#post colonial love poem

[asoftepiloguemylove]

A SIN WORTH HURTING FOR; THE BEAUTY OF QUEER LOVE

Dante Émile ON TRANSFAGGOTRY // Richard Siken Crush // 刻在你心底的名字 Your Name Engraved Herein (2020) dir. Patrick Kuang-Hui Liu // Lev Verlaine Teeth Are Coming In (via @mutualantagonism) // @/stoffberg (instagram) // Danez Smith Recklessly (via @tendermimi) // Moonlight (2016) dir. Barry Jenkins // Natalie Diaz "These Hands, If Not Gods," Post Colonial Love Poem (via @anxieteandbiscuits) // @julykings GAY COWBOY LOVE POEM

[covvboytears]

If I should Come Upon Your House Lonely in the West Texas Desert, Natalie Diaz

[bunnyhopkins]

UAUGGUAGHAAAYUGGHH

(Poetry noises)

[typewriter-worries]

It's National Poets Day, and to celebrate, I want to highlight some poems I adore as they're read by the poet that wrote them:

Maya Angelou reading Still I Rise

Mary Oliver reading Wild Geese

Olivia Gatwood reading Aileen Wuornos Takes a Lover Home

Danez Smith reading Alternate Heaven for Black Boys

Neil Hilborn reading OCD

Jack Gilbert reading Failing and Flying

Gwendolyn Brooks reading To the Young Who Want to Die

Ada Limón reading The Quiet Machine

José Olivarez reading Getting Ready to Say 'I Love You' to My Dad, It Rains

Natalie Diaz reading Post Colonial Love Poem

Hanif Abdurraqib reading When I Say That Loving Me Is Kind of Like Being a Chicago Bulls Fan

Marie Howe reading What the Living Do

[antigonick]

Do you have any recs for more obsucre experimental poetry?

Not particularly obscure, no, but some who experiment with what writing can do and that I love: obviously Anne Carson (particularly Fragments of Stesichoros, Variations on Ibykos, Decreation), Alice Oswald (particularly Memorial and Nobody), Hanif Abdurraqib (his work on voice and pacing is phenomenal; everything is worth a look, but A Little Devil in America is a good first pick), Frank Bidart (more so his early work, like The Book of the Body), Natalie Diaz (less about format and more about thematics: the way she uses eroticism as political is just--mwah; see Post-Colonial Love Poem), Rainer Maria Rilke (the most abstract of his writings are also most extraordinary--see Sonnets to Orpheus; in English, Crucefix is lovely and unique in his takes on the text); Emily Berry and Rebecca Lindenberg have the same sort of cheeky experimenting with format and lacunae that I enjoy, though not everything is strong--see especially Letter to Husband by Emily Berry and Love, a Footnote, by Rebecca Lindenberg; Gertrude Stein (Tender Buttons obviously); OBVIOUSLY too E. E. Cummings, everything he's ever written, because he's a fucking GENIUS. Okay. And not technically advertised as poetry, but two things: John Cage's letters to Merce Cunningham (his attempts at translating music-feeling into written meditations are so thought-provoking), and fiction-camouflaged poetry--Faulkner and his experimentations with point of view. I learned a lot about what writing could do in The Sound and the Fury. Finally, experiments in translation are an amazing way to rubik's cube a text and put its intersubjectivity at the forefront: see Andal's sacred poetry doubly-translated by Ravi Shankar and Priya Sarukkai Chabria in Autobiography of a Goddess, Anne Carson's own works which I've already cited (her work in liberal translation is usually better than the solely authorial stuff, though usually translational and authorial are irretrievably linked in her writing anyway--a good example is her Bakkhai); feminist, anti-racist or anachronical works of translation, which challenge the idea of "faithfulness" and lampshade translator's subjectivity (no, not Ezra Pound: leave Ezra Pound on his shelf, we're good); if you have French, Olivier Py's translations of Shakespeare for the stage--much more exciting and baroque (and queer) than what Bonnefoy did, even if Bonnefoy's own poetry is quite striking. He's timid with Shakespeare, and that's a disservice. Oh, poetry-as-theatre and definitely experimental: Sarah Kane, too, though she's hard to go through. She explodes writing and expression though, and it's extraordinary.

That's all that comes to mind for now; I hope something in there strikes your fancy!

[kkachizip]

[번역/TRANSLATION] 임을 위한 행진곡—March for the Beloved

민중가요 [Minjung-Gayo] (South Korean protest music)

Literally translating to "people song", or, "song of the people", Minjung-Gayo refers to a kind of song that is sung by the people during protests. First beginning in the 70s and 80s with songs that had its roots in protesting Japanese colonial powers being used to protest the governments of military dictators such as Park Jeong-hee 박정희 and Jeon Doo-Hwan 전두환, Minjung-Gayo has grown to encompass not only the classics but also more recent pop songs such as Girl's Generation 소녀시대's "Into the New World 다시 만난 세계".

