the e-magazine issue 20 / 2007 Mbizo sarah rene wadlow Chirasha beetson Alexander Steven Mikhaylov Emanuel L. Cartwright Paparella YOU ARE A LIAR YOU ARE A LIAR YOU ARE A LIAR YOU ARE A LIAR YOU ARE A LIAR WHO? ME? “Anthem of the Black Poet” By Mbizo Chirasha the succulent breast of Mother Africa ooze that need your fingerprint with the milk of black renaissance i am the certificate of black repatriation the rich womb of Africa germinate that need your identity card. seeds of black consciousness. i am the stone you left or the dead the black blood bubble with identity of Africaness the sweat of my brows flow with the revolutions from i am the tree bark oozing with blood of age slavery to independence i am the river bed flowing with mucus of age. i am the black poet my mind is the drainage pipe pumping out i am the black poet acids of mental suppression black valleys bloom with flowers of Nehandaness my mind s a drainage pipe pumping out african horizons shine with the rays of Nkurumahness cyanides of racial discrimination black streets coloured with rainbows of Mandelaness my mind is a drainage pipe pumping black soil creamed with the wisdom of Mugabeness nitrates of economic dispossession. black spears sharpened with the conscience of Bikoness i am the stone you left for the dead i am the black poet i am the tree bark oozing with blood of age i sing of black culture bleaching in oceans of Coca Cola i am the riverbed flowing with mucus of age i sing of black culture fried in cauldrons of Floridarization my gun is the rose of our freedom i sing of black culture gambled my bullet is the nectar of our reconciliation in dark streets of sunset hills my bomb is the petal of our democracy i sing of black culture burning in computer ages my gun is our 1980 celebrations my bullet is our 1987 political revision. i am the black poet i sing of kings and their people i am the stone you left for the dead i sing of black kings and their people i am the tree bark oozing with blood of age i sing of the dead souls of black history i am the river bed flowing with mucus of age i sing of the rising spirits of black renaissance i sing of the rising souls of black consciousness is abortion a solution to overpopulation i sing for the rising spirits of pan Africaness is demolition a solution to pollution is corruption a short cut to poverty reduction i am the stone you left for the dead is balkanization a shortcut to colonization i am the tree bark oozing with blood of age is condomization a shortcut to HIV mitigation i am the riverbed flowing with mucus of age HIV/AIDS has become business i am the affidavit of black empowerment an import and export product like Coca Cola that require your stamp in America and NOKIA in Berlin. i am the title deed of black emancipation i am the stone you left for the dead that need your signature i am the tree bark oozing with blood of age i am the memorandum of black reparations i am the river bed flowing with mucus of age. N e x u s b e t w e e n The n n d P o l i t i c s i Art a r W a r M o v i e s Fo u By Emanuel L. Paparella Abstract: By fighting fire with fire, political propaganda runs the risk of prostituting not only truth but art itself. Even when an ideologi- cally manipulated docu- mentary shows some ar- tistic merit, it rarely grap- ples with issues of peace and justice; neither does it shed light on the nexus between cultural imperi- alism and war. Paradoxi- cally, it becomes integral part of that nexus. I’d like to reflect upon four recent films that deal with the nexus between war, politics and art, and how the media often misperceives such a nexus, i.e., the meta-message of war reporting, for after all movie making is indeed an artistic enter- prise. The four films, in order of ap- pearance, are: István Szabó’s Taking Sides, which dwells on the so called de-Nazification process of the im- mediate post World War II era; Errol Morris’ The Fog of War dealing with Robert Mc Namara’s lessons learned from the Vietnam war, both appear- ing in 2003; Michael Moore’s Fahr- enheit 9/11, and Jehane Noujaim’s Control Room, both dealing with the reporting of the current Iraq war and appearing together in 2004. A brief description of each may benefit the readers who may not have viewed all four movies yet. Taking Sides, focuses on the choices people make, or better, the choos- wangler and some of his former ra’s 107 minute narration feels more ing and changing of sides in pre musicians. To a man they all offer like a soliloquy than an interview, a and post war times, the particular ready made rationalizations; sort of out circumstances that determine those they either declare them- loud rumi- choices, the attitudes toward those selves anti-Nazis, at worst, nation on choices. The main protagonists of neutral bystanders who the logic this movie are an American intelli- never confused art with pol- of war by a gence officer itics. None of man, now in post World them seem to 87 years War II occu- even entertain old, who pied Germa- the notion that in the past ny, mandated there may be a has been with a tough nexus between involved in assignment: politics and some mo- the de-Nazi- culture. Some, mentous fication, i.e., among whom decisions the interroga- Furtwangler, on war and tion and in- maintain this stat- peace. He ruminates vestigation, of ed position in good on the nature of war and its glorifi- ex-Nazis and faith; others lie about cation and romanticization, on the their collabo- it. It