Jose Marti: Dismantling National Narratives at the Root of American Imperialism
Format
Oral Presentation
Faculty Mentor Name
Jeffrey Hole
Faculty Mentor Department
English
Abstract/Artist Statement
In this essay, I examine the ways in which Jose Marti produces a critique of imperial democracy by appropriating and re-imagining Walt Whitman's persona of the “common man.” While Whitman's poetry resonates with democratic jubilation, it simultaneously conveys imperial ambitions. In recalling the poems “The Errand-Bearers” and “Passage to India" - two principal examples of these imperial ambitions - I argue that Whitman's rhetoric of democracy coincides with U.S. Imperial expansion over the continent and other portions of the globe, including Latin America. Whitman's yearning to speak for the everyday person through his poetry, however, provided Jose Marti with a symbol of America's national narrative with which to launch a critique of imperial democracy. By abstracting from the rhetoric of Whitman's poetry, Marti re-appropriated its essence in works like “Cuento de Elefantes” (“Elephant Tales”) and "Versos Sencillos" ("Simple Verses"). In these works, Marti acknowledges the very imperial ambitions Whitman's rhetoric conceals. Instead of celebrating them under the guise of democracy, Marti backs away from them. What emerges out of Marti's work is a weariness for what is lost to empire. While Whitman implicitly provides a justification of empire, Marti challenges this with his own poetry which leaves behind the rhetoric of democracy and liberation that characterizes much of Whitman's work. My paper will show how Marti's work resisted imperial democracy by dismantling the “myths of liberation and anti-imperialism [that] hide a history of imperial aspiration and oppression” (Gustafson, "Histories of Democracy and Empire," 111).
Location
DeRosa University Center, Room 211
Start Date
26-4-2014 9:00 AM
End Date
26-4-2014 12:00 PM
Jose Marti: Dismantling National Narratives at the Root of American Imperialism
DeRosa University Center, Room 211
In this essay, I examine the ways in which Jose Marti produces a critique of imperial democracy by appropriating and re-imagining Walt Whitman's persona of the “common man.” While Whitman's poetry resonates with democratic jubilation, it simultaneously conveys imperial ambitions. In recalling the poems “The Errand-Bearers” and “Passage to India" - two principal examples of these imperial ambitions - I argue that Whitman's rhetoric of democracy coincides with U.S. Imperial expansion over the continent and other portions of the globe, including Latin America. Whitman's yearning to speak for the everyday person through his poetry, however, provided Jose Marti with a symbol of America's national narrative with which to launch a critique of imperial democracy. By abstracting from the rhetoric of Whitman's poetry, Marti re-appropriated its essence in works like “Cuento de Elefantes” (“Elephant Tales”) and "Versos Sencillos" ("Simple Verses"). In these works, Marti acknowledges the very imperial ambitions Whitman's rhetoric conceals. Instead of celebrating them under the guise of democracy, Marti backs away from them. What emerges out of Marti's work is a weariness for what is lost to empire. While Whitman implicitly provides a justification of empire, Marti challenges this with his own poetry which leaves behind the rhetoric of democracy and liberation that characterizes much of Whitman's work. My paper will show how Marti's work resisted imperial democracy by dismantling the “myths of liberation and anti-imperialism [that] hide a history of imperial aspiration and oppression” (Gustafson, "Histories of Democracy and Empire," 111).