last line of Billy Strayhorn’s famous composition, “Lush Life.” (My favorite version is this one, performed by the amazing Sarah Vaughan.) 

Fragments of beauty rituals and bodies abound, too: “plucked eyebrows/bow lips and legs.” By putting all of these references in the same quatrain, Mullen draws a connection between classical poetic genius, black women, jazz musical tradition, a modern innovation. Writing, Mullen suggests in the title “Muse and Drudge,” is part “muse” (poetic inspiration) and part drudgery—hard, unglamorous, but ultimately rewarding work.

Didn’t catch all this? Mullen, who is also a professor at UCLA, is very intentional in her use of allusions, but she doesn’t expect everyone in her audience to get all of them. In fact she seems to prefer when they don’t, as evident in this interview: 

BEDIENT:

From what you’ve said already about a few of the quatrains, I take it that the poem is extremely dense with allusions to a great many things. Probably every quatrain has several allusions in it.

MULLEN:

Yes.

BEDIENT:

Does it matter to you whether or not these allusions are detected by many readers?

MULLEN:

I know they won’t be detected by many readers. Some readers will get some, and other readers will get others, and that’s fine; that’s as it probably should be.

BEDIENT:

Why is the allusive method important to you?

MULLEN:

It’s important to me because I wanted the poem to be interesting and complex, as I think experience is, language is; language has that capacity. I was interested in concentrating, distilling and condensing aspects of orality and literacy.

Orality and Literacy

The link between “orality” and “literacy” is just what we’ve been talking about for the past few weeks, and Mullen’s poetry condenses these concepts nicely. She is known to encourage collective readings of her poetry, where each audience member reads a different quatrain aloud. Sometimes the effect is tongue twisting, humorous and illuminating (try reading this alliterative combination 5 times fast: lyre styles, brows, bows, lips, legs, lives lonely. ) 

Or this quatrain, which is an anagram (a word, phrase, or name formed by rearranging the letters of another)of Mullen’s own name:

marry at a hotel, annul ‘em

nary hep male rose sullen

let alley roam, yell melon

dull normal fellow hammers omelette

Mullen described her approach in an interview for Contemporary Literature: "I am writing for the eye and the ear at once, at that intersection of orality and literacy, wanting to make sure that there is a troubled, disturbing aspect to the work so that it is never just a 'speakerly' or a 'writerly' text." 

Puns are a staple of Mullen’s poetics, some are playful and serious at once, like this stanza that uses images of fabric to touch on music, race and cultural appropriation:

white covers of black material

dense fabric that obeys its own logics

shadows pieced together tears and all

unfurling sheets of bluish music

Our goal is not only to notice that something unconventional or experimental is going on, but to ask: what is the effect of this formal experimentalism? How does it serve to highlight, enhance or alter meaning? What is its impact on us as readers: is it baffling, exhilarating, frustrating, illuminating? 

Dream-Clung, Gone 

You can hear echoes of Mullen in Lauren Russell’s poem “Dream-Clung, Gone.” Russell extends Mullen’s ideas about orality and writing.  Russell references music explicitly, but also plays with sound, repetition, and rhythm to craft a poem about memory: 

Undertow of dive bar juke unboxed

Driving past a rust-red door unjambed

Coin-operated groove side-shimmies, unflung

A seamlessly upholstered stool’s unwound

Compare this quatrain's use of wordplay with one of Mullen’s. Hear the echo of the word “clung” in the repetition of “unboxed, unjambed, unflung, unwound.” Note also the personification of absence in the second stanza (and also the longer length of the lines as the poem shifts to narrative, telling a story about loss.) The “absence” sings: “this is the clang of a dream-clung gong,” a rif on the title of the poem that turns the word “gone” into a ringing, reverberating instrument: “gong.” Like Mullen’s work, Russell's poem allows its meanings to resonate rather than being definitive.

 Discussion Questions: This week, you have the option of responding to another one of the discussion questions rather than responding to a classmate.

1.    Choose your favorite quatrain from the excerpt of Muse and Drudge and do a paragraph-long brainstorm of everything it reminds you of.