In this post, I introduce a classic Minjung-Gayo titled 임을 위한 행진곡 [Im-eul Wihan Haengjingok], or, March for the Beloved.

사랑도 명예도 이름도 남김 없이 한평생 나가자던 뜨거운 맹세 The passionate oath that we swore, that we would go forward our whole lives without leaving behind love, honor, or a name 동지는 간데없고 깃발만 나부껴 Our comrades are gone, and only a flag flutters 새 날이 올 때까지 흔들리지 말자 Let us not be shaken until a new day comes 세월은 흘러가도 산천은 안다 Even if the times pass, the mountains and streams will know 깨어나서 외치는 뜨거운 함성 We come to consciousness and roar a passionate cry 앞서서 나가니 산 자여 따르라 We march forward; may the living follow us 앞서서 나가니 산 자여 따르라 We march forward; may the living follow us

March for the Beloved was originally composed in 1981 for the 영혼결혼식 Yeonghon-Gyeolhonsik, or soul wedding, for activist 윤상원 Yoon Sang-won, martyred during the Gwangju Democracy Movement of 1980, and labor activist 박기순 Park Gi-sun, killed while contributing to the education of laborers. The soul wedding was a traditional act intended to unite unmarried dead and placate them (or, more accurately, give closure to surviving family). The two were married posthumously, although they knew each other while teaching night classes for laborers.

While the author of the original poem 백기완 Baek Ki-wan wrote it, novelist 황석영 Hwang Seok-yeong edited the lines and composed the music to insert it into a musical. The finished song was revealed in February 1982 during the soul wedding and was quickly distributed, settling in as a protest song representing the Gwangju Demicratic Movement.

In 1998, the original author of the poem that became March for the Beloved refused to claim copyright of the song, stating, "I do not have ownership nor copyright of this song. It's because the song has become that of all the people who wish for a new day on this land." It is with his wishes in mind that I translate and redistribute this song, hoping that it will inspire hope in at least one person who reads the lyrics.

In these turbulent times, we find ourselves being made to bear witness to history. The choice is ours; do we stand still and preserve ourselves, or do we go out and demonstrate our desire for democracy? I ask now that the international community does not turn its eyes away from the scene of struggle for democracy that is taking place in Korea.

References:

한국 민중가요, Wikipedia

임을 위한 행진곡, Wikipedia

영혼결혼식, Encyclopedia of Korean Folk Culture

Note:

I use the term "Gwangju Democratic Movement" as opposed to the official English name for the incident, "Gwangju Uprising", in order to reflect the renaming of the incident in Korean.

[nowtoboldlygo]

twenty books in spanish, tbr

for when i'm fluent!! most with translations in english.

Sistema Nervoso, Lina Meruane (2021) - Latin American literature professor from Chile, contemporary litfic

Ansibles, perfiladores y otras máquinas de ingenio, Andrea Chapela (2020) - short story collection from a Mexican scifi author, likened to Black Mirror

Nuestra parte de noche, Mariana Enríquez (2019) - very long literary horror novel by incredibly famous Argentine journalist 

Canto yo y la montaña baila, Irene Solà (2019) - translated into Spanish from Castilian by Concha Cardeñoso, contemporary litfic

Las malas, Camila Sosa Villada (2019) - very well rated memoir/autofiction from a trans Argentine author

Humo, Gabriela Alemán (2017) - short litfic set in Paraguay, by Ecuadoran author

La dimensión desconocida, Nona Fernández (2016) - really anything by this Chilean actress/writer; this one is a Pinochet-era historical fiction & v short

Distancia de rescate, Samanta Schweblin (2014) - super short litfic by an Argentinian author based in Germany, loved Fever Dream in English

La ridícula idea de no volver a verte, Rosa Montero (2013) - nonfiction; Spanish author discusses scientist Maria Skłodowska-Curie and through Curie, her own life

Lágrimas en la lluvia, Rosa Montero (2011) - sff trilogy by a Spanish journalist

Los peligros de fumar en la cama, Mariana Enríquez (2009) - short story collection, author noted above

Delirio, Laura Restrepo (2004) - most popular book (maybe) by an award-winning Colombian author; literary fiction

Todos los amores, Carmen Boullosa (1998) - poetry! very popular Mexican author, really open to anything on the backlist this is just inexpensive used online