is important to real politick rationalizations of en- rators, for pos- keep in mind that tire nations, their ineluctable choic- sible rehabil- the film is not a doc- es often leading down the slippery itation and/or umentary but an historical movie path of national disasters; on the prosecution; and a famous German objectively depicting real compro- symphony conductor, Wilhelm people and real events. mises with Furtwangler, an extraordinarily However, those events personal gifted musician, on a par with an Ar- are so authentically recre- integrity turo Toscanini, who is suspected of ated that the viewer feels by nation- past Nazi collaboration. The Amer- that she/he is watching a al leaders ican officer is documentary. The who have convinced film’s director initiat- that Furt- makes a point ed a war wangler was of alerting us and from used by Hit- to this in an in- w h i c h ler for prop- terview which they can aganda pur- accompanies no longer poses, as a the DVD but is extricate sort of icon not part of the t h e m - of German film. selves; on culture, and the mis- that Furt- The Fog of War is an ac- communications leading to misun- w a n g l e r, tual documentary whose derstandings. for his own only character is Robert ambitious Mc Namara, Secretary The demonizing of the enemy and motives of Defence under Pres- ultimately, to tragic wars that need and career idents John F. Kennedy not have happened. However, advancement, willingly submitted and Lyndon B. Johnson. The ques- throughout the documentary Mc to the exploitation, when he could tioning is done by the director who Namara appears as no vacillating have easily have left the Third Re- also assumes the role of interview- Hamlet; rather, he projects the im- ich, as other luminaries had done. er; however, he never appears in the age of a competent, very cerebral documentary. Throughout the film, leader, able to rationalize each and The film focuses around the tortu- his voice sounds distant, almost every choices he made in the light of ous interrogation process of Furt- disincarnated. Hence, Mc Nama- a real-politic paradigm (in this case that of the Cold War), and what he only lent the movie more publicity much in the film, almost as a pro- knew or did not know at the time. sending Moore laughing all the way tagonist. We not only hear his voice As the title of the film suggests, the to the Bank. What is most intrigu- but see his face, even glimpse into fog and the confusion never seem ing, however, is that the film was his mind. How his mind works may to lie in Mac Namara’s mind but in indeed be more the inherent nature of war. Howev- “Not knowing what to do, with intriguing than er, he does also imply that he is a bit the subject mat- wiser now at eighty three (his age at no one telling him what to ter it deals with. the time of the interview) than he was some forty years ago during the do, and with no secret service Indeed, we know from the start of prime of his life; that is so because rushing in to take him to the film where he has learned eleven lessons about Moore’s sympa- war and peace which he wishes to safety, Mr. Bush just sat there, thies lie. There are share with the viewers. and continued to read “My no uncertainties here, no fog of Nevertheless, while taking respon- Pet Goat” with the children... war, no ambigui- sibility for his decisions, at no time ties, ambivalenc- in the interview does Mac Namara Nearly seven minutes passed es or dilemmas express any feeling of guilt, or even mere regret for his momentous de- with nobody doing anything.” of any kind. Even the interpretation cisions on the Vietnam War? He of the events is refuses to answer the question as to Michael Moore, simple and black whether or not he has any. It is up to Fahrenheit 9/11 and white, with the viewer to determine the answer. clear demarca- And here lies the ambiguity of the also awarded the Cannes’ Palm d’Or tions between good and evil, truth documentary: the viewer has to de- for best documentary of the year. and falsehood. cide for her/himself if Mc Namara No doubt there is geniality at work decisions were indeed determined here. Let us see. From the beginning we realize that by a Cold War paradigm over which we are not dealing with a documen- he had little control; or whether Fahrenheit 9/11 delves into the tary aiming at strict objectivity, but he was merely taking orders from motives behind the decision to go with a sort of prosecution by the President Johnson. If the latter is to war in Iraq, after the events of shadow protagonists of the docu- the case, then it would appear that September 11, or perhaps before mentary, i.e., the director Michael he has not learned the most impor- those events. Unlike The Fog of Moore parading as an objective, if tant lesson of the Nuremberg trials: War, however, in this “documenta- slightly clownish, observer of the that “I was only taking orders” is no ry” the director-interviewer is very facts. Here the messenger is the excuse in the court of public opin- ion and the international Court of Justice for alleged war crimes. Be that as it may, here too, the direc- tor of the documentary offers us no clues as to where he himself stands on the issue. Fahrenheit 9/11 is a different beast altogether. It was produced on a 6 million dollar budget and a 10 mil- lion dollar advertising campaign; almost twice the production cost. It became at the time the highest grossing documentary film of all time. Talk show host Bill