Editor's Introduction

Author(s): Roland Bleiker

Source: Alternatives: Global, Local, Political, Vol. 25, No. 3, Poetic World Politics (July-Sept.
2000), pp. 269-284
Published by: Sage Publications, Inc.
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 25 (2000),269-284
Alternatives

Editor
's Introduction

RolandBleiker*

ofthethingsaroundus is imposedon
Perhapstheimmobility
thembyourcertitude andnothing
thattheyarethemselves else,
the ofour
by immobility thinking about them.
- MarcelProust1

fromso faraway.
Howcanyouhearme?I amspeaking
-René Char2

Mostprevailing approachesto thestudyofworldpoliticspaylittle

attentionto issuesoflanguage.Wordsare treatedas meretoolsto
representfactualeventsthathave qualitiesof theirown,qualities
that are said to exist independentlyof how we perceivethem
throughhumaneyesand humanspeech. The articlesthatfollow
problematizethisassumption.Theydrawupon the poetic imagi-
nation to reveal how language and social life are intrinsically
linked,how more inclusivewaysof theorizingand conducting
worldpoliticsmay emerge fromengagingthe linguistichabits
throughwhichsome of our mostpressingdilemmashavebecome
Suchan endeavoris as unusualas itis urgently
objectified. needed,
forthe academic disciplineof internationalrelations,as Philip
Darbyremindsus, has neverhad "theassuranceto reachout and
allowthesubjectivityoffictionto disturbitsstablestructures."3
The textsthatmakeup thisspecialissuespan a widerangeof
topics,fromterrorism to diplomacy,fromwarto democracy, from
colonialismtopeasantresistance.Theyare structuredin referenceto
threedistinctyetoverlapping themes:security,
development, and au-
Each sectioncontainsbothessaysand poemsthatilluminate
thority.
theissuesin questionfromdifferent angles.The respectivetextsare
VoicesemanatefromAsia,Africa,
and multidisciplinary.
cross-cultural
Australia,Europe,and theAmericas.Preliminary remarkscannot

RotaryCentreforInternational
♦Co-Director, Studiesin Peace and ConflictReso-
of Queensland,Brisbane,Qld. 4072,Australia.E-mail:Bleiker®
lution,University
mailbox.uq.edu.au

269

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270 Introduction

possiblyrepresentor even summarizethe contentsof such a

polyphony.It is up to each individualvoice to reveal how the
processof transgressing boundariesmayengenderprac-
linguistic
relevantformsof insight.This is whythe pur-
ticaland politically
pose of thepresentintroduction is limitedto providinga concep-
tualmap withwhichthe subsequentpoetictextscan be read and
recognizedas centralaspectsof international relations.Accessible
prose is essentialto thisendeavor,but not enough. The reader,
too, has responsibilities.She mustbringas much openness,pa-
tience, and trustas possible to an endeavor that consists,in
essence,of acquiringa novelsetof lensesto (re)viewthe realities
ofcontemporary worldpolitics.

Language and WorldPolitics

To scrutinize theroleoflanguagein worldpoliticsis notsimplyto
examinetheclashofvaluesbetweendifferent nationallanguages.
Interactions betweenthem,as forinstancein translating activities
at diplomaticsummits, is ofcoursea centralaspectofinternational
relations.Butthepoliticalstruggleoverlanguagealso occursin an
arrayofother,farmoresubtle,and,indeed,far-reaching domains.
Considerhowa keyeventin worldpolitics,such as thefallof the
BerlinWall,can be represented throughdifferent typesofspeech,
each of whichembodiesa subjectivebut discursively objectified
wayoflookingat theworld.The turbulent eventsof 1989 can, for
instance,be understoodthroughthevocabularyof highpolitics,
whichrevolvesaroundgreatpowerrelationsand diplomaticnego-
tiations;or throughthe vocabularyof strategicstudies,which
stressesmilitary capacities,staterepression, and relationsof coer-
cive force;or throughthe vocabularyof internationalpolitical
economy,whichplaces emphasison marketperformancesand
theirimpacton politicalstability; or throughthe vocabularyof
peace which
studies, focuses on populardissentand itsabilityto
uprootsystems of domination; or throughthevocabularyoffemi-
nisttheory, whichilluminatesthegendereddimensionsof crum-
blingwalls;or throughthe vocabularyof the commonmen and
womenin thestreet,whichepitomizesthedailyfrustrations ofliv-
ing in a suffocating or
society; throughany other vocabularythat
the
expresses subjective dimensions of interpretingevents.In each
case,though,thespecificvocabularythatis used embodiesand ob-
jectifiesa particular,
discursively embeddedworldview - one thatis
inherently political,even thoughit presentsitsviewpoints, often
convincingly,as unbiased representationsof thereal.4