2.    Mullen writes: "I am writing for the eye and the ear at once.” Quote parts of parts of the "Muse and Drudge" that seem written for both “eye and ear” or that remind you of sound, music, or speech.

3.    Recruit a friend of family member to read ‘Dream-Clung, Gone” or section of a  “Muse and Drudge” aloud with you. What was their reaction? Did anything change when you read the poem out loud?

4.    Using these poems as inspiration, write your own quatrain (4 lines) that contains: 1 pun, one reference to music, and one example of alliteration.

Discussion Post #3: Dub Poetry/Spoken Word/Slam

Edit: Please find links to the assigned Youtube videos here: https://201poetry.blogspot.com/2020/03/joy-harjo-poem-to-get-rid-of-fear.html

This week's post comes courtesy of Group 4: Carlos, Janice, Neil, Nishneet, and Sana. A round of applause to group 4 for adapting to this new format. There are several links throughout the post, so I encourage you to explore. 

Respond to discussion questions and pose your questions for the group in the comments. (Aim to comment before Monday.)

Dub Poetry

Dub poetry is a type of performance poetry which has Caribbean roots, it evolved out of Jamaica in the 1970s. The word “dub” in Dub Poetry refers to the action of adding or removing sound/s. This type of poetry is influenced by the rhythms of reggae music, a type of music that is found in Jamaica. In Dub Poetry the poet often performs a piece of work that is being guided by a band playing music. Sometimes the dub poet may perform without any music and they emphasize the rhythm and incorporate gestures into their performance. Some influencers of dub poetry say that the reggae rhythm can be heard even when the poet does not include music. Dub poetry has been used for political and social commentary regarding issues happening around the world. Most of the work is concerned with politics and social justice. 

One of the best known dub poets is Oku Onuora. He was a notorious radical and had criminal records but presented work that symbolized the voice of the people. He fought against racism and raised a voice against police violence. What led him to participate in dub poetry was his time in prison and when he was released he was eager to record his work over music. During this time, Onuora’s community was affected by political division. In prison he attended a creative writing course because he wanted to become a journalist so he can write about the negatives he sees in society. His first single was Reflections in Red

(OKU ONUORA - Reflection In Red)

and his debut album was Pressure Drop. Many record that his voice would shake during his performance and a reason may be to exemplify the power in his words. Another famous work of his is a poem he had also written in prison, Last Night (Last Night). He had written this poem about how he had not seen the moon for years and was making assumptions about the moon. When he was finally able to see the moon, he felt a different rush of energy. Seeing the moon he saw a reflection of who he has become and was able to make sense of his current situation. 

Spoken Word

Spoken word is a broad area of poetry intended for performance that is word-based. It is an oral art that can encompass or contain elements of hip-hop, rap, blues, jazz, folk music, storytelling, and prose monologues. Although spoken word can include any kind of poetry read aloud, it is different from written poetry in that how it sounds is one of the main components. Unlike written poetry, it has less to do with physical on the page aesthetics and emphasis is placed on phonaesthetics, or the aesthetics of sound.

Stemming from its roots in ancient history, spoken word developed and was popularized in the United States, influenced by the poetry of the Harlem Renaissance, blues, and the Beat Generation of the 1960s. The Nuyorican Poets Café on New York's Lower Eastside was founded in 1973, and is one of the oldest American venues for presenting spoken-word poetry. It gives voice to a diverse group of rising poets, actors, filmmakers and musicians and champions the use of poetry, jazz, theater, hip-hop and spoken word as means of social empowerment for minority and underprivileged artists. 

Spoken word still exists as an artform today and much like The Blues and Jazz, Hip Hop as a genre derives much of its themes from it. At its simplest Spoken Word poetry is about expressing one’s emotions and ideas verbally. A performer verbally performing their pieces allowed them to place an emphasis on certain words, allowing certain ideas to resonate more with their audiences.