O’Reilly liked Moore to Nazi propagandist Josef Goebbels. That kind of charge message, and he comes across not as ing of the war in Iraq by the media. an investigator, a seeker after truth, Unlike Fahrenheit 9/11 however, but as a sleek lawyer coyly trying to it is not prosecutorial; rather, it at- persuade us the jury, in the process tempts to delve into the issue of becoming part of the trial’s content. what happens to the truth vis-à-vis Therefore, claiming documentary the slippery news-reporting of war. status for the film begins to appear Indeed, in the fog of war, truth often rather fraudulent to the perceptive gets not only massaged but prosti- viewer. It is analogous to somebody tuted too. As such this is that rare showing us a photo as evidence for documentary with a meta-message, a crime, and reminding us that a picture is worth a thousand words; and indeed it is; for if the picture “If we can’t persuade has been digitally doctored it will nations with tell us, more than a thousand words ever could, something about the comparable values motives of the doctoring agent. of the merits of our Be that as it may, what exactly is cause, we’d better the charge here? It is this: there is a nefarious convergence of interests reexamine our between the Bush family and the Saudis, not excluding the wealthy reasoning.” Bin Laden family, which has driven the political agenda and has led to Robert McNamara, the fabrication of false intelligence The Fog of War to push the nation in a war. These are very serious charges that even a i.e., behind the matter it deals with, sleek lawyer would not dare present there is an existential philo-polit- without hard, irrefutable evidence, ical investigation concerned with not mere insinuations, chronolog- the issue of culture, its nexus with ical juxtapositions narrated in a political power, and the propaganda non-linear mode, circumstantial generated thereby. This is the kind evidence, and dots that never get of issue on which Antonio Gramsci connected, as is the case here. used to ruminate behind the bars of It all begs the questions: if the intent Fascist jails where, to keep his men- was prosecutorial, why was this film tal sanity, he wrote a whole book on awarded a prize for best documen- the subject on toilet paper (Litera- tary? Would not “best propaganda ture and National Life), eventually film” have been a more appropriate perishing there. description for the award? Was such an award given for art or for mere Noujaim’s documentary takes the politics? And what does that award- viewers behind the curtains of the ing say about those who granted it? controversial Arab news organiza- Is would appear that here not only tion, Al Jazeera. The Bush adminis- truth but art got a good rub down. tration has declared it a tool of an- As Marshall McLuhan used to say, ti-American propaganda. Vis-à-vis sometime the message is a massage. this sort of charge, Noujaim does Can propaganda ever be passed on not play either investigative detec- as art, the handmaiden of truth? We tive or prosecuting lawyer; she does shall return to these thorny ques- not fight fire with fire, rather, she tions further down in the essay. lets the camera do the work of fer- Control Room also presents itself reting out the truth, without rhetor- as a documentary on the report- ical flourishes, as most good docu- mentaries indeed do. By saying less Sides, The Fog of War and Control she ends up saying much more than Room have all taken themselves out To return to the comparison with Moore. The viewer is likely to be of the picture, so to speak. It is as if Taking Sides, the title of the film re- more persuaded by what the cam- the story is narrating itself through fers not only to the people portrayed era has unobtrusively shown, than the camera. This is in the nature in the film, those who changed sides by a verbose prosecution. of a good documentary. It was in- after the war, but perhaps more im- tegral part of the Italian neo-real- portantly, it also refers to us the For example, the documentary re- ist movie of the 40s reflecting the viewers who, after viewing the mov- veals that while the American re- neo-realist literature of a Giovanni ie, are also challenged to take side porters that Noujaim surveys seem Verga or Ignazio Silone attempt- pro or con Futwangler. This is so critical-thinking challenged, in as ing to convey the impression to the because its director refuses to even much as they are unduly affected readers that the story has no author, hint at his own view or offer us any by Pentagon spinners, the feverish that the book had written itself, as sort of interpretation. The viewer ravings of an American academ- it were. This is surely not the case must come to his own conclusions ic against “American imperialism” with Fahrenheit 9/11 wherein the in the matter, independent of the far from being welcome, provoke director’s ego is narcissistically all director’s opinion. This is diametri- this reaction from the senior pro- over the place as a clown in a circus, cally opposed to Moore’s propagan- ducer at Al Jazeera, Samir Khader: distracting us from both the subject distic tactics. “Where did you get this guy? He matter and the issue of the docu- is just a crazy activist.” It is in this mentary. In the second place, the same peo- kind of attempt at objectivity that the contrast between the two films (i.e., Moore and Noujaim’s) is most apparent. A caveat to the reader is in order at this point: although I am a film buff and have studied and taught neo-realist Italian film within a lit- erary framework, I am no film crit- ic, hence this analysis and critique is not concerned with aesthetic mer- its per se; I shall leave that to more competent persons. As the same ti- tle of this essay-review suggests, my interest lies not in the message but the meta-message: what these four films reveal of the nexus between art, politics, propaganda, within the overarching theme of the search for truth. This is a complex subject, to be sure. Hence, what follows is merely an exploration and a chal- lenging of the taken-for-granted conventional wisdom and “politi- cally-correct” assumptions. Indeed the etymology of the word essay (i.e., attempt) suggests as much. When we compare those four war movies, we soon become aware that the one that stands out like a sore thumb is Moore’s self-declared doc- umentary. The directors of Taking ple who work with the American pose them by a false chronology. an ideology to defend and to sell. investigator (the translator and the For example a letter to the editor To borrow an image from Aristotle, secretary) retain an ambiguous at- becomes a newspaper’s headline. the two resemble pugilists swinging titude throughout; contrary to the He dares call his films documen- away with no opponents, appealing contemptuous attitude of the in- taries supported by facts. Norman to spectators in love with a form terrogating American officer, their Mailer had a name for those sorts that blinds them to the content. feelings seem to fall in Even worse, the ideolog- between admiration and ically agreeable content, pity. For after all, Furt- devoid of artistic merits, wangler, unlike some of may be what was really the musicians who lied rewarded at Cannes. about it, never actual- There is an essay by An- ly joined the Nazi par- drew Breitbart and Mark ty; moreover even if he Ebner which says it all somewhat disingenuous- much better. It is titled ly insists that he knew “Hollywood Interrupted: nothing of the concen- Insanity Chic in Babylon: tration camps, he also The Case against Celeb- alleges to have helped rity.” They make the case some of his Jewish fel- for hypocrisy among the low-musicians. On the entertainment elites of other hand, he did bask Hollywood. The problem in the glory and notori- is perhaps best expressed ety that came his way by by an editorial op-ed propagandizing German piece in the Washington culture. Was it love of Times by Suzanne Fields art or love of glory? The which ends thus: “The ambiguity of it all is what likes of Barbara Streisand makes this a powerfully and Susan Sarandon, authentic historical film. Sean Penn and Michael Moore see themselves We the viewers, if we are as thinkers. Intoxicated sensitive to that ambigui- with celebrity status, they ty, need to come to terms confuse their talent for with our own feelings fantasy with real-life sig- and vulnerabilities by asking our- of facts. He called them “factoids”: nificance. The prizes they win say selves not only if Furtwangler was things that seem to be facts bur more about the prize-givers than sincere in his insistence that he al- they are not actually true. However, about the fantasizers they celebrate. ways kept art and politics separate, Mailer was more honest in this re- Moore’s the pity.” or whether indeed it is possible to gard and never called his war novels Moore wants to serve us the naked do so, but if we too would have act- historical writings. truth, at any cost, but as Umberto ed like him under similar circum- Eco has observed, truth is a very stances. This is the kind of ambiv- There is however something in modest lady and loathes showing alence and ambiguity which is part common between Moore and Mail- herself naked. Serious criticism, the of the existential internal struggle er: they both have mistaken fleet- kind that a Said or a Fallaci can dish within each human heart, wholly ing celebrity with lasting influence. out, is quite different from titillation lost on a Moore who seems to be Mailer thinks of himself as another or manufactured controversies, or perfectly happy with merely oppos- Said, or perhaps another Umberto straw arguments, or distorted facts ing unfairness to unfairness. Eco. Moore thinks of himself as an- or caricatures parading as the truth other Rossellini, or perhaps another and ending up in sheer slander and To make his prosecutorial points, Fellini. However, while Moore, like arguments ad hominem. Which is he likes to manipulate the medium Fellini, plays the clown in the circus to say, Moore has no alternatives to while massaging the truth, to make of life and makes us laugh, he has offer to what he obsessively inveighs up stories, to rearrange and juxta- no ethical insights to offer, merely against; his is merely the other side of the coin of evangelical funda- propagandistic art devoid of ethics lute confidence in the ability of the mentalism, which he claims to dis- real art? In Noujaim’s closing scene American people.” dain. we see an unexpected rain falling over the media outpost in the desert It is that confidence in the peo- In Moore’s films we detect no am- and Khader muses over the futility ple that allows a good journalist biguity. It is all simplistically Man- of trying to cover war in a fair way. ichean: Puritan certainty wherein He exclaims: “Victory, and that’s evil is always out there on the oth- it. People like victory. You do not “It makes me hate er