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 Roland
Blether271

A successfulrethinking ofworldpolitics,a searchfora more

peacefulandjust international order,mustdeal withissuesofrep-
resentation. It mustengagethe languagesthroughwhichwe have
come to distinguishthe safe fromthe threatening, the rational
fromtheirrational, thepossiblefromtheimpossible.Needed is a
critiqueoflanguagethatopensup possibilities to gaze beyondthe
givennessofworldpolitics,thatcan problematizepoliticaldilem-
mas that have been rendered unproblematic,even invisible,
throughyearsof normalizingspeech and corresponding political
practices.Needed is whatFiona Sampsondemandsin her poem
"HistoryTrain";namely,"something moresubstantialthan/ slid-
ing stations,namesbrokeninto/ lettersthatdon't arrive/ prop-
erlyon thetongue"(p. 285).
Poetryis ideallysuitedforrethinking worldpoliticsbecause it
revolvesarounda recognition that(aesthetic)formand (political)
substancecannotbe separated.The mannerin whicha textis writ-
ten,a speechis uttered,a thoughtis thought, is integralto itscon-
tent.Thereis no neutralwayofrepresenting theworld,a formthat
is somehowdetachedfromthe linguisticand social practicesin
whichthe speakeror writeris embedded. "The Indian language
had itsown. . . referents, itsownculturalmarkers," notesNicholas
Higgins(p. 364) when describing the initialcontacts betweenthe
mestizo Zapatistas and theirindigenouscounterparts theChiapas
in
Mountainsof Mexico.Understanding thesedifferences was more
thansimplyan issueof translation. It had to do withappreciating
and legitimizing culturalvalues,and it led, at least forSubcom-
mandanteMarcosand someof theothermestizos,to a fundamen-
talrethinking ofpolitics.The factthattheZapatistarebelsdecided
to releasetheirpresscommuniquésin poeticformwas no coinci-
dence.Indeed,thechoicewasbothhighlyconsciousand highlypo-
litical,havingto do withtheissueof "how,and bywhom,therealm
ofexperiencecan bestbe communicated" (p. 360). It is in thissense
thatpoetryliesat theheartofpoliticsand socialchange,foritdeals
withthevaluesthateitherenableor obstruct transformation.
The essenceof poetryis thusnot to be foundprimarily in its
formalaspects,suchas rhymeor linebreaks.The key,rather, liesin
the self-consciousness withwhicha poem engages the linksbe-
tweenlanguageand sociopoliticalreality. In itsbroadestmeaning,
the poetic refers,as Paul Valérysuggests,to all compositionsin
whichlanguageis meansand substanceat the same time.5Look,
forinstance,at StephenChan's poem "BodyCountin Natal" (pp.
323-328). It seeksto conveyimpressionsand emotionslinkedto
socialand politicalstruggles in SouthAfrica.Crucialto thepoem's
message is that the insight revealscannotsimplybe translated
it

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272 Introduction

intostraightforward prose.The mannerin whichthepoem speaks

is an essentialelementof whatit says.Language is not merelya
meansto an end. It mergesintoan inseparableunityof substance
and form.Language,then,is recognizedas beingpartof thema-
terialrealm- as constituting a formof action in its own right.
"Wordsare notjust narrativematerial,"CostasM. Constantinou
stresses,"butcan themselves have storiesto tell" (p. 289). This is
whyanydefinitionof poetrythattriesto be more specificthan
drawingattentionto theimportanceof formrunstheriskof fail-
ing to appreciatethe verypowerthatpoetrymaybe able to un-
the stylistic
leash. Indeed,it is preciselythisfluidity, refusalto ac-
ceptwhatis,thatsetspoetryapartformotherformsofwriting.
The purposeofthisintroduction nowis to identify aridexplore
severalwaysthroughwhichtheformofpoetrycan turnintopolit-
ical substance.

The Potentialand Limitsof ActivistPoetry

The firstand mostevidentpoliticaldimensionof formcan be

foundin activistpoetry;thatis, in thoseinstanceswhenpoetsin-
terferedirectly withspecificsocialstruggles. These poetsand their
textsepitomizea certaintypeof activist,one thatis situated,as
Roland Barthesnotes,"halfway betweenmilitantand writer," tak-
ing from the former the commitment to act and from the latterthe
knowledge that the of
process writing constitutes such an act.6The
essaysbyNicholasHigginsand Paul Routledge(pp. 359-389) doc-
umenttherole of suchpoetry.The formeranalyzesthepoeticdi-
mensionsof the Zapatistastruggleagainstthe neoliberalgovern-
mentagendaoftheMexicanstate,whilethelatterdrawsattention
to therole ofpoetryin a local Indianstruggleagainstthe deploy-
mentofa nationalmissilebase. Bothhighlight theextenttowhich
poetry can be used as a highly effective politicaltool.
But activistpoetryis not unproblematic.Most so-calledwar
poems,for instance,are neitherverypoliticalnor verypoetic.
They oftenare eithershort-lived battlecries or expressionsof
agony thatreflect, despite their urgentsubjectmatter,above all
personal testimonies. If a poem to be ofbothpoeticand political
is
value,it has to transgress, as JamesScullyemphasizes,the "bound-
ariesbetweenprivateand public,selfand other."7 Take theexam-
ple of Pablo Neruda, who at one stage of his lifenavigated,as a
Chileandiplomat,throughthe loftyaltitudesof highpolitics.He
calledforan engagedpoetry,one thatspeaksnotonlyofloveand

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 RolandBleiker 273

beauty,but thatis also permeatedwitha profoundconcernfor

socialjustice,forthe impurity
of the humancondition.His com-
mitment to an engagedpoetryemergedin themid-1 930s,whena
diplomaticreassignment broughthimto Spain,wherehe experi-
enced theonsetofthecivilwar.AlthoughNerudadid nothesitate
to commithis poetryto the republicancause, he was well aware
thatthiswasa problematicmove- one thatneeded to be justified
verycarefully:
Wouldyouknowwhyhispoems
nevermentionthesoil or theleaves,
thegiganticvolcanoesof thecountrythatbore him?