An example of a highly influential spoken word poet is the New York based poet, Gil Scott Heron. Heron was an African American poet whose spoken word pieces mainly focus on the reality of being black in America. His 1971 album “Pieces of a Man” was a spoken word album that was accompanied by a live band. Since the piece is a recording and can only be heard we lose the sense of emotion that body language and facial expressions provide but we gain that emotion back in a different way with the instrumentation. A good example of this comes from Heron’s title track Pieces of a Man

Gil Scott-Heron - Pieces of a Man (Official Audio)

This piece is an extremely heavy piece which recounts an experience he had as a younger when his father got laid off. As mentioned before we do not get to see Heron’s facial expressions or body language, but the somber piano, and bass emphasize the emotion that is expressed throughout the track. It is common for Heron to rhyme in his spoken pieces, which is why he is often referred to as the godfather of Hip-Hop or the first Emcee. Although early hip hop was diluted with songs that were meant for parties, many tracks although had story telling incorporated into them, an example of this is present in Grandmaster Flash’s “The Message”. In the song Grandmaster Flash speaks about how living in poverty has very pushed him close to his breaking point. At the basics this is extremely similar to what Heron was doing in his pieces. Both artists made poetry out of the situations which they went through. The only difference being where Hip Hop traditionally requires a beat of some sort, spoken word does not always need one. It is undeniable that Spoken Word is still influential today.

Spoken word continues to be a channel for artists today to communicate their opinions on issues such social justice, politics, race, and community using rhyme, repetition, improvisation, and wordplay. One example of a piece that discusses a social gender struggle is Sarah Kay’s “The Type”. 

Throughout her performance, she uses body motions, facial expressions, and pauses in her voice to effectively convey her message to the audience. Her empowering poem is a call against the objectification and mistreatment of women while simultaneously encouraging women to define their own identity and to make their own choices without relying on anyone else. 

Slam

Slam poetry is a type of poetry in which are generally publicly-displayed events in which poets orally present their works in front of an audience and/or a group of critics. Slam came to fruition sometime during the 1980s/1990s and, upon its arrival, poetry as a whole saw a resurgence, quickly becoming a drive that would be fundamental and vigorous. It has never been made clear who or what kickstarted the arrival and rising popularity of slam, with some pointing to Marc Smith, who may have held the first poetry slam at a bar in Chicago in ‘85. Since then, the popularity of slam grew due to its approachable nature and vast communal interest in sharing works. Poetry that is written for slam events is written with a spoken rhythm in mind, with additional focus on how the work sounds when spoken out loud as opposed to how it looks on the page. However, when it comes to slam poetry, there is no one dominating practice or any particular guideline, as it instead adopts a free-write style that encourages artists to be creative and write about whatever they desire. This is one of many reasons for its growing popularity, as artists feel free to pour their thoughts and feelings onto the page, and then openly express them to the world. What this has produced is a form of poetry that feels current, intimate, and genuine in terms of artists interacting with their audience. 

Today, the argument regarding whether or not slam is a welcomed part of poetry still rages on. Some argue that the form feels shallow when compared to poetry classics. What’s more, slam poets are viewed as non-creative or non-inventive when compared to poetic icons of the past century. Another point made against slam poetry is the form’s limitations. Most works presented in slams consist of feelings such as rage or anxiety, usually meant to exercise the audience. However, more accepted forms of poetry usually tackle the entire spectrum of emotions, enabling artists to write freely about whatever they desire. Last but not least, poetry enthusiasts argue that slam poetry is not special or exceptional by any means. Due to the fact that a slam audience does not have prior insight of the poetic arts to get something out of the slam, some believe that this softens its value as a poetic form. However, not everyone shares these distasteful views. The progressive part of the poetic community believes that slam contains value as a genuine and even inventive figure in the long history of poetry. Not only has slam reinvigorated rhythmic writing, but it has also accepted the fiber of music to create some rather noteworthy pieces, such as the following: Kif Kif: Rousing slam poetry and guitar

When taking into account the positive and negative consequences of slam on the legacy of poetry, there is no doubt that the form has disrupted the very meaning of what it means to be a poet today. The form is still widely popular today, discussed heavily by the poetic community, and talked about in schools as a legitimate form of poetry and as a critical part of poetic history. It’s wide reach amongst current generations, due to its approachable nature and simplistic form is both noteworthy and undeniable. This mainly due to the fact that teenage angst and issues faced by today’s generation of children can freely express their burdens to an audience, sharing the burden in an almost symbiotic relationship between the speaker and the audience. However, like all things that are subjective in a free world, slam poetry will always face the challenge of those who prefer the more old-fashioned poetry forms, though that is unlikely to slow down the growing popularity of slam. 

