Political Poetry by Margaret Atwood

Backdrop addresses cowman by Margaret Atwood Creating a masterful poetic battlefront with the American fictionos, Atwood skewers manifest destiny by embodying the theatrical office staff of the Other, the remove I am. Writing policy-making poetry that artfully confronts dominant policy-making theory thus exposing the motivation and effects of misrepresentation is a difficult ch every(prenominal)enge. The bear on can easily be derailed by temptations to write strident, overly instructive verse that elevates sentiment above nuance and craft.While passion is certainly important, it is the verse form itself that transforms political intent into a dynamic act of oppositional literature. To be impressive as a statement, it must first be effective as a verse. In Backdrop addresses cowboy, Margaret Atwood delivers a scathing indictment of imperialistic bureau that, through its elegant craft and conceptual framework, is also a breathtakingly vibrant poetry. The core messag e, a potent denunciation of heady power from the perspective of those who suffer its consequences, is simultaneously unequivocal and oblique.Though Atwoods indictment is quickly apparent, close reading reveals a brilliant poetic foundation comprised of nuanced language, double- imports, and a metaphorical structure that satirically lambasts American exceptionalism by skewering the individualist cowboy apologue with imagery from its own construction. In short, Atwoods poem succeeds as a political statement because she allows the demands of exceptional poetry to drive its articulation. From the out strike off, Atwood chooses language that economically expands the kernel of each phrase.For example, Starspangled, the poems first word, focuses a personification of cowboy mentality into a subtle critique of nationalist manipulation. In addition, another(prenominal) connotations come to mind, homogeneous starry-eyed, or the gaudiness of spangles. Even elements internal to the Americ an anthem apply bombs bursting, a nation under siege, victory against all odds. Though speculative, a reading like this is supported by the poems 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 ferocity. The first stanza reveals a curious figure Starspangled cowboy 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 almost- /silly characterization of the mythical West. Using a line wear out to accentuate the transition, she plays the impact of a stand-alone line against the expanded meaning of its grammatical context. Isolated, line six (you are innocent as a bathtub) relates directly to the opening stanzas child- like caricature, forming an aphoristic trope that is both interesting and oddly mundane. Accentuated by the break, the lines reading adds spectacular nuance when its sentence unfolds into a broader meaning you are innocent as a bathtub / filled with bullets. Contrasting the ironic character of irrelevant readings (innocent and not-at-all-innocent) within the space of shared words, Atwood foreshadows an overall conceptual structure in which backdrop refers both to the simulacrum of Hollywood sets and to the genuine environment of a beleaguered world. Despite its obvious quantitative reference, bathtub / filled with bullets also infers a Hollywood cliche the bullet-riddled bathtub that reinforces a foot inherent to the myth if youre not ready to fight, theyll get you when youre vulnerable.An inference like this reflects back on the subtle statement of the earlier use of starspangled a nation that imagines itself as besieged can use that camouflage as justification for militarism a nd imperialist expansion. Again, supported by the poem, these significations demonstrate a tangled 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 people of 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 backdrop (i. . the environment of scenes portrayed by the myth and recontextualized by the poem) addressing cowboy. The expanding focus on cowboy and his violent milieu reaches a oarlock in the fifth sta nza when the Hollywood backdrop is fully exposed, and the speaker lastly reveals herself. Using the word ought (implying mandatory obligation), she questions her expected role on the set (passive, hands clasped / in admiration) while asserting, I am elsewhere. verbalise as backdrop, and expanded in the final stanzas, this statement implies a conceptual flip wherein backdrop becomes subject, inhabiting an environment desecrated by the reckless actions of a transient cowboy. Simulacra In the essay Simulacra and Simulation, philosopher Jean Baudrillard states, The simulacrum is never that which conceals the accuracyit is the integrity which conceals that there is none. The simulacrum is true. While Baudrillard perhaps overstates his case, the site is clear actions instigated and justified by myth play an undeniable role in shaping both material and social reality.Applying this concept to Atwoods poem, manifest destiny can be seen acting as truth in its own regard concealing no tr uth, because instead it has replaced truth with artifice. Accordingly, cowboy 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 meter 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 truth and time yet does so peacefully, through an act of oppositional literature. Whether her poem is construed as feminist, environmentalist, post-colonial, or just-plain-political (from a Canadian perspective), its loyalty 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 legal is that?