Come see theblood in thestreets,

come see
theblood in thestreets,
come see theblood
in thestreets!8

Neruda's need to defendan engaged poetryepitomizesa larger

debate thatis waged about the politicaldimensionsof poetry - a
debate thatis takenon in variouswaysbythe contributors to this
volume. What makes poetry political? There are those, like
Neruda,who takesidesin conflicts and use poetryas a weaponto
a
pursue politicalobjective. At the other end of the spectrumare
those, like the German poet Hans MagnusEnzensberger, who see
thepoliticaldimensionsof poetrypreciselyin a detachmentfrom
short-term purposesofagitation.The politicaltaskofa poem then
is "torefuse anypoliticaltaskand to speakforeveryone, evenwhen
itspeaksofno one, ofa tree,a stone,ofthatwhichis not."9Rather
thanrepresenting a singleand uniformposition,the contributors
to thisissueillustratethewiderangeofdiscussionsthatare waged
aroundthisdifficult issue.Thatis,indeed,one ofthemainpoints:
thatan adequate understanding of the internationalcan emerge
onlyfroman acceptanceof difference, fromthe recognitionthat
theworldcan- and must- be seen frommorethanone viewpoint.
And yet,whilelocatingthe politicalpowerof poetryin different
spacesand disagreeingon the mechanismsthroughwhichcapaci-
tiesfortransformation are unleashed,all contributors deal in one
wayor anotherwiththe stylethatsets poetryapart from other
formsof speakingand writing. All drawupon thepoeticimagina-
tionto challengesomeoftheimmobilities thathavecome to char-
acterizethetheoryand practiceofworldpolitics.

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274 Introduction

RedescribingWorldPoliticalRealities
A secondsetofinquirieslocatesthepoliticaldimensionof poetry
not in a directformof engagement,but in the searchfora lan-
guage thatpermitsa more inclusiveapproach to worldpolitics.
The strength ofthispoetryemergesfromtheabilityto revealwhat
had been eclipsedbythedominantlanguageofinternational rela-
tions."Thereis alwaysthechance,"saysErnestHemingway, that"a
book offictionmaythrowsome lighton whathas been written as
fact."10
Considertheworkof the Russianpoet AnnaAkhmatova. She
livedthroughand soughtto capturepoeticallymostof her coun-
try's troublesometwentiethcentury.One of her best-known
poems,"Requiem,"describestheso-calledGreatTerror,theperiod
thatis usuallyconsideredto be theworstmomentof Stalin'sau-
thoritarianrule.Akhmatova recallsa questionaskedbya
poetically
bluish-lippedwoman standing behind her in the prisonlines of
Leningrad:
"Canyoudescribethis?"
And I answered:"Yes,I can."
Then something thatlookedlikea smilepassedover
whathad once been herface.11

MuchlikeAkhmatova was tryingto findwordsforeventsthat

weretoo terribleto be expressedor apprehendedthroughtheex-
istinglanguage,the contributors to thisissue seek to provideus
withdifferent languages to understand the realitiesof contempo-
raryworld politics.Look at thetextsin thesectionon security. The
poemsbyStephenChan, Necati Polat,and Karl-Erik Paasonen all
seektovalidatepoliticalperspectives thathavebeen pushedto the
marginsbymoreprevalentaccountsof events.Paasonen,forin-
stance,allowsus to experiencepoeticallysome of the mosttragic
momentsoftheGulfWar- momentsthatsimplycould notbe seen
throughthesanitizedrepresentations of theeventsin theWestern
media.He speaksofKerbalain ruins,of "Eightdistricts in ten de-
like
stroyed / Two hands with eightfingershammered to crushed
bones" (p. 329). Parallelto thepoems,thearticlesbyCostasCon-
stantinouand Anthony Burkeproblematizeour understanding of
security.Constantinou of
speaks "synchronizing security,safety,and
certitude" (p. 288), and Burkedrawsattention to thedouble-edged
aspectsof securitypolitics:"whileit promisessafety, to wardoff
it
death, generates fear and reposesupon death" (p. 316). Both