Discussion Questions

(1)   Has slam poetry slowed down the evolution of poetry as a genre of writing or has the genre ascended to new heights due to the existence of slam?

(2)   On the topic of performance poetry and its purpose, what are some parallels/differences you can make with our past readings of “Speech Sounds” and “Nation Language” in terms of the importance of expressing sentiments through sound or the absence of sound? 

(3)   Dub Poetry involves the use of music as we have seen with other types of literature. How does music play a part in Onu Onuora’s Reflection In Red? How does it differ from the other pieces of literature we have read in class? 

(4)   As some of modern Hip Hop has evolved from spoken do the two genres coexist or are they really the same genre?

Sources:

https://www.poetryfoundation.org/learn/glossary-terms/spoken-word

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Spoken_word

https://theculturetrip.com/north-america/usa/articles/top-12-slam-poets-around-the-world/

https://powerpoetry.org/actions/what-slam-poem

https://haenfler.sites.grinnell.edu/slam-poetry/

https://www.theperspective.com/debates/entertainment/is-slam-an-accepted-form-of-poetry/

https://www.allmusic.com/artist/oku-onuora-mn0000464123/biography

https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dub_poetry

https://unitedreggae.com/articles/n2136/101116/interview-oku-onuora-in-kingston-part-1

https://www.encyclopedia.com/history/encyclopedias-almanacs-transcripts-and-maps/dub-poetry

Discussion Post #2: Brathwaite, Caribbean Poetics, and Nation Language

Thanks for your comments last week. We had a great discussion on the themes of communication, violence, connection, and survival.  To recap, I’d like to highlight three students comments from last week’s chat: 

Marissa, commenting on the parallels between “Speech Sounds” and the current pandemic:

“Personally, at this present moment, this situation is not too dystopian to me and far away from reality. As hundreds of people have died in the United States due to Coronavirus, and thousands worldwide, there is fear among citizens. Growing up, I used to read novels like this all the time and I often felt anxiety in relation to them, as well as the science fiction genre. I believe this is because it is apparent how science fiction plays on the most grotesque components of humanity. It seems inevitable that pandemics, wars, and famine are universal experience that no one is immune to. However, throughout time, we have prevailed against illness, war, and natural disaster. But, ultimately, times like these make one wonder about all the dystopian tales and the critique on society. The question of our own nature is apparent in these stories. When you strip someone of comfort and title (such as the lack of organizations in Rye’s dystopian world, and how she said there was no longer a police department), how far will people go?”

Hannah, connecting “Speech Sounds”  to another dystopian narrative:

Butler’s “Speech Sounds” reminds me of another dystopian narrative, “1984” by Orwell. In Butler’s story, we see that language is important for ideology. “Law and order were nothing—not even words any longer” (Butler 4). Since the world in “Speech Sounds” has no idea of law or order, the words for these concepts disappear. Similarly, in “1984”, the government deletes words from the language in order to brainwash society. I think that we can think of these narratives in relation to one another because they both demonstrate the power of language and the consequences of losing words. 

Azhar with a hopeful note on the ending of “Speech Sounds:”

“I feel as if her discovery of children being able to use language reignites her flame to live, and now provides her with a purpose which is all she was longing for. With a purpose in mind, and several resources at her disposal, I believe she can help raise the kids with normalcy and possibly even create a community to create a sense of civilization. In addition, with kids waiting to be taught, Rye gets her life as a teacher back, which will definitely help her cope with the complexity of a post-apocalyptic life.” 

