Monday, September 16, 2019
Political Poetry by Margaret Atwood
ââ¬Å"Backdrop addresses cowboyâ⬠by Margaret Atwood Creating a masterful poetic movement through the American mythos, Atwood skewers ââ¬Å"manifest destinyâ⬠by embodying the voice of the Other, the discarded ââ¬Å"I am. â⬠Writing political poetry that artfully confronts dominant ideology ââ¬â thus exposing the motivation and effects of misrepresentation ââ¬â is a difficult challenge. The process can easily be derailed by temptations to write strident, overly didactic verse that elevates sentiment above nuance and craft.While passion is certainly important, it is the poem itself that transforms political intent into a dynamic act of oppositional literature. To be effective as a statement, it must first be effective as a poem. In ââ¬Å"Backdrop addresses cowboy,â⬠Margaret Atwood delivers a scathing indictment of imperialist power that, through its elegant craft and conceptual framework, is also a breathtakingly vibrant poem. The core message, a poten t denunciation of reckless power from the perspective of those who suffer its consequences, is simultaneously unequivocal and oblique.Though Atwoodââ¬â¢s indictment is readily apparent, close reading reveals a brilliant poetic foundation comprised of nuanced language, double-meanings, and a metaphorical structure that satirically lambasts American exceptionalism by skewering the individualist ââ¬Ëcowboy' myth with imagery from its own construction. In short, Atwood's poem succeeds as a political statement because she allows the demands of exceptional poetry to drive its articulation. From the outset, Atwood chooses language that economically expands the meaning of each phrase.For example, ââ¬Å"Starspangled,â⬠the poemââ¬â¢s first word, focuses a personification of ââ¬Ëcowboy mentalityââ¬â¢ into a subtle critique of nationalist manipulation. In addition, other connotations come to mind, like ââ¬Å"starry-eyed,â⬠or the gaudiness of ââ¬Å"spangles. â⬠Even elements internal to the American anthem apply: bombs bursting, a nation under siege, victory against all odds. Though speculative, a reading like this is supported by the poemââ¬â¢s representation of a cowboy who violently protects his own interests in an imagined landscape filled with heroes and villains.Regarded as a heroic figure by the myth of manifest destiny, he is conversely seen as a reckless tyrant by those who suffer the effects of his violence. The first stanza reveals a comic figure ââ¬â ââ¬Å"Starspangled cowboyâ⬠sauntering through his child-like fantasy while pulling a prop from the Hollywood simulacrum that supports his myth. Atwood complicates this image in the second stanza when she introduces violence to her ââ¬Å"almost- /sillyâ⬠characterization of the mythical ââ¬Å"West. Using a line break to accentuate the transition, she plays the impact of a stand-alone line against the expanded meaning of its grammatical context. Isolated, line s ix (ââ¬Å"you are innocent as a bathtubâ⬠) relates directly to the opening stanzaââ¬â¢s child-like caricature, forming an aphoristic trope that is both interesting and oddly mundane. Accentuated by the break, the lineââ¬â¢s reading adds dramatic nuance when its sentence unfolds into a broader meaning: ââ¬Å"you are innocent as a bathtub / filled with bullets. Contrasting the ironic character of opposed readings (innocent and not-at-all-innocent) within the space of shared words, Atwood foreshadows an overall conceptual structure in which ââ¬Å"backdropâ⬠refers both to the simulacrum of Hollywood sets and to the genuine environment of a beleaguered world. Despite its obvious quantitative reference, ââ¬Å"bathtub / filled with bulletsâ⬠also infers a Hollywood cliche ââ¬â the bullet-riddled bathtub ââ¬â that reinforces a theme inherent to the myth: if youââ¬â¢re not ready to fight, theyââ¬â¢ll get you when youââ¬â¢re vulnerable.An inference l ike this reflects back on the subtle statement of the earlier use of ââ¬Å"starspangledâ⬠: a nation that imagines itself as besieged can use that camouflage as justification for militarism and imperialist expansion. Again, supported by the poem, these significations demonstrate a complicated structure that works internal logic to frame an effective (and damning) political statement. Oppositions and Conceptual Structure This is a poem about power and disenfranchisement.It employs oppositions as a conceptual device to turn manifest destiny on its head. Exploding the cowboy myth by use of its own imagery and overarching theme of heroes and villains, Atwood draws complex parallels to American exceptionalism, a black and white ideology that drains color from alternative perspectives. By use of satire, she effectively removes the shroud that justifies questionable actions as being both inevitable and heroic. As stated in the title, the voice of this poem is that of ââ¬Å"backdropâ ⬠(i. . the environment of scenes portrayed by the myth and recontextualized by the poem) addressing ââ¬Å"cowboy. â⬠The expanding focus on ââ¬Å"cowboyâ⬠and his violent milieu reaches a pivot in the fifth stanza when the Hollywood backdrop is fully exposed, and the speaker finally reveals herself. Using the word ââ¬Å"oughtâ⬠(implying mandatory obligation), she questions her expected role on the set (passive, ââ¬Å"hands clasped / in admirationâ⬠) while asserting, ââ¬Å"I am elsewhere. Spoken as ââ¬Å"backdrop,â⬠and expanded in the final stanzas, this statement implies a conceptual flip wherein ââ¬Å"backdropâ⬠becomes subject, inhabiting an environment desecrated by the reckless actions of a transient ââ¬Å"cowboyâ⬠. Simulacra In the essay ââ¬Å"Simulacra and Simulation,â⬠philosopher Jean Baudrillard states, ââ¬Å"The simulacrum is never that which conceals the truthââ¬âit is the truth which conceals that there is none . The simulacrum is true. â⬠While Baudrillard perhaps overstates his case, the point is clear: actions instigated and justified by myth play an undeniable role in shaping both material and social reality.Applying this concept to Atwoodââ¬â¢s poem, manifest destiny can be seen acting as ââ¬Ëtruthââ¬â¢ in its own regard ââ¬â concealing no truth, because instead it has replaced truth with artifice. Accordingly, ââ¬Å"cowboyâ⬠becomes backdrop to the postmodern world from which Atwood addresses the genuine existence of other, more substantial truths conveniently denied by myth. The Alternative Power of Effective Verse As representation itself, replete with borrowed imagery and the detritus of experienced consequence, this poem enacts a self-reflexive reversal of the social forces it speaks against.With a vocabulary full of bullets, Atwood crafts a poem that stands the test of both ââ¬Ëtruth' and time ââ¬â yet does so peacefully, through an act of oppositi onal literature. Whether her poem is construed as feminist, environmentalist, post-colonial, or just-plain-political (from a Canadian perspective), its verity is affirmed by continued relevance. Written in the mid-seventies, it speaks just as powerfully in our current era. In terms of effective poetics, how good is that?
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