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 RolandBleiker 275

Constantinou and Burkethenresortto poetryin an attemptto val-

idate a different notionof security, one thatpointsnot to an es-
cape fromdanger,butto a "passagethrough fearand loss" (p. 308),
one thatallowsus to feel "secure-in-danger . . . and dwellnextto
one's enemy... in security, withoutsurrendering, or dominating,
or makingthefoefriend"(p. 290). The taskahead is daring,to say
the least.But elusiveas the finalobjectivemaybe, the challenge
cannot and mustnot be evaded: "Can you be peaceful / even
wherethereis no peace?"asksJaanKaplinski."Answers / are few,
as always"(p. 412).
The textsgatheredin the sectionon developmentchallenge
conventionalrepresentationsin a similarlyradical way. Sekai
Nzenza-Shandpoeticallybringsto lifethe colonialimpositionsof
time in a way that a detached analysishardlycould. Subhash
Jairethremindsus oftheoriginalcolonialencountersand theirvi-
olentlegacies,withwhichwe stillstruggletoday.Bothof thesepo-
etic accounts may best be read in conjunctionwith Christine
Sylvester's article.In a textualstrategy thattakesthe formof a
prose poem, she a of
employs variety poetic devices,including
irony, in an attemptto unsettlethe stableand oftenunproblema-
tized topic of development.The concept of grassroots,forin-
stance,is thenno longerassociatedwithself-effacing alternative
development workers operating in thedemocratic realm ofcivilso-
ciety,but also with a "shrineof authenticity to which one treks"(p.
340). We hear of subconscious nostalgia for Western suburban
grass- sturdygrassthatis "mowed,chopped, and trimmed"but
fragileat the same time,grassthat"losesa constantbattleagainst
greeneryconstituted as Unsightly weeds'" (p. 340). The following
is fromRossCoggins'spoem "The DevelopmentSet":

The DevelopmentSet is brightand noble,

Our thoughtsare deep and ourvisionglobal;
Althoughwe movewiththebetterclasses,
Our thoughtsare alwayswiththemasses.

oversteaks
We discussmalnutrition
And plan hungertalksduringcoffeebreaks.
WhetherAsianfloodsor Africandrought,
We faceeach issuewithan open mouth.12

unityof subjectand object.It be-

Ironyshattersthe positivist
comesa metaphorthatproblematizes the linkbetweenthe repre-
sentationand thatwhichis represented,forironyalwaysrefersto

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276 Introduction

something otherthanwhatis literally expressed.It refusesto iden-

an
tify objectby itsname or face value.Ironicwriting does notex-
pect theworldto be smooth.It does not anticipate that all of our
observationsneatlyfitinto preconceivedand clearlydelineated
conceptualboxes.Rather,complexoccurrencesand eveninconsis-
tenciesand contradictions are acceptedas inevitableaspectsofour
effortto makesenseofsocialphenomena.Ironydrawsattentionto
the factthatrepresentation is an inevitably politicalissue, that
thereis alwaysa gap betweenwhatis observedand howthisobser-
vationis represented in and throughlanguage.RichardRortysays
theironistis a personwhohas doubtsaboutthevocabularythatis
currently used,butis also awareof twoadditionalinsights:thatno
argumentphrasedin thepresentlanguagecan sustainor dissolve
thesedoubts,and thatthereis no other,alternative vocabulary that
can everbe finalin the sense thatit would be able to graspan
essenceof things.13 Bydrawingattentionto the inevitably incom-
plete and inherently of
politicalaspects representation, ironycan
makeroomforalternative visionsand forpoliticalpracticesthat
mayemergeoutofthisnewlycreatedthinking space.The claimsof
grassroots movements, forinstance, are then viewed in a waythat
allowsus to recognizetheproblematic and contradictory aspectsof
Westerndevelopment practices.
The poeticquestforinclusiondoes notbringcertitude.Quite
to the contrary, it removesimmobilizing certitudesabout the in-
ternationaland thusrevealsthegrayshadesofworldpolitics - its
complexities and paradoxes. "In order to be clear to contempo-
raries/ A poet flingseverything wide,"Akhmatova says.14And by
flingingthingswide, the poetic image has the to
potential bring
intoa dialogicalrealmmanyof therepressedvoices,perspectives,
and emotionsthatotherwisemayneverreach the prose-oriented
theoristsand practitioners of contemporary worldpolitics.The
point,then, is not to press for more definitional but to ex-
clarity,
plore the contexts within which the poeticimagination turns into
a politicalpractice.Thisis whySylvester wantsus to "write withless
certaintythecookbooksofdevelopment" (p. 347). Thisis whyCon-
stantinourecognizesin the false promiseof certitudethe very
source of danger,advisingus to livewithvibrationsthat"desyn-
chronizesecurity fromsafetyand certitude"(p. 303). This is why
Burkeknowsthathowever"smooth"the promiseof perfectsecu-
ritymaybe, it "bindsus to thejagged."He, too,has no poeticcerti-
tudeto offer, no ready-made solution,onlya "pathto a reimagina-
tionofwhateverdiscoursesseduce and ensnareus" (p. 316-317).
And thisis whyKaplinskiknowsthat"God has leftus: I feltthis
clearly/ looseningtheeartharounda rhubarbplant"(p. 413).

