More to the Point: World Poetry
By DR. FLORANGEL ROSARIO BRAID
MANILA, Philippines — UNESCO marked World Poetry Day last March 21 by publishing in its monthly magazine, the UNESCO Courier, 100 selected articles on world poetry written over the last 60 years.
Former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor, in Education in freedom, writes about the power of words to melt chains. He says: “Poetry brings its pure grist to the mill of an ethical system that must be rethought.
Thus he envisions how poetry which communicates a universal language can transform our present world: “Is it futile to dream of a different kind of society, one capable of engendering a new humanity and perpetuating harmonious human relationships? It (poetry) is an inner link between poetics, ethics, and politics... The poet must be a catalyst in the renewal of active thinking and the values that are an honor to our species and constantly urge us to exceed our own self-expectations. Poetry is a bulwark against the onslaught of barbarity in its many guises. In poetry, the word is brought to an incandescent heat and speaks to each one of us. It pulverizes injustice or hatred; it is akin to love. For all of us, poetry can make sense of the world, with all its obscure mysteries, great contradictions, and sublime achievements.”
Earlier in the early seventies, another former UNESCO Director-General Amadou M’Bow convened a group of poets from various cultures to declare “War on War” and to set the ethic of philosophy against military aggression. Jean Jacques Lebel explains why poetry is still at the heart of the questions facing society today. During that assembly, the poets proposed “visionary alternatives to the programmed massacres and planned catastrophes which militaristic futurologists and multinational arms purveyors are seeking to impose on all peoples.” But, as he noted, the other systems of belief, perception, and expression have proved incapable of comprehending the present world crisis.
The power of poets today has likewise been acknowledged by Cirilo Bautista, a well-respected local poet and critic who said that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. Through their meditations on human affairs, their texts have become the uncredited almanac of human development.”
Yesterday, a friend and “kabaleyan,” Santiago Villafania, described as Pangasinan’s most outstanding poet today, launched his third volume of poetry entitled “Pinabli and other poems, in Mangaldan, Pangasinan. Published by the De la Salle University, Pinabli is a collection of 200 “anlongs,” some haikus, and translations of poetry by writers who had inspired him like Jose Garcia Villa and e.e. cummings. Most of the anlongs deal with love and the legendary Urduja as well as recollections of family life. He also writes about the centrality of language in our search for identity.
As many know, Pangasinan was at one time a dying language. Not so anymore as it is now one of the major Philippine languages that will be used as medium of learning in the K-12 program. Its recognition can be attributed to Villafania and his colleagues who worked very hard to revive the language after a 30-year hiatus. Please e-mail me at florangel.braid@gmail.com
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/355193/world-poetry (posted March 23, 2012, 10:51pm)
MANILA, Philippines — UNESCO marked World Poetry Day last March 21 by publishing in its monthly magazine, the UNESCO Courier, 100 selected articles on world poetry written over the last 60 years.
Former UNESCO Director-General Federico Mayor, in Education in freedom, writes about the power of words to melt chains. He says: “Poetry brings its pure grist to the mill of an ethical system that must be rethought.
Thus he envisions how poetry which communicates a universal language can transform our present world: “Is it futile to dream of a different kind of society, one capable of engendering a new humanity and perpetuating harmonious human relationships? It (poetry) is an inner link between poetics, ethics, and politics... The poet must be a catalyst in the renewal of active thinking and the values that are an honor to our species and constantly urge us to exceed our own self-expectations. Poetry is a bulwark against the onslaught of barbarity in its many guises. In poetry, the word is brought to an incandescent heat and speaks to each one of us. It pulverizes injustice or hatred; it is akin to love. For all of us, poetry can make sense of the world, with all its obscure mysteries, great contradictions, and sublime achievements.”
Earlier in the early seventies, another former UNESCO Director-General Amadou M’Bow convened a group of poets from various cultures to declare “War on War” and to set the ethic of philosophy against military aggression. Jean Jacques Lebel explains why poetry is still at the heart of the questions facing society today. During that assembly, the poets proposed “visionary alternatives to the programmed massacres and planned catastrophes which militaristic futurologists and multinational arms purveyors are seeking to impose on all peoples.” But, as he noted, the other systems of belief, perception, and expression have proved incapable of comprehending the present world crisis.
The power of poets today has likewise been acknowledged by Cirilo Bautista, a well-respected local poet and critic who said that “poets are the unacknowledged legislators of the world. Through their meditations on human affairs, their texts have become the uncredited almanac of human development.”
Yesterday, a friend and “kabaleyan,” Santiago Villafania, described as Pangasinan’s most outstanding poet today, launched his third volume of poetry entitled “Pinabli and other poems, in Mangaldan, Pangasinan. Published by the De la Salle University, Pinabli is a collection of 200 “anlongs,” some haikus, and translations of poetry by writers who had inspired him like Jose Garcia Villa and e.e. cummings. Most of the anlongs deal with love and the legendary Urduja as well as recollections of family life. He also writes about the centrality of language in our search for identity.
As many know, Pangasinan was at one time a dying language. Not so anymore as it is now one of the major Philippine languages that will be used as medium of learning in the K-12 program. Its recognition can be attributed to Villafania and his colleagues who worked very hard to revive the language after a 30-year hiatus. Please e-mail me at florangel.braid@gmail.com
Source: http://www.mb.com.ph/articles/355193/world-poetry (posted March 23, 2012, 10:51pm)
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