[Reader-list] The noisy nativist crowd

[inder salim]

> dear Vivek
>  i was waiting for some reflection on ur wondeful piece...
>  just found a little web site, hope that friends will click to see
>
>  http://www.notbored.org/reich.html
>
>  i shall come back...
>
>  love
>  inder salim
>
>
>
>  On Thu, Feb 14, 2008 at 10:12 AM, Vivek Narayanan <vivek at sarai.net> wrote:
>  > This is from "Leaving Prague: A Notebook" by Alexei Tsvetkov, who is
>  >  widely considered one of the most important Russian poets writing today:
>  >
>  >  "When I first came here [Prague], it had been years since I'd written a
>  >  poem. I stopped writing poetry without a clear explanation of why it
>  >  happened. Later on I came up with lots of convincing reasons: one of the
>  >  best, as I recall, was the turmoil in my erstwhile homeland, Russia. In
>  >  some way poetry, no matter how private, is always addressed to an
>  >  audience, and when a level of noise in that audience exceeds a certain
>  >  value, the exercise becomes pointless. It is possible to imagine an
>  >  opera star performing to an empty hall but not to a full and noisy
>  >  one. There's an old saying: when guns talk, the Muses fall silent. But
>  >  that's wrong: Cicero was talking about laws, not Muses. When people
>  >  talk, especially when they talk feverishly, the Muses definitely shut up.
>  >
>  >  "I remember at the time I could not figure out who it was that Joseph
>  >  Brodsky was addressing in his late verse—it still seems to me driven
>  >  largely by inertia. Brodsky's best poetry is the voice of someone who
>  >  deliberately positions himself between and above two mighty empires:
>  >  it's a running commentary on their perceived decline. When one of those
>  >  empires suddenly collapsed, he was left groping. We will never know how
>  >  he would have regained his internal balance.
>  >
>  >  "When I lost mine, I came to Prague voiceless. Brodsky died soon after
>  >  and, however shocking, the news seemed fitting: the last universal voice
>  >  fell silent, leaving the stage in full possession of the noisy nativist
>  >  crowd."
>  >
>  >  I bring this thesis up not as some kind of advice from the gods, but
>  >  because I am not certain if it is true. Tsvetkov himself presents it
>  >  only as a possible theory, and of course I'm still puzzling around that
>  >  example (metaphor?) of the opera singer. I'd be curious to know what
>  >  readers on this list think about-- am eager to hear both philosophical
>  >  and pragmatic responses-- how to bring the muses back to this list. In a
>  >  way this is to explore the inverse, positive side of the anti-censorship
>  >  debate: what are the conditions for speech, what makes speech possible,
>  >  how does one revive rich conversation?
>  >
>  >  The essay is from the February issue of Poetry magazine from the US
>  >  which, by the way, has now gone entirely online. (Except for the Beckett
>  >  poems in this issue--that upload was most likely blocked by the Beckett
>  >  estate, which probably did not give permission out of concern for
>  >  copyright. Fools.): http://www.poetrymagazine.org/ .
>  >
>  >  Thanks
>  >  Vivek
>  >
>  >  S.Fatima wrote:
>  >  > Dear Vivek
>  >  > You have a knack of making a hill of out of a mole -
>  >  > and all in the wrong direction. In my analogy of a
>  >  > limousine going through filth, the filth is not at all
>  >  > supposed to mean the economic status of people writing
>  >  > high-volume hate-mails. But by calling someone's views
>  >  > as "bullshit", it is you who is demeaning them. (Ok,
>  >  > I'd like to take back the word "slum" - I apologize
>  >  > for it). My problem with your mail was that as long as
>  >  > you apply those filters and send the unwanted mails to
>  >  > whatever insulting folder quietly, it is fine. But by
>  >  > being sarcastic about it (as in your original message)
>  >  > we are only infuriating them further. Will that help
>  >  > in breaking any ice? Or maybe we do'nt want to break
>  >  > any ice.
>  >  >
>  >  > I don't think I'm playing into the hands of these
>  >  > propagandists - I'm only complicating this issue a
>  >  > little further, because I believe that ignoring them
>  >  > and and not answering their simplistic questions is
>  >  > not a long-term solution. If you read some of my
>  >  > earlier mails, I have mostly been advocating DIALOGUE
>  >  > between the two-parties. Now your immediate reaction
>  >  > would be: "huh, these guys don't deserve an ear - you
>  >  > can't have a dialogue with them". Yes I know it is
>  >  > very irritating to read through most of those
>  >  > hate-mails. But the point is that all their rigid
>  >  > stereotypes and biases are a reality and most of us
>  >  > don't have the time, patience or inclination to sit
>  >  > with these folks and talk. An email discussion in any
>  >  > case doesn't lead to anything fruitful, especially
>  >  > when it comes to such a topic. So, the least we can do
>  >  > is to ignore them. But being sarcastic is worse.
>  >  >
>  >  > Another point : you say that since those folks are
>  >  > using broadband to send that many mails, they must be
>  >  > rich enough to be called elite. Well then, what
>  >  > happened to the claim that internet/broadband is
>  >  > supposed to be empowering and democratizing the thrid
>  >  > world, and so on. You seem to be defining the access
>  >  > to internet still in caste/class terms!
>  >  >
>  >  > cheers
>  >  >
>  >
>  >  _________________________________________
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>
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>
>  http://indersalim.livejournal.com
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