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 RolandBleiker 277

The PoeticSearchforPerspectiveand Voice

Directlylinkedto thepreviousdiscussion,anotherpoliticalaspect
ofpoetryhas to do withthesearchforinclusionand dialogue.But
insteadof presenting old dilemmasin newways,thesepoeticsub-
versionsseek to stretchthescope ofworldpolitics.The task,then,
is to visualizepoliticsbeyondtheblood in thestreet,to moveaway
froman understanding of international relationsthathas almost
exclusively revolved around the systematic studyof issuessuch as
war,diplomacy,trade,and majorrevolutions. A poeticdistancing
fromhighpolitics,heroicdeeds, and the abstractions of rational
decisionmakerslocatestheinternational in spacesthathavebeen
eclipsedbythelanguagesthatare usuallyemployedto makesense
ofworldpolitics.The focusthenlies,forexample,withmundane
and dailyoccurrencesthatshape the international in a powerful
way, but do not attract attention as much as highpoliticsand vio-
lentconflicts do.
Variouspoemsand essaysin thisspecialissuevalidatethelocal
and the dailyas crucialaspectsofworldpolitics.Nzenza-Shand's
storyabouteveryday lifein Zimbabwe,forinstance,highlights how
muchseemingly apolitical and neutral concepts, such as the idea
of time,are in facthighlypoliticalinstruments of colonization.
Nzenza-Shandperfectly illustrateswhatArthuroEscobarenvisages
withhis concept of postdevelopment; thatis, a kind of under-
standingthatrefusesto reproduceWesternwaysof knowingand,
instead,validatesthe logic of place-basedculturesand communi-
tiesin Asia,Africa,and LatinAmerica.15 Routledge,too, engages
thisissuein his accountof local resistanceagainsttheIndiangov-
ernment'sattemptto build a missilebase in Baliapal. Songs that
playeda centralrolein theresistancestruggle, he stresses,"evoked
theeconomicand culturalparticularities of theplace,whosepop-
ulationwasopposed to theabstractions of space inherentin state-
securitydiscourse"(p. 386). In a Westerncontext,too, the local
needsto be reintroduced in an effortto resisttheencroachingten-
denciesofuniversalized norms.Myownarticlein thisspecialissue,
forinstance,seeksto revealhow,in the contextof Cold WarEast
Germanpolitics,poetrybecamea wayofdescribing theundersides
ofdailylife:theurbanand industrial wastelandsthathad no place
in thevocabularyof theofficialideologicaldiscourse.
The processofpoetically validatingthelocal and thedailycan
be highlypolitical,forit mayshatterthe artificialunityof an es-
tablishedand linguistically objectifiedwayoflookingat theworld.
By namingthe realityof everydaylife in East Germany,forin-
stance,a poem turnedinto a local formof resistancenot only

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278 Introduction

againsttheexistingpoliticalregime,butalso againstthespatialde-
lineationof Cold Warinternational politics.In a similarvein,the
Zapatistas'attemptto foreground local Indian culturein theface
ofa universalneoliberalmarketrationaledid,in essence,"disrupt
and disturbthe government'smonopolyon truthand fact"(p.
360). And in Baliapal, the poetic celebrationof local life chal-
lenged "state-centered discoursesconcerningthe enactmentof
politicsand development" (p. 387).
The searchforinclusionis, of course,nevercomplete.There
willneverbe a languagethatdoes notexclude,thatcan safeguard
the pluralitiesof lifeand providedialogicalmeansthatcan solve
theproblemsofworldpoliticsto thesatisfaction ofall. Routledge's
essay,forinstance, demonstrates thatwhile successfully challenging
thegovernment's attemptto builda missilebase, thediscourseof
resistancein Baliapalalso effacedcruciallocal differences and in-
equalities,having to do with gender, caste, and class. Hence, the
only defense a
against complacent entrenchment of political
dilemmasand tragediesis a constantprocessof disturbing mean-
of
ing, searching for words that name silences and that challenge
immobilizing certitudes.One byone, invisibleand inaudible,up-
turnedwordsemergeand advance.This is whya poet's failureto
solvea politicalproblemcannotbe held againstheror againstthe
evaluationofthelong-term significance ofpoeticinsight.

Poetryas CriticalHistoricalMemory
The fourth, butnotnecessarilylast,functionofpoetry,is thatofa
historicalmemory.Poems can preserve,forsubsequentgenera-
tions,the multipledimensionsof historicalevents.SaysAkhma-
tova:"I - am yourvoice,thewarmthofyourbreath,/I - am the
reflectionofyourface."16Writing inJuly1914,at a timewhenun-
Europe,she bothantic-
criticaleuphoriatookhold ofa war-thirsty
ipatesand alreadyrecords
the tragedy wassoon to engulfthe
that
entirecontinent:

Fearfultimesare drawingnear.Soon
Freshgraveswillbe everywhere.
Therewillbe famine,earthquakes,widespreaddeath,
And theeclipseof thesun and themoon.17

Memoryis perhapstheoldestfunctionofpoetry.It is no accident

thatpoetrybegan as a formof speakingthatrevolvedaround
rhymeand otherregularities. and rhyming
The rhythmic elements