Olvidado rey Gudú, Ana María Matute (1997) - cult classic, medieval fantasy-ish, award-winning Spanish author

Como agua para chocolate, Laura Esquivel (1989) - v famous novel by v famous Mexican author

Ekomo, María Nsué Angüe (1985) - super short litfic about woman's family, post-colonial Equatoguinean novel; out of print

La casa de los espíritus, Isabelle Allende (1982) - or really anything by her, Chilean author known for magical realism; read in English & didn't particularly love but would be willing to give it another try

Nada, Carmen Laforet (1945) - Spanish author who wrote after the Spanish civil war, v famous novel

Los pazos de Ulloa, Emilia Pardo Bazán (1886) - book one in a family drama literary fiction duology by a famous Galician author, pretty dense compared to the above

La Respuesta, Sor Juana Inés de la Cruz (1691) -  i actually have a bilingual poetry collection from our favorite 17th century feminist Mexican nun; this is an essay defending the right of women to be engaged in intellectual work (& it includes some poems)

bookmarked websites:

Separata Árabe, linked by Arablit

reading challenge Un viaje por la literatura en español

[o-wyrmlight]

Y'all ever think that pre-Martinaise Harry might have had a hobby of writing poetry: Residual from when he was a child? He wanted to be a poet when he was a child. And he is not one. But that doesn't mean he can't keep writing.

Imagine if he has a collection of poetry stashed somewhere at home. Imagine post-amnesia Harry finding them and reading them. Pieces of his history, written in poetry by a blocky, tired hand and snuck onto typewriter paper at work.

Would it be painful or cathartic? These are the ones that he'd kept--what of the ones that he tossed away, dissatisfied with the message or the theme or the scheme?

Yes, there's a lot of poetry about pain and heartbreak and corpses, but there's also one about how the subway system is a colony of würms and another about flying whales and another about how he'll never go to La Delta and a lot about disco. Sees a cute cat while on a case and writes a small haiku about it later because it sticks in his mind. Poetry about his 24 or more refractions and his abstract mind. Poetry about the fifteenth indotribe and childhood nostalgia. Poetry about loving Revachol.

Anyway Harry writing poetry and prose is so neat to me. I think some part of him still wanted to become a poet, but he knew how impossible it'd be with his financial and class situation. I think that's who Raphaël Ambrosius Costau was to him: A cool pen name his child self dreamed of writing under.

May have written a few poems and a prose piece (low-key from Toast to the Pigs perspective) and may be debating on posting them...

[denimbex1986]

'Writer and poet Benjamin Zephaniah has died aged 65, after being diagnosed with a brain tumour eight weeks ago.

A statement posted on his Instagram account confirmed he died in the early hours of Thursday.

The statement said Zephaniah's wife "was with him throughout and was by his side when he passed".

"We shared him with the world and we know many will be shocked and saddened by this news," it added.

Zephaniah was born and raised in Handsworth, Birmingham, the son of a Barbadian postman and a Jamaican nurse. He was dyslexic and left school aged 13, unable to read or write.

He moved to London aged 22 and published his first book, Pen Rhythm.

His early work used dub poetry, a Jamaican style of work that has evolved into the music genre of the same name, and he would also perform with the group The Benjamin Zephaniah Band.

As Zephaniah's profile grew, he became a familiar face on television and was credited with bringing Dub Poetry into British living rooms.

He also wrote five novels as well as poetry for children, and his first book for younger readers, Talking Turkeys, was a huge success upon its publication in 1994.

On top of his writing work, Zephaniah was an actor and appeared in the BBC drama series Peaky Blinders between 2013 and 2022.

He played Jeremiah "Jimmy" Jesus, appearing in 14 episodes across the six series.

Zephaniah famously rejected an OBE in 2003 due to the association of such an honour with the British Empire and its history of slavery.

"I've been fighting against empire all my life, fighting against slavery and colonialism all my life," he told The Big Narstie Show in 2020.

"I've been writing to connect with people, not to impress governments and monarchy. So I could I then accept an honour that puts the word Empire on to my name? That would be hypocritical.

He often spoke out about issues such as racial abuse and education.

When he was younger, Zephaniah served a prison sentence for burglary and received a criminal record.

In 1982, Zephaniah released an album called Rasta, which featured the Wailers' first recording since the death of Bob Marley.

It also included a tribute to the then-political prisoner Nelson Mandela, who would later become South African president.

In an interview in 2005, Zephaniah said growing up in a violent household led to him assuming that was the norm.

He recalled: "I once asked a friend of mine, 'What do you do when your dad beats your mum?' And he went: 'He doesn't.'

"I said, 'Ah, you come from one of those, like, feminist houses. So, what do you do when your mum beats your dad?'"