Can English Be a Revolutionary Language?

Our reading for this week, to quote Hannah’s comment, also centers on “the power of language and the consequences of losing words.” This time however, the loss of language does not take place in the hypothetical future, but in the American past. (Here I use the word “American” to encompass all of the Americas, not just the United States.)

Kamau Brathwaite’s essay “Nation Language” provides a history lesson as well as a manifesto for the future. The lesson begins in 1492, with Columbus’ so-called discovery of the Caribbean and the subsequent “destruction of the Amerindians” and the “fragmentation” of native culture. Brathwaite details the rapid loss of life (due, in part to the spread of viruses brought from Europe) but also the loss of native languages—though some remnants have still survived.

The second wave of linguistic fragmentation came with the slave trade. It’s important first of all to acknowledge the linguistic diversity of Africa (today there are still an estimated 1500-2000 African languages).  Enslaved people were not a homogenous group. Those who survived the forced journey over the Atlantic ocean brought their languages with them. And yet, as Brathwaite explains:

“What these languages had to do, however, was to submerge themselves, because officially the conquering peoples—the Spaniards, the English, the French, and the Dutch—insisted that the language of public discourse and conversation, of obedience, command and conception should be English, French, Spanish, or Dutch.” (309)

Part of the strategy of colonial dominance was the forced adoption of European languages. But note the specific way that Brathwaite describes this: “They did not wish to hear people speaking Ashanti or any of the Congolese languages.” Language is not only spoken, but also heard. It is part of the soundscape of the Americas, and a huge part of how we experience the world. To police language is to wield power over what the Americas “sound” like. Nevertheless, as Brathwaite explains, the African languages (and the ideas and values that came with them) did not disappear, but became submerged, continuing to exert a profound influence: “That underground language was itself constantly transforming into new forms” (310)

From this underground language emerges “nation language,” a term Brathwaite uses to describe the oral culture of the descendants of enslaved Africans. Brathwaite, who is from Barbados, critiques the British colonial system that shaped his own early life and education and offers nation language as an alternative mode of expression to standardized English. But given the way that English was violently imposed as a language, an ideology, and a way of life, Brathwaite asks: “can English be a revolutionary language?” (311)

“It may be in English, but it is in an English which is like howl, or a shout or a machine-gun or the wind or a wave. It is also like the blues.”

Edward Kamau Brathwaite was a poet, scholar and philosopher. He completed his schooling in Barbados (the island of his birth) as well as Cambridge and the University of Sussex. His upbringing in Barbados meant that he experienced a colonial education firsthand. The British educational system, Brathwaite writes, “insisted that not only would English be spoken in the anglophone Caribbean, but that the educational system would carry the contours of an English heritage. Hence Shakespeare, George Eliot, Janes Austen—British Literature and literary forms, the models which had very little to do, really, with the environment and reality of non-Europe” (310).

Brathwaite makes a shift from speech to written language in order to emphasize the impact of colonial education on Caribbean writing. He argues, “in terms of what we write, our perceptual models, we are more conscious (in terms of sensibility) of the falling snow, for instance” (310). Aside from the obvious fact that it doesn’t snow in the Caribbean, European perceptual models alienate  Caribbean writers from the poetic possibilities of their own environment: “In other words, we haven’t got the syllables, the syllabic intelligence, to describe the hurricane, which is our own experience, whereas we can describe the important alien experience of the snowfall.” 

Based on the every-day speech of Caribbean folk, nation language provides an alternative: “It may be in English, but it is in an English which is like howl, or a shout or a machine-gun or the wind or a wave. It is also like the blues.” Nation language, Brathwaite points out, is different from  dialect, and in our discussion questions I’ll ask you to explore the significance of that contrast. (311). 

According to Braithwaite, nation language:

·      Is an oral tradition. “The poetry, the culture itself, exists not in a dictionary but in the tradition of the spoken word. It is based as much on sound as it is on song. That is to say the noise…is part of the meaning, and if you ignore the noise…then you lose part of the meaning.” (311)

·      “Largely ignores the pentameter” in favor of the rhythms of the calypso and other local forms (the fact that Brathwaite says “largely” leaves some room for contradiction. We will come back to this.)