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 Roland
Bleiker279

of a poem made it easyto remember.Poetrythuscame to fulfill

thefunctionofa societalmemory. It wasused to hand downfrom
generationto generationthewisdomthathad accumulatedover
time.Poemstransmitted and inscribedintoculturaltraditions the
insights thathad emergedfromspecifichistorical struggles.Rhyme
was essentialbecause it maximizedboththelikelihoodof remem-
branceand the adequacyof memory.This stylistic componentof
poetry was to remain essentialuntil the widespread use of paper
and printingcreatednewpossibilities forthe collectiveretention
of factsand data. Free verse,the prevalentformof poetrytoday,
was able to emergeonlybecause the functionof remembering
couldbe consigned,as Scullyemphasizes,to a variety ofalternative
memory banks, from conventional books to their latestelectronic
extensions."Withincreasing dependence on such repositories,and
withlessindividualneed to remember, freeversebecomespossible
and even,perhaps,inevitable."18
The poem functions as memorylong aftertheinevitablerup-
turebetweena textand itsauthor.Akhmatova, forinstance,knew
thatthe historicaleventsand emotionsshe was poeticallyrecord-
ing had meaningbeyondher physicalexistence:"Andiftheygag
myexhaustedmouth/ Throughwhicha hundredmillionscream,
/ Then maythepeople rememberme / On theeve ofmyremem-
brance day."19Other poets too- Osip Mandelstam,Alexander
Blok, Vladimir Majakovsky,Boris Pasternak,Joseph Brodsky,
amongthem- have leftus witha poetic recordof contemporary
Russia.Likewise,our knowledgeof thiscountry'spreviouscentury
has primarily been conveyedthroughfiction.Considerhow Tol-
stoy,Dostoevsky, Pushkin,and Gogol havetoldtheworldfarmore
aboutsocialand politicallifein nineteenth-century Russiathanall
historybooks taken together.It is throughthe voices of Anna
Karenina,CountWronskij, Raskolnikov, EvgeniiOnegin,and the
brothers Karamazovthatthevaluesand struggles ofan epoch have
been conveyedto subsequentgenerations. Thisis notonlythecase
becausetheseaccountsare read (and thefilmversionsare viewed)
farmorethanmeticulously researchedhistory books.A poeticren-
deringof an eventor epoch is also able to deal moreadequately
withthegap thatopens up betweenthe eventin questionand its
representation throughlanguage.Poetryrecognizesthatthisin-
evitablegap is theplace wherepoliticsand the struggleforpower
takeplace. The poem engagesthisstruggle, but insteadof taking
sides it seeks to appreciateand save fromhistoricalannihilation
the multiplicities thatmake up politicaland social life. In this
sense,thepoem becomesa criticalhistoricalmemory, one thatre-
tainsforfuturegenerations a varietyofvoices and Such a
realities.

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280 Introduction

validationof differencecan be achievedonlyifthe poet does not

repressor ignorerepresentation, ifshe seeksto deal withitspolit-
ical functions,
withtheinherently problematic natureofrendering
meaningful thatwhichoftenhas no meaningforthosewholivein
and throughit.20
Whetheror not the poems representedand discussedin this
specialissuewillturnintohistoricalmemoriesdoes,ofcourse,de-
pend on the extentto whichtheyare able to enterthe public
sphere.This issue is forhistoryitselfto decide. All thatthe poet
can do fornowis to givetestimony: faithfully,
ironically, polyphon-
ically.SaysJairethin his poetic account of Alfonsode Albu-
querque's bloodyarrivalin Goa: "In thattropicaldarknight,/ I,
thepassionatescribe,honestly recorded"(p. 357). It is in thisspirit
thatthe Korean poet Ko Un (pp. 409-410) has soughtto docu-
mentthe oftenforgotten factualand emotionalaspectslinkedto
Koreancitizenswho wereeitherkilledor forcefully relocatedto
foreign territories the
during Japanese colonialoccupation."Sixty
yearshavepassed,a secondand thirdgeneration," and a youngboy
in far-off
AlmaAtapicksup hisbalalaikaand playstheKoreanfolk
songAnrang.It is as ifthesorrowsof hisancestorshad come alive
in thissymbolicand emotionaltune."Isitbloodor music,I wonder."

WritingPoeticWorldPolitics
If formis indeedtheessenceofpoetry,thentheproblemarisesof
how to talkabout it. Because styleis whatsetspoetryapartfrom
otherformsofwriting, one cannotsimplytranslate themeaningof
poetry into its
prose,explain significance to world politicsin a lan-
guagefamiliar to ourdailyformsofverbalinteraction. How can po-
the of
etics, study poetry, do
possibly justice to itsobjectofinquiry?
To speakofa poem,MartinHeideggerwarns,is tojudge from
theoutsidewhata poem is. No position,no insightcan everjustify
such a presumptuousapproach.21This is whyPaul Celan, when
askedto explainthe meaningof his poems,oftenreplied:"Read!
Justkeep reading.Understandingcomes of itself."22 The point,
then, is not to drown poetry in an ocean of explanatory prose,but
to let a poem speak,to acceptitsauthority and listento thepoliti-
cal messagethatis hiddenin itscore.This is whythisspecialissue
containsnot onlyessaysabout poetics,but also poems:singleand
unexplainedmessages,attemptsto engageworldpoliticsin their
ownstylistic way.
Buttheproblemofspeakingaboutpoetrycannotbe solvedby
poemsalone. No poem can everrepresentor evenillustrate what