side, to be eradicated, and God is always on one’s side. Not sur- have to justify it. Once you are vic- torious, that’s it.” Indeed, as a close war, but it doesn’t prisingly, his films lack the human friend reminded me in an e-mail make me believe that touch which is powerfully present exchange, history is written by the in Szabó, Morris and Noujaim’s victors, they have the final control we’re in a world that films. To confirm this assessment, it would be enough to speculate on room. My friend has no doubt that had the Germans or the Japanese can live without war what would a Moore do to the army won the war they would have been yet.” spokesperson Josh Rushing, one of the ones to conduct Nuremberg war Control Room’s primary characters. crime trials for the Dresden and the Lt. Josh Rushing, He would most probably merciless- Hiroshima bombings, as well as the Control Room ly destroy his career and reputation, abandoning of the Warsaw insur- but in doing so he would also miss gents by the Soviets. He certainly what a Nowjaim is able to catch: has a valid historical point which or a good film director to shut his Rushing’s perplexity when the US in a sense goes all the way back to mouth and let the people speak government condemns Al Jazeera Thucydides’ ruminations on the through the camera. Try as you for broadcasting a video of the mu- war of Athens against Thebes and may, you will not find this kind of tilated bodies of American soldiers. the awful nature of war in general. ambivalence and openness to ambi- Be that as it may, what, if anything, guity in any of Moore’s condescend- Rushing describes his distress at can then the observing writer or ing documentaries. Noujaim, Szabó watching the video, then he frank- film director do in the face of the and Morris’ films imply that in the ly admits that when the next night sad reality of the nature of war? I final analysis, all that can be done is the network showed wounded and would suggest nothing but observe to merely assert an idea and a mod- dead Iraqis, he was less bothered; and report, that’s his job. In that se- el of truth and fairness, however he finds this phenomenon rath- rene observation and reporting, the doomed, and then put one’s mind er disturbing. He then blurts out: truth, as distinguished from mere at rest by letting it lie for a while, “It makes me hate war.” So, while propaganda, may appear as a sort like a seed beneath the snow, in the Noujaim, Szabó and Morris honour of epiphany. In Nowjaim’s Control hope that it will spring eternal in people by exploring their mixed Room, there is an eloquent exam- what Silone has dubbed the spring- motives and conflicting allegiances, ple of this: at one point one of the time of the “the conspiracy of hope.” Moore’s “documentaries” (whose reporters, Hassan Ibrahim, frustrat- For indeed Hermes always reaches production company is appropri- ed by the American condemnation his destination, especially when his ately named “Dog eat Dog Films”), of Al Jazeera for showing Iraqi ci- messages have the form of authen- disrespect their intelligence. They vilians wounded in bombing raids, tic art. While Silone’s message is all appear in comparison mere prop- exclaims angrily: “You are the most but lost on the arrogant Moores of aganda weapons, pitting unfairness powerful nation on earth, I agree. this world in love with their shallow against unfairness, ideology against You can defeat everybody, I agree. political certainties, there is an im- ideology. Now, this prosecutori- You can crush everyone, I agree. portant lesson to be learned from al strategy may even be genial a la But don’t ask us to love it as well!” Fahrenheit 9/11, a sort of twelfth Leni Riefenstahl, but genial or not, And yet, moments later when a col- lesson to be added to the eleven it remains mere propaganda, offer- league asks Ibrahim who is going lessons on war of McNamara, and ing no glimpse of a world without to stop the Americans, he answers it is this: truth is always war’s first war, of a disinterested viewer, or a thus: “The United States is going casualty. conflicted mind and heart. to stop the United States. I have This comparison in the end leaves us absolute confidence in the Ameri- perplexed and begs the question: is can Constitution. And I have abso- “Bodies” By Sarah Beetson This series is from my recent exhibition: “Bodies”. They were inspired by my trip to Hiroshima. The 4 Japanese atom bomb babies are directly referenced from lab photos of babies born after the atomic bomb (between 1945 and 1948). The lyrics that run across the paintings are from the 1957 song “Atom Bomb Baby” by U.S band The Five Stars. The ‘nuclear future’ quote came from the Australian PM and the opposing party responded with “John Howard is living in a nuclear fairyland”. The 4 celebrity babies were born in the same years in the Western world. Got a doll, bab y, I love her so Nothing else li ke her anywher Man, she’s anyt e you go hing but calm A regular pint sized atom bom b Atom bomb bab y, little atom bo I want her in m mb y wigwam She’s just the w ay I want her to A million times be hotter than TN T Atom bomb bab y loaded with p Radioactive as ower a TV tower A nuclear fissio n in her soul Loves with elec tronic control Atom bomb bab y, boy she can st One of those ch art ain reactions in A big explosion m y heart , big and loud Mushrooms m e right up on a cloud Atom bomb bab y sweet as a plu Carries more w m allop than uran When she kisse iu m