This Is the Reason We Persevere: The 2010 Neustadt Prize Lecture

Abstract

Perhaps ponderingwords isalso a formof seekingjustice.If a monologue can invitea chorus, then perhaps itcan speak for othersas well. Poetryisselfsufficient in its uselessness,and therefore itis contemptuous of power. LadiesandGentlemen: Tonight, in front ofeveryone here,I wish tokeepmytonelow,so that thewordgratitude canbe heardmoreclearly. Thisis a wordthat must besaid,andshouldhavebeensaida long time ago. Upon hearingthe versesof Baudelaire, Lorca,Tsvetaeva, and Ehrenburg forthefirst time, a generation ofChinese poetswasalready grateful - for thetransmission ofcreativity from handtohandduring thosestark years. Words, in thehandsof theirreceivers, had directly become destiny. Poetry hitus withitspowerofimmediacy, andIbelieved that from that point ofimpact, the powerwouldbetransmitted backoutfrom us. Sincethen, myborders havebeenonlytwo rowsoftrees. Even as I speak,remnants of the 1970s stillresound, and containeveryecho of the reshaping ofone'scharacter. One country, one voice - thepoet expelshimself fromall that. Thusbeginswriting, thusbeginsexile.A positionapproaches meon itsown.I am onlyone man;I establish myself onthat. Iamonly a man. I amnotspeaking abouthistory, butabout man, whoseappearance inthis wordhistory has longbeendebated. Inthis word, life isledaway bypoetry, tosearch for, as SylviaPlathsaid,"a country far awayas health." I amspeaking aboutwriting, that difficult étude. Intheprocess, whatmust bespoken meets whatcannotbe said. Eachwordis a catalyst, requiring the writerto breakout forcefully from another story, from theprimitive camp where history, society, andpolitics converge, to touch uponthat "what" andthat "who."Atthat touch,one findstheunlimited boundaries of man,concealed bywords. Atthispoint, halfofeachwordhas been written, thehalfthat canbe understood. Grammarisstill pondering theother half. Eachword is notonlya sign.Insideeachwordthere is an orphan's brain.No wordscanbe younger, but insidethewordsuffering areall thesecrets of beinghuman. Perhaps pondering wordsisalsoa form of seeking justice. Ifa monologue caninvite a chorus , then perhaps itcanspeakfor others aswell. Poetry is self-sufficient in itsuselessness, and therefore itiscontemptuous ofpower. At the very least, the ideal of poetry demandsthis: evenas thepoetis stillcatching up, ithas alreadyrevealeditsmostdignified aspect.Itallowslighttobe caston thescales, whichlight mustshineand moveupon.Light therefore arrives where manhimself canarrive, soas torecognize loveanew. Whatilluminates us is hesitancy, so action isalwayscondemning; darkness becomes more complete, tothepoint that ithassealedupallits remaining cracks, without knowing thatlight infact originates from within itself. Andthat is whatwordsmust penetrate through. 46 1WorldLiterature Today WÊÊÊIm ^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^^fl ^^H^^^^^^^^^H ^^^^^^^^^^^H Thepresent is thereby evenmorehidden, thehierarchy cannotspeak thisrule - a spell that hasbeenwritten down. Whenthe road has alreadybecomean unstressed word, evenwhentracing itsgenealogy ,whatreturns are onlytheechoesofthis particular civilization. So westophere, westop attheplacewhere wethink wecangobackand experience thewholejourney, on a questfor that wordwhich hasbeenenclosed inorealong witha swooning, ancientpast - a sealed-up riddle that isonlytesting itslistener. In a poet'slistening, at thelimitsof his honesty, at theends of logic,a "what"will be opened,that"what" - thepresent moment. Fromitsdeepestroots, a wordwillburstout from theriddle. Perhaps thiswordis whathas been revealedby hints:an approaching, an encountering, a dialogue. Theroadisonlyinthepresent, andweuse theechoesas milestones. WhatI amspeaking aboutis howa poet's experience isbrought into words. Afterexperiencingthe cacophony of revolution, subversion, experimentation, and deconstruction, whatcan thepoetstillhear? Insidethiswordthathas burstout from the riddle - silence - is ourcommon condition: on thelevelofa completely material world,on a humanphysical level,we areallowinga dysfunctional intelligence topeckatandeataway thelandscape; itisa continuation ofslogans;a sustainable violenceis usingmemory as fuel, and whathas been replenished is theecho ofour condition, becausetheexileofwords beginshere. Butfrom thediscursive space created by thepoeticcanon,whatconstantly echoes is thespeechthat hasnever beenseparated from silence:thereis onlymemory, no forgetting, becausethere arenomountains, onlypeaks The pantheon of classicalChinesepoets is emerging, bringing mountain ranges, rivers, weight, andpressure alongintheir wordsand between their lines, tobewith usnotonly where languagebreaksbut also at geologicalfault lines, waiting forus topickup wherethey left off - another seasonin thismeadowoflife.In another story, inthesameallegory, thewaywe return tothesoundofthefresco is thewaythe light creates ourhorizon. Atthispoint, we needthevoiceofan allencompassing story tospeak. ABOUT THENEUSTADT PRIZE The Neustadt InternationalPrizeforLiteratureis sponsored bythe University ofOklahoma and WorldLiterature Today,an international bimonthlynow in itseighty-fifth year ofcontinuous publication. The prize,conferredeverytwo years,consists of $50,000, a replica ofan eagle's feathercast insilver,and an award certificate.Funding forthe prize has been ensured in perpetuitybya generous endowment fromthe Neustadt familyof internati on ai Ardmore,Oklahoma, and Dallas, Texas. literature Established in 1969 as the Books Abroad InternationalPrizeforLiterature, then renamed the Books Abroad /Neustadt Prizein 1972 before assuming itspresent name in 1976, the Neustadt Prizeisthe first internationalliterary award ofitsscope to originate inthe United States and is one ofveryfew internationalprizes forwhich poets, novelists, and playwrightsare equally eligible. The charterofthe award stipulates thatthe Neustadt Prizebe given in recognitionofimportantachievement in poetry,fiction,or drama and that itbe conferredsolely on the basis of literary merit. The prize...