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 Blether281
Roland

poetryis all about.Becausethepoem strives foropennessitrefuses

to speakofand fora totality. Because thepoem searchesforcracks
in hegemonies,voicesthathavegone unnoticed,it is an instantof
subversiveparticularity. Celan explainsin one of his rare excur-
sionsfrompoetryintopoetics:"ButI am speakingof poetrythat
does notexist!The absolutepoem- no, it certainly does notexist,
it cannot exist!"23Heidegger,likewise,explains that "no single
poem,not evenall of themtakentogether, can telleverything."24
Poetry deals with the particular,but it is notprimarily aboutthisor
thatargument,thisor thatidea. It is about searchingfora lan-
guage thatprovidesus withdifferent eyes,different waysof per-
ceiving what we alreadyknow. It is about unsettling,about making
strangethatwhichis familiarto us, about openingup thinking
space and creatingpossibilitiesto act in moreinclusiveways.No
poem, no isolatedcitationcan ever do justice to thisobjective.
Onlyan extendedreadingof poetrycan succeedin stretching the
boundariesofour minds.
Whatare we, as studentsof worldpolitics,leftwithif poetry
cannotbe explainedin proseand ifthereis no absolutepoem ei-
ther- one thatcould representand illuminatethe powerof po-
etry?We mustattemptthe impossibletaskof speakingabout the
unspeakable.Heideggerhas someideasabouthowto tacklethisdif-
ficultpuzzle.Forhim,a poem surroundedbythenoiseofunpoetic
languageis like a bell hangingfreelyoutside.Even the slightest
snowfall wouldthrowit out of tune.Each commenton a poem,he
frets,maywelldo nothingbutcastsnowontothebell. Butbecause
thereis no absolutepoem,we muststilllookfora wayto talkabout
poetry, a waythatswirlsup as littlesnowas possible.Whatwe must
aim for,Heideggersuggests, is a formof commentthatrendersit-
selfobsoleteonce it spoken- a formof commentthatexplains
is
but thendefersauthority back to the poem.25To searchforthis
formless formis theprinciplemethodological challengeof thear-
ticlesin thisspecialissue.The poemswilldo therest.

Reading PoeticWorldPolitics

poetryis thetaskofreadingpoems.
as representing
Justas intricate
It requiresa certainamountofeffort,especiallyifone is to explore
a poem'spoliticaldimensions.Poetryalludes,ratherthanexplains.
It shows,ratherthanargues.It must"leavetracesof [its]passage,
notproofs.Onlytracesbringaboutdreams,"saysRené Char.26 This
is why,forinstance,theZapatistas'poeticstruggleagainsttheover-
whelming prevalenceofneoliberalgovernmental rationalesis "not

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282 Introduction

directedto thehead,"as Higginsstresses,butaimsfor"theheart,

thepartmostforgotten" (p. 371). RobertaReeder,one ofAkhma-
tova'sbiographers,
perfectlycapturesthispoliticalaspectofpoetry:
Poeticprosemirrorsthewaymemory works.A storyis basedon
analogyandassociationrather
thanon temporal or cause-effect
Thereis a simultaneity
relationships. andbringing intojuxtapo-
sitionofkeyrelatedmoments ofthepastin ordertogivethem
newmeaning withinnewcontext,andthesefragments become
inrelevance.27
equivalent
A poem playswiththe imagination;it presupposesan active
reader,one thatproducesmeaningherself.To takea well-known
example:GeorgeOrwell'sAnimalFarmis a book thatcontainsfew
ifanylinesthatare explicitly political.Andyet,it maybe difficult
to finda moredirectcritiqueof Communisttotalitarianism. "All
animalsare equal,butsomeare moreequal thanothers"is a poetic
line thatmayhave had a greaterpoliticalimpactthananyof the
numeroustextsthatsoughtto critiqueStalinismin morerealistic
ways.Buta poeticlinecan becomepolitically relevantonlywiththe
help of a reader - someone who recognizes and validates a
metaphor. It is the reader, and the reader only,who establishesa
poem's politicalsignificance - who brings theforethe struggle
to
thattakesplace betweenthe tensionofwhatis and how thisis is
represented in and throughlanguage.
Perhapsthe taskof readingpoetrypoliticallyis mostakin to
gazingat a painting.Both of theseformsof expressionhave im-
portantaspectsin common.They assume,to repeat an earlier
mentionedtheme,whatF. R. Ankersmit calls the "brokenness" of
politicalreality: the factthat there will always be a discrepancy be-
tweenthe representedand itsrepresentation.28 The writer, much
likethepainter,portrays theobjectthrougha particularmediaof
representation. Evena perfectly naturalistic paintingis stilla form
of representation. It cannotcapturethe essenceof itsobject.It is
paintedfroma certainangle,at a certaintimeoftheday,and in a
certainlight.The materials are thosechosenbytheartist, as are the
colorsand size of thepainting,evenitsframe.Likewise,no social
scientistcan representa politicalissueindependently of themate-
rialschosenforthistask.Eventhemostthoroughempiricalanalysis
cannotdepictitsobjectof inquiryin an authenticway.It, too,re-
flectscolorchoices,brushstrokes, framing. It,too,remainsa form
ofinterpretation, and withthatan inherently politicalexercise.
Froma poeticperspective, thekeyis not to reduceor evenig-
nore theinevitablegap betweentherepresented and itsrepresen-
tation.To do so is not onlynaive,but also highlyproblematic, for

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 RolandBleiker 283

itrepressesthepoliticaldimensionsinherentin all formsofrepre-

sentation.The point,then,is not to searchforphotographicpre-
cisionwhenaddressingan entrenchedpoliticalissue.Rather,the
main taskconsistsof dealingwithpoliticaldilemmasthatare en-
tailedin theveryactofrepresenting. Thisis whya poetrepaintsan
object in differentcolors and fromdifferent angles,again and
again,therebyrevealingthe familiarin newways.Neruda was al-
wayspuzzledwhenaskedaboutwhatkindofbook he wascurrently
workingon. "Mybooksare alwaysabout the same thing,"he said.
"I alwayswritethesame book."29It is in the reworking of political
realitythattransformative potentialis hidden.Poeticrerepresenta-
tions thus can, much like a Picasso canvas,open our eyes and
mindsto different waysof seeingwhatwe have alreadytakenfor
granted. Hence the plea thatthe authorsin thisspecial issue ad-
dressto theirreaders:to takeseriouslya domain of inquirythat
can, ifvalorizedproperly, help us deal withsome of today'smost
pressingpoliticalchallenges.