s, there’s no hit Zero power, sh ch e turns on the switch Atom bomb bab y, little atom bo I want her in m mb y wigwam She’s just the w ay I want her to A million times be hotter than TN Atom bomb bab T y, little atom bo mb! “Atom Bomb Baby” - The Five Stars, 1957 This is the piece that started off my preoccupation with nuclear waste. John Howard (Australian PM) is pushing to strengthen Australia’s wealth and position in the energy crisis by mining the large reserves of uranium mainly for U.S export. Of course, the majority of the current and proposed mines (and dumping sites) are close to aboriginal territories, and far away from all the major cities. So hence, the aboriginal kids in this piece are wearing rather different sportswear brands, and their skin is broken up with insertions of damaged cells and DNA. W.H. Auden: Poet of the Age of Anxiety By Rene Wadlow René Wadlow is also editor of the online journal of world politics www.transnational- perspectives.org and an NGO representative to the UN, Geneva. Formerly, he was professor and Director of Research of the Graduate Institute of Development Studies, University of Geneva. Wystan Hugh live in Berlin. The Berlin of Wei- clear and in a conversational style. Auden, whose mar Germany was more tolerant of He could recognize the importance birth 100 years open homosexuality than was the of style and the use of words of oth- ago in 1907, is England of his youth. In Berlin, he er poets. marked this year began an intensive literary and on- by two separate again-off-again sexual relationship In the 1930s, confronted with social groups of poetry with Christopher Isherwood (1904- unrest, William Butler Yeats moved readers. Each 1986). The two men had known increasingly to the Right even urg- group celebrates each other slightly at Oxford Uni- ing “the despotic rule of the edu- half of his poetic life and rather versity. The somewhat older Isher- cated classes”. In 1933, Yeats was tries to forget about the other wood was already well introduced for a short time drawn towards half, seeing one part of his life as in the English publishing and art General O’Duffy, leader of the Irish the perfect image of the modern world. He helped Auden with in- Fascists — the Blue Shirts. Fortu- poet who lost his way. troductions to editors. It was T.S. nately, O’Duffy was a clown from Eliot’s publisher Faber & Faber whom Yeats separated quickly but There is the W.H. Auden (he rarely which published Auden on Eliot’s not from some of O’Duffy’s ‘law used his first names) of the 1930s, recommendation even if Eliot’s and order’ ideas. Thus, although the English political poet who re- conservative religious and political Yeats had become an opponent of ported on the Spanish civil war and positions were the opposite of Au- Auden’s values, Auden’s tribute to the start of the Sino-Japanese war den’s. Yeats on his death in 1939 is one in 1939. Then, there is the poet liv- of the most moving and just. “ But ing in the USA during the 1940s In Berlin, Auden and Isherwood there is one field in which the poet who became a US citizen and be- became aware of social unrest and is a man of action, the field of lan- came primarily concerned with the clash between the Communists guage, and it is precisely in this that what was called at the time “neo- and the rising Nazi party. Auden the greatness of the deceased is most orthodox Protestant” theology. became a Marxist because Marx- obviously shown. However false or Finally there is the writer largely ism provided a ready-made struc- undemocratic his ideas, his diction of book reviews and short literary ture to explain conflict. All his life shows a continuous evolution to- essays living much of the time in Auden was interested in developing ward what one might call the true Italy and Austria until his death in frameworks to interpret social and democratic style. The social virtues 1973 in Vienna. The one constant religious categories, and the Marx- of real democracy are brotherhood running through his life and color- ist dialectic was both a philosophy and intelligence, and the parallel ing his more personal writings was of history and a structure to under- linguistic virtues are strength and a homosexual bonding to men that stand current events. Auden, how- clarity, virtues which appear even he hoped would last and never did ever, was never attracted to the po- more clearly through successive as reflected in his poem It’s No Use litical parties that were the manifes- volumes by the deceased.” raising a Shout: It’s no use raising tations of Marxist views. a shout. With Isherwood, Auden wrote a When the Spanish civil war broke number of verse plays that com- out, Auden was immediately drawn No, Honey, you can cut that right bined humor, irony with the issues to the Republican cause. He went to out. of the day. It was a socially-con- Spain thinking of becoming an am- I don’t want any more hugs; scious art but they never departed bulance driver. However, his liter- Make me some fresh tea. from a certain ironic tone and a con- ary talents were more needed in the cern with language. Auden was al- information and propaganda servic- In 1930, shortly after publishing ways concerned with the impact of es. In Spain, he saw that the politi- his first book of poems, he went to words, and his poems were usually cal realities were more ambiguous Stop all the clocks, cut off the telephone, Prevent the dog from barking with a juicy bone, Silence the pianos