DIALOGUE
Common sequences
KAUSALYA SANTHANAM
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Meena Alexander and Salma talk about poetry, feminism and the balancing act between their lives and their poetic identity.
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When there is a question of injustice to women, growing up in a woman’s body, one cannot but be a feminist. meena alexander
I mostly write about my own world: relationships, conflicts, betrayals. SALMA
Photo: R. Shivaji Rao
Balancing act: Salma (left) and Meena Alexander share their views.
They come from different backgrounds, write in different languages and live on different continents. But after meeting each other for the first time for this discussion during “Poetry with Prakriti” Prakriti Foundation’s Poetry Festival in Chennai, poets Meena Alexander and Salma are delighted with the commonalities they have.
Meena Alexander hails from Kerala, writes in English and lives in Manhattan. Among the themes dealt with are those of migration, memory and the effect of violence. She has also written two novels, essays and books of academic studies and is 2008 Guggenhein Fellow in Poetry. Meena Alexander who was raised in Sudan is University Distinguished Professor of English at Hunter College and the Graduate Center at the City University of New York. Several volumes of her poetry have been published.
Salma till recently lived in a village in Tamil Nadu. She writes in Tamil and belongs to the Muslim faith. Her poems are a strong affirmation of her independence and her fiery spirit. In addition to her collections of poetry Salma has written short fiction and a novel as well.
They are frank and uninhibited dealing with sex and intimate details, uncowed by male criticism and society’s unspoken norms of what is “acceptable” for women writers to deal with.
In a discussion with this correspondent they share their views on poetry, feminism, negotiating questions of identity and balancing their worlds as wife and mother with their creative selves and interior landscapes:
How do you view the relevance of poetry today? Fiction and prose bring so much fame and success, not to speak of monetary rewards. They are also widely read. Did you choose the medium or did it choose you?
Salma: Poetry has a special place, it is a powerful mode of communication. Poetry helps to communicate emotional issues in a way prose cannot.
Meena: In fiction or prose narrative, you have a sequence. But poetry is like a burst or explosion of meaning, feeling and sound-everything comes together to approximate the condition of music.
Salma: Poetry can express certain thoughts succinctly. For instance the line “The tiger is looking at me at midnight sitting by my head” expresses the plight of women and the violence against them in a way prose cannot.
Meena: The gaps between words come out in poems: the unsaid and the unspeakable, ecstasy or fear. Poetry is our first language but children are taught it so badly they begin to fear it. In times of crisis, we turn to poetry.
As women and as poets, do feminism and the struggle against patriarchy form an intrinsic part of your work?
Salma: I did not consciously think feminism should come into my writing. But my powerful poems are all feminist poems.
Meena: When there is a question of injustice to women, growing up in a woman’s body, one cannot but be a feminist
And how do men react when you write about intimate details and sex?
Salma: In the beginning it was difficult to face criticism. It affected my work. But I have a tough temperament. Nobody can prevent me from doing what I believe in.
Did your family support you?
Salma: The family did not support me in the beginning. I lived in a small village and the adverse criticism did affect me.
Did the fact that you became a panchayat president and also famous help? Do women need to have some sort of a power to break barriers?
Salma: Yes, it is easier because of fame. Now the family accepts what I do, even if the poetry is explicit, they feel it is just an opinion. As for belonging to a particular community, I was not affected as what I wrote was not connected with religion.
Meena: I belong to a different milieu. But it is still difficult for a young woman to write poetry for family members think you will bring dishonour to the family. My father was supportive but my mother was a bit anxious. She is now 80 and this evening for the first time she said “Do well” before I came to the reading. As for power, I had my Ph.D. Power need not be anything the world thinks is important. But there have been reclusive women poets in history.
Has language been a cause of struggle and difficulty: Meena because you write in English and had to grapple with questions of a colonial legacy and Salma because you discontinued formal education while you were 13?
Meena: There was a tussle. But English is a great river into which many other languages flow.
Salma: There is no need to read academic books to develop one’s language. I read a lot and honed my language skills.
Being a wife and mother… does it reflect on your work?
Salma: Loneliness is always within you when you are a poet, there are always gaps with family and children. You cannot be like any other mother.
Meena: Oh completely. It has a priority over everything. I remember the time when I met Prof. Ramanujan at Chicago. He asked me to read my poems. My son came and sat on my lap and I couldn’t read a single word. It was strange; I completely became the mother! I don’t know why in order to be a poet, I have to absent myself (from other roles).
In what way does the outer world influence your poetic consciousness?
Meena: Traumatic events have touched me and triggered off poetry; poems such as “Green Leaves of El Fasher”.
Salma: I mostly write about my own world: relationships, conflicts, betrayals.
How do you react to criticism especially from men?
Salma: When a man writes about the body, he is celebrated. When a woman does the same, she is criticised. Nobody criticises Khushwant Singh. But I never let their criticism get me down; it is because of male jealousy or anger.
Meena: If it is not helpful, you try not to read it.
Do you resent being called "women poets"?
Salma: I don’t want only such an identity. But when they say “writer” or “poet”, how can it ever be derogatory?
Meena: I’m a woman and a Third World poet. How can I escape my body? But if it is used to marginalise or ghettoise, it is a different thing.
Is poetry going through an ebb or tide?
Salma: It is going through a good time.
Meena: In the U.S., there is a huge explosion of rap and urban pop and it is spreading like wildfire. Sometimes living is hard. But poetry makes the space in which I can live.
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