Notes

Severalpoemsand essaysin thisspecialissuewerepresentedat theAnnual

Conventionof theInternational StudiesAssociation, Los Angeles,March
2000.I am particularlygrateful to Rob Walkerforhis trustin and support
of theidea of poeticallyrethinking worldpolitics.Thanks,too,fora vari-
etyof contributions,to Tim Dunne,JefHuysmans, SubhashJaireth, Paul
Patton,Fiona Sampson,JohannaSutherland, and Christine Sylvester.
All page numbersindicatedin the textof thisintroduction referto
thearticlesthatappear in thisspecialissue.Due to space constraints we
are unfortunately not able to reproducethe originaltextsof translated
poems.
1. MarcelProust,Du côtédechezSwann,vol. 1 ofA la recherche du temps
perdu(Paris:Gallimard,1954),p. 12.
2. René Char,Fureuretmystère (Paris:Gallimard,1962),p. 109.
3. PhilipDarby,TheFictionofImperialism: Readingbetween International
RelationsandPostcolonalism(London:Cassell,1998),p. 19.
4. For a moreelaborateillustration of thisissue,bothin thecontext
of thecollapsedBerlinWalland in a moregeneraltheoreticalsense,see
myPopularDissent,HumanAgency, and GlobalPolitics(Cambridge:Cam-
bridgeUniversity Press,2000), esp. chapters4-6.
5. Paul Valéry,Variété
V (Paris:Gallimard,1945),p. 291.
6. Roland Barthes,Le degrézerode récriture (Paris: Le Seuil, 1972),
p. 23.
7. JamesScully,LineBreak:Poetry as SocialPractice(Seattle:BayPress,
1988),p. 5.
8. Neruda,"ExplicoAlgunasCosas,"trans.B. Belitt,in PabloNeruda:
FiveDecades(NewYork:Grove,1974),pp. 56-57.
9. Hans MagnusEnzensberger, Poesieund Politik(Frankfurt: Suhr-
kamp,1987 [1962]), p. 135.Foran elaborationon theissue,see my"Give

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284 Introduction

It the Shade: Paul Celan and the Politics of Apolitical Poetry,"in Political
Studies47 (1999): 661-676.
10. ErnestHemingway,A MoveableFeast(New York:Touchstone, 1996),
p. 1.
11. Anna Akhmatova, "Requiem," in The CompletePoems of Anna
Akhmatova, trans.T. Herschmeyer(Boston: Zephyr,1997), p. 384.
12. Ross Coggins, "The Development Set," in Graham Hancock, Lords
ofPoverty:ThePower,Prestige, and Corruption oftheInternational Aid Business
(New York:AtlanticMonthlyPress, 1989), p. i.
13. Richard Rorty,Contingency, Irony,and Solidanty(Cambridge: Cam-
bridge UniversityPress, 1989), pp. 73-76.
14. Akhmatova,"The Reader," in Complete Poems,note 11, p. 415.
15. ArthuroEscobar and Ho-WonJeong, "Postdevelopment:Beyond
the Critique of Development,"in TheNewAgendaforPeaceResearch, ed. Ho-
Won Teong (Brookfield,Ver: Ashsate, 1999), p. 223.
16. Akhmatova,"To the Many,"in Complete Poems,note 11, p. 299.
17. Akhmatova,"July1914," ibid., p. 199.
18. Scully,note 7, pp. 126-127.
19. Akhmatova,note 11, p. 393.
20. For a more detailed analysisof this theme, see my "Pablo Neruda
and the Strugglefor Political Memory,"in ThirdWorld(Quarterly 20, no. 6
(1999): 1129-1142.
21. MartinHeidegger, Erläuterungen zu HölderlinsDichtung(Frankfurt:
Klostermann,1981), p. 182.
22. Celan cited in Israel Chalfen,Paul Celan,trans.M. Bleyleben (New
York:Persea Books, 1991 [1979]), p. xi.
23. Paul Celan, "Der Meridian,"in Gesammelte Werke,vol. 3 (Frankfurt:
Suhrkamp,1986 [1958]), p. 199.
24. Heidegger, "Die Sprache im Gedicht," in Unterwegs zur Sprache
(Stuttgart:GünterNeske, 1959 [1953]), pp. 37-38.
25. Heidegger, note 21, p. 194.
26. Rene Char, La bibliothèque estenfeu,in Oeuvrescomputes (Paris: Gal-
limard, 1983), p. 382.
27. Roberta Reeder, Anna Akhmatova: Poetand Prophet(New York:Pic-
ador, 1994), p. 386.
28. F. R. Ankersmit,Aesthetic BeyondFact and
Politics:PoliticalPhilosophy
Value(Stanford:StanfordUniversityPress, 1996), esp. pp. 21-63.
29. Neruda, Memoirs(London: Penguin, 1978), p. 298.

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