“ We had to respond to the terror with a poetry that was just as powerful as the pain being delivered ”
- Raúl Zurita
The above quote is from an interview with Raúl Zurita on April 3, 2009, when Daniel Borzutzky, the English translator of the book, asked, "Song for His Disappeared Love was published in 1985, right in the midst of Pinochet's dictatorship. I'm curious about what it was like to be an artist and a poet during those years?" Zurita's respond to Daniel Borzutzky’s question was striking. As a person who had been imprisoned by dictator Pinochet's soldiers, Zurita did not hide away from the inhumane powers that oppressed the political and social identity of the innocent Chileans. His attempt to express the anger towards the human rights violation in a global society is evident as he explores the themes of purity, nature, and disappearance by utilizing unique aesthetic choices.
Raúl ZuritaZurita is a Chilean poet that began his literary career because of the atrocities that were happening in Chile as well as many other South American countries. His book of poetry Song for His Disappeared Love stood out in Chilean poetry for several reasons. Ninety percent of the other poetry that was being written during the same time period gave the impression that nothing was going on in Chile. Poets such as Jorge Teillier wrote the same style of poetry before, during, and after the military coup, making it seem as though there were no human rights violations occurring under Pinochet. Poets that did attempt to write protest poetry were, according to Zurita, very bad, very poor, or very violent. Raúl Zurita explains that his book was "not only a denouncement, but it was an attempt to invent a language". Song for His Disappeared Love is a collection of poetry that serves to remember those that have disappeared because of Pinochet's rule and expose the aggression that is being taken against innocent citizens of various countries in the region.
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"ni pena, ni miedo"Poetry in a desert
Zurita used a variety of dramatic modes to display his poetry. One of his most famous and still visible forms is the line "ni pena ni miedo" inscribed in the Atacama Desert by bulldozers. It is nearly 2 miles long and roughly translates to "without pain or fear". This message is important to the Chilean people, and nearby village children upkeep the phrase by turning over the dirt so that it remains visible over time. |
PolyphonicMultiple layers of voices
Zurita's extreme decisions about the formal choices are highlighted in the text with two block stanzas that replicate the prison cells and generate multiple paths of reading. With the aid of this structural component, Zurita further creates this polyphonic effect of the chorus singing his poems. Click on the youtube video on the right to experience this polyvocal narrative from the book. |
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PurityPurity is a theme that is explored throughout Song for His Disappeared Love. Although the word ‘pure’ itself is mentioned once in the poem, the concept creates a different outlook of the poem. “Through pure verse and guts” (pg.3), the word pure is used as a medium of contrast. Structurally speaking, the poem is somewhat difficult to read. Zurita consciously chooses to structure each part of the poem differently, which makes the poem somewhat chaotic to read. As shown in the image on the left, the international niches section is structured in blocks, while other sections are structured in paragraphs and stanzas. Therefore, in the case of the verses, they are not pure, as they are structured in a rather unconventional way, which contradicts the phrase ‘pure verse’. Moreover, the word pure is used as a word of contrast when it is used to describe guts. Guts are defined as the stomach, a part of the body that is most definitely not pure as it is contaminated with many foreign substances. The concept of purity can reflect the absurdity of terror caused by the overthrow of the government in Chile. Zurita is commenting on the nonsensical nature of the takeover, similar to how it seems nonsensical to describe the verses in the poem and guts as pure.
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Nature & Human rightsIn this book, the environment is utilized to show how human rights are being disregarded at this time in South America. Zurita writes, "The countries sunk in silence but beneath the niches one heard the sound of rivers". The rivers carry the cries of the people that have disappeared or are suffering. It seems as though violations of human rights become ingrained into the surrounding environment according to this poem. The author claims that even though the people were oppressed and could not speak out at the time, they were connected to nature and that the rivers were speaking for them. These two topics are related because they are both permanent parts of our world. Nature is constantly around us, an ever present part of our existence. Zurita's goal is to say that human rights carry the same importance and permanence as the environment we live in.
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Natural environments of Chile
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- Stuck to the rocks, to the sea and the mountains
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-From Song for His Disappeared Love (page 8)
During the Pinochet dictatorship, innocent Chileans were wrongfully murdered and buried in the Atacama desert. However, at the end of Pinochet's dictatorship, the soldiers dug up the graves in the desert and dropped the bodies out of an airplane into the sea, lake, and mountains to hide the inhumane tortures and murders that were done to the people. Zurita uses the word "disappeared" to not only represent the people who literally disappeared throughout the Pinochet dictatorship but also show the disappeared value in human rights due to the loss of citizens' identity and the right to speak up for the righteousness of social or political issues.
Click on CLAUDIA RANKINE to explore Citizen: An American Lyric