·        Is a communal form: "it is part of what may be called total expression” demanding “the audience to complete the community.” (312)

Three Examples: 

Brathwaite references the calypso singer Mighty Sparrow in his essay. The calypso “Dan is the Man in the Van” (1963) is a critique of the “education you get when you small,” and it also demonstrates the stylistic qualities of nation language: “He is rhyming on ‘n’s’ and ‘l’s’ and he is creating a cluster of syllables and a counterpoint between voice and orchestra, between individual and community within the formal notion of “call and response’ ; which becomes typical of our nation in the revolution” (312).

Next I present to you Louise Bennet’s “Colonization in Reverse.” (1966) Louise Bennett (known as Miss Lou in her home country of Jamaica) was a folk poet, performer, and educator. Her poem “Colonization in Reverse” references Caribbean migration to Europe during what is called the Windrush period (19481970), when over 500,000 Caribbean journeyed to Britain to fulfill labor shortages after WWII: 

Wat a joyful news, Miss Mattie,
I feel like me heart gwine burs'
Jamaica people colonizin
Englan in reverse.

By de hundred, by de t'ousan
From country and from town,
By de ship load, by de plane-load
Jamaica is Englan boun.

Dem a-pour out o'Jamaica,
Everybody future plan
Is fe get a big-time job
An settle in de mother lan.

What a islan! What a people!
Man an woman, old and young
Jusa pack dem bag an baggage
An tun history upside dung!

Some people don't like travel,
But fe show dem loyalty
Dem all a-open up cheap-fare-
To-England agency.

An week by week dem shipping off
Dem countryman like fire,
Fe immigrate an populate
De seat o' de Empire.

Oonoo see how life is funny
Oonoo see de tunabout,
Jamaica live fi box bread 
Outa English people mout'.

For wen dem catch a Englan,
An start play dem different role,
Some will settle down to work
An some will settle fe de dole.

Jane say de dole is not too bad
Bacause dey payin she
Two pounds a week fe seek a job
Dat suit her dignity.

Me say Jane will never find work
At the rate how she dah look,
For all day she stay pon Aunt Fan couch
And read love-story book.

Wat a devilment a Englan!
Dem face war an brave de worse,
But I'm wonderin how dem gwine stan
Colonizin in reverse.

And finally, "Inglan is a Bitch." (lyrics here.) Linton Kwesi Johnson was a Jamaican pioneer of dub poetry, a form of performance poetry popularized in the 1970s. It is named after dub music, a form of electronic music derived from reggae that mainly consists of “versions” (remixes) of existing songs. Dub poets often perform to musical accompaniment. Think about the politics of remixing (or ‘versioning’) and how it might serve as a metaphor for the way Caribbean poets transform language and ideas. (also, this poem has a great title.)

Discussion Questions: 

1.    What is the distinction that Brathwaite draws between nation language and “dialect?” and why is this distinction significant? Are these merely different names for the same thing or is Brathwaite trying to call attention to a conceptual difference as well? Be sure to quote the essay in your response. 

2.    Comment on the critique of British colonialism in “Dan is the Man in the Van” “Colonization in Reverse” OR “Inglan is a Bitch” (or any combination). What strategies do these works use to challenge the dominance of British culture? Be sure to reference a specific example (word choice, sound, structure) in your response. 

3.    Comment on the relationship between sound and writing in this essay. Brathwaite affirms the spoken word, but writing is obviously a central part of his poetic practice (since after all, we are reading an essay.) Is there a tension between these two forms? How do these two forms work together to produce meaning? 

4.   Brathwaite writes the nation language largely “ignores the pentameter.” Are we to take him literally on this? After all, we read a Jamaican poet, Claude McKay who does write in pentamer “Tropics in New York”, and also wrote poems in Jamaican patois. Is writing in pentameter (or other Europeans forms) inherently conformist? What are some reasons why Caribbean writers might use both pentameter and nation language?