and with muffled drum Bring out the coffin, let the mourners come. ‘Funeral Blues’, W.H. Auden, 1936 and troubling than he thought, but bye to Berlin served as the basis of a younger poet and writer. The two he saw that war was ready to ex- plays and films. together began writing opera libret- pand. He also saw the link between ti for the English composer Ben- events in Europe and Asia. In 1938, Meanwhile, Auden stayed on the jamin Britten, who also spent the Auden and Isherwood went to Chi- East Coast, first teaching at Swarth- war years in the USA. They wrote na to cover the Sino-Japanese con- more, a Quaker college near Phil- together the words for Britten’s op- flict and jointly wrote a powerful adelphia from 1942 -45; he then era Paul Bunyan – a folk hero that account Journey to a War. lived in New York City in the lit- Britten used to deal with his newly- erary fashionable St Marks Place. discovered American themes, as On their way back by boat from He began writing for US journals, well as the words for many of Brit- China, Auden and Isherwood de- in particular The New Yorker and ten’s song cycles. Kallman and Au- cided to stay in the USA. Auden in Vogue both of which paid well so den wrote Rake’s Progress for Igor New Year Letter reviews the politi- that he could write without having Stravinsky who had also moved cal decade in which he had been the a regular teaching job, though he to the USA as well as an opera of leading poetry voice of the Left: was often asked to give lectures at Hans Henze based on The Bacchae universities. of Euripides. Who, thinking of the last ten years Does not hear howling in his ears Auden became increasingly in- To mark the war years and the start The Asiatic cry of pain fluenced by the Protestant theolo- of the Cold War, Auden wrote The The shots of executing Spain gian and political analyst Reinhold Age of Anxiety which won the Pu- See stumbling through his out- Niebuhr who was teaching in New litzer Prize for poetry in 1947. While raged mind York City. Niebuhr combined a so- the book was not that widely read, The Abyssinians, blistered, blind, cialist-leaning politics with a Prot- the title gave its name to a whole The dazed uncomprehending stare estant theology which stressed that period and sections of it were often Of the Danubian despair humans were always limited in their quoted. The Jew wrecked in the German ability to do good by the reality of cell, sin, which is self-centeredness. By 1948, Auden was again attracted Flat Poland frozen into hell. to life in Europe but largely places In the Niebuhr spirit, Auden wrote that were not associated in his mind Once in the USA, the Auden-Isher- “Man is not, as the romantics imag- with his experiences of the 1930s. wood couple broke. Auden wrote: ined, good by nature. Men are equal He spent part of each year in Italy not in their capacities and virtues and later both Italy and Austria. He If equal affection cannot be but in their natural bias toward evil. returned to Oxford University to Let the more loving one be me. No individual or class therefore can give some lectures on poetry, but claim an absolute right to impose post-war England held out few at- Isherwood moved to California and its view of good upon them. Gov- tractions for him. Although he con- became part of the religious-mysti- ernment must be democratic, the tinued writing book reviews and cal circle around Aldous Huxley and people must have a right to make short essays, his declining years Gerald Heard. Isherwood became a their own mistakes and to suffer for never caught the spirit of the times disciple of the Indian teacher Swa- them.” as did his 1930s poems and his mi Prabhavananda and cooperated 1947 The Age of Anxiety. Neverthe- in the translations of a number of In New York, Auden entered into a less, his work merits being known, Indian religious texts. Later Isher- long-term literary and homosexual a voice of a time past. wood’s memories of Berlin Good- relationship with Chester Kallman, m Haiti” “LetterMfbirzooCh By irasha black sister whose blood flow in my veins my wounds are your blisters that boil with the fear of tomorrow and the bitterness of yesterday this letter is to convince stones and bones that my blood flow in your veins that you are my black sister in bullets, in stars, in freedom, in flowers, in dust for those who groan alone die alone and those who weep together, laugh together i am not Indian, i am not Haitian, not American, not Anglican i am the daughter of the moon and dust shipped up to hear by the boat that missed bullets during the exodus. “Goodbye Prague” By border control Two guys dressed in vomit green Staying in somebody’s apartment A front door is By Alexander Mikhaylov Leafing through your passport Pregnant with industrial locks (and ’You have no Czech visa.’ none of them functions properly- Living in Prague for six years ’No.’ Even a landlord is having troubles Then moving away ’You’ve got no stamp in Berlin.’ opening them) Then ’No.’ Roar of a drill in an apartment Returning a year later ’How long are you going to stay in below at nine am For short stay Prague?’ Dog shit lying on pavement ‘How do you feel about coming ’A week, maybe a bit longer.’ In short back to Prague?’ ’We’ll write down your passport Here they are: ‘I don’t know... Well, actually... number.’ All these familiar forms of local I feel nothing’ ’All right.’ madness but Indeed A day later These days they leave me Nothing goes right Walking down the street, scanning unperturbed Failing to perform a grand entrance the street, Once I hoped to find home here but Dead drunk in Berlin, spacing out Trying to feel sentimental but It seems to be all in the past, dead on a bench failing at that too and gone now Of the bus station Sitting in a pub, killing time ’So what do you think?’ The Prague bus is late as usual Shopping... ’Oh well, I think it’s just Finally it arrives ’But I still feel nothing. How Some ordinary Central European Climbing in, falling asleep come?’ city.’ Being hauled outside Steve Cartwright “Anthem to my People” By Mbizo Chirasha i am the blister of the time to resurrect souls from decades of servitude i am not a commercial break in a feminist magazine i am not a condom advert in sexist newsletter i am not a dumping site of racial hogwash i am a dream of time i am a dream of time i sing to the messiah turned Judas race obsessed tsars of this world reading bullet sanctioned letters posting neurotoxin smeared parcels buckets brimming of bulletcraft pockets empty of freedomcraft where heroes are created by propaganda and legends are made of rumours every rose belong the state every child belong the slum every prayer belong to the gutter every stomach belong to the militia i am a dream of time i am a dream of time freedom mothers domesticated into birth giving machines beautiful sisters tamed into money guzzling slot machines bible missionaries baptizing themselves into mental sodomizing machines democracy prize laureates gambled as passports of political expediency i am not a forgotten rotting dream for the oppressed become the parents of time and the oppressors become the children of time i am the formulae of peace and freedom i am a dream of time i am a dream of time. “Tribute” By Mbizo Chirasha my poetry sing of legends, legends of innocence legends of conscience legends of renaissance LUTHER, SAROWIWA, MARLEY, NKURUMAH, SAMORA, FANON and others swallowed by the mercenary train my poetry is angry my poetry is pregnant with emotion it spits global confusion remember chimurenga chant umvukela sing mau-mau sing maji maji robin was not a garden of roses it was a dungeon of blisters rise MADIBA, TAMBO, LITHULI these are not toys but heroes rise BIKO, UMKONTO WE SIZWE THE SPEAR OF AFRICA Ovi Bookshop THE DEAD PINKY by Theo Versten “The thing was that it just freaked me out that she didn’t have a pinky finger on her right hand anymore…” Theo Versten’s intriguing opening line develops this physical mutilation into a college relationship with a difference. Be warned, it may not be suitable for the faint of heart… Hemingway’s curse by Alexandra Pereira The Compleat Angler Hotel on the island of Bimini, in the Bahamas, was destroyed by fire a few years ago. It was one of the refuges of Ernest Hemingway and it is believed he wrote a few novels there. Now, it has inspired a differ- ent kind of story. The author felt the news failed to reflect the extent of the fiery destruction and begins her journey to change all that. RIP 2006 cartoons’ book by Thanos Kalamidas Six-feet-under, two corpses voice their strong, yet humor- ous, opinions on contemporary events, plus they are oc- casionally joined by everybody’s favourite bloodsucker. Download the complete 2006 ‘R.I.P., including the Dracula’ today. ShowBizz, Directing. Book #1 by Thanos K & Asa B How many cocks have you ever seen? Perhaps I should rephrase that: how many roosters have you ever met? I have met one rooster in my life and it was a nasty day on the farm… if you want to see what happened just … read the first book with the adventures of Showbizz The Trunk by Bohdan Yuri Bohdan Yuri has captured the emotion of a young girl’s decision to leave home and explore the waiting world, but a letter written by her recently deceased grandfather may change all that. Download this touching short story today. A Mika Moose Christmas by Thanos K & Asa B The Christmas adventure that has been on everybody’s lips. The simple story of a moose and a magpie saving Christmas - what more could you want? Beautiful People #1 by Thanos Kalamidas The Extraordinary Beautiful People is Thanos Kalamidas’ graphic novel debut and it is unlike anything you have ever seen before. Dark, surreal, stylish and thought provoking are just four adjectives that come to mind, but feel free to choose some of your own. Beautiful People #2 by Thanos Kalamidas Ovi proudly presents ‘The Extraordinary Beautiful People’ festive edition, which turns Christmas on its head, leaving you staring into empty darkness and wondering how it can still be so surreal, yet so cool. Jan Sand “The Prisoner” “Apartheid Strawberries” By Mbizo Chirasha I wonder why the world dress mercenaries in robes labelled democracy apartheid butcher men parading in plastic handcuffs i was born when Alfonso and Dhlakama break fast Portuguese tea freedom bleaching in mercenary bleached minds I was born years when Slobodan, waved goodbye to Saddam saddam waving back to Slobodan i was born when conspiracy programs crucified torijos and jaime after the heart beating obituaries of Allende and Surkano after the freedom messiahs, Lumumba and Nkuruma kissed their rifles and Bibles goodbye. when great crocodile prayed for the miracle of the rainbow nation to canvas genocide blisters africa is tired of reaping apartheid strawberries. E V E R Y Y E A R W E F I G H T T O END RACISM And we will keep on fighting until we do.
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