In 2012, he was chosen to guest edit an edition of BBC Radio 4's Today programme.

Zephaniah was nominated for autobiography of the year at the National Book Awards for his work, The Life And Rhymes Of Benjamin Zephaniah, which was also shortlisted for the Costa Book Award in 2018.

During a Covid-19 lockdown, Zephaniah recited one of his poems in a video for the Hay Festival.

"Benjamin was a true pioneer and innovator. He gave the world so much," the statement announcing his death said.

"Through an amazing career including a huge body of poems, literature, music, television and radio, Benjamin leaves us with a joyful and fantastic legacy."

A statement from the Black Writers' guild, which Zephaniah helped establish, said: "Our family of writers is in mourning at the loss of a deeply valued friend and a titan of British literature. Benjamin was a man of integrity and an example of how to live your values."

Others paying tribute included author Michael Rosen, who said: "I'm devastated. I admired him, respected him, learnt from him, loved him. Love and condolences to the family and to all who loved him too."

Actress Adjoa Andoh posted: "We have lost a Titan today. Benjamin Zephaniah. Beautiful Poet, Professor, Advocate for love and humanity in all things. Heartbroken. Rest In Your Power - our brother."

Peaky Blinders actor Cillian Murphy said in a statement: "Benjamin was a truly gifted and beautiful human being.

"A generational poet, writer, musician and activist. A proud Brummie and a Peaky Blinder. I'm so saddened by this news."

Broadcaster Trevor Nelson said: "So sad to hear about the passing of Benjamin Zephaniah. Too young, too soon, he had a lot more to give. He was a unique talent."

Singer-songwriter and musician Billy Bragg added: "Very sorry to hear this news. Benjamin Zephaniah was our radical poet laureate. Rest in power, my friend."

Comedian, actor and writer Lenny Henry said: "I was saddened to learn of the passing of my friend Benjamin Zephaniah. His passion for poetry, his advocacy for education for all was tireless."

Writer Nels Abbey said: "To call this crushing news is a massive understatement. He was far too young, far too brilliant and still had so much to offer. A loss we'll never recover from."

The X/Twitter account for Premier League football club Aston Villa, whom Zephaniah supported said everyone at the club was "deeply saddened" by the news.

"Named as one of Britain's top 50 post-war writers in 2008, Benjamin was a lifelong Aston Villa fan and had served as an ambassador for the AVFCFoundation. Our thoughts are with his family and friends at this time."'

[asoftepiloguemylove]

anyway, don't be a stranger

ラブ&ポップ Love & Pop (1998) dir. Hideaki Anno / Warsan Shire, from "Backwards," Bless the Daughter Raised by a Voice in Her Head / Conte d'été A Summer's Tale (1996) dir. Éric Rohmer / Charles Bukowski, Women / L'une chante, l'autre pas One Snigs, the Other Doesn't (1977) dir. Agnès Varda / Haruki Murakami, Sputnik Sweetheart / Зеркало Mirror (1975) dir. Andrei Tarkovsky / Natalie Díaz, from "American Arithmetic," Post Colonial Love Poem

[covvboytears]

from Post Colonial Love Poem by Natalie Diaz

[sensitiveuser]

The deportation of Louise Michel to New Caledonia (1873-1880).

Good evening, I announce my return to Tumblr. I have been absent a lot, due to many things to do, a damn depression, loss of energy, loss of confidence... This post is a bit long, but I thank all those who will pay attention to it. Of course, there may be missing information, despite the fact that I am a "historian" (a future professor and history enthusiast, to be exact) and, of course, in love with Louise Michel :) Besides, I wanted to write many posts about her to commemorate in my own way the 120th anniversary of her death... There you go, it's up to you to read, and if it sucks, please comment and take my work apart (I'll let you imagine my level of self-confidence... When I'll be a teacher, I'll hug the walls in front of students^^) :)

In 1853, Napoleon III and his violent army seized New Caledonia. From 1864 to 1896, New Caledonia served as a place of deportation for those sentenced to more than eight years of forced labor. The law of March 23, 1872 established New Caledonia as the place of deportation for those involved in the Paris Commune. In 1875, according to a report by General Appert, out of the 10,137 sentences to deportation, there were 4,500 sentences to deportation, including 3,417 sentences to simple deportation (Isle of Pines) and 1,169 to deportation in a fortified enclosure on the Ducos peninsula (as was the case for Louise Michel), and 251 sentences to forced labor (penal colony on Nou Island). The authorities defended colonization: agricultural colonization, and it was a question of strengthening the French presence in the Pacific Ocean.

In August 1873, Louise Michel, after spending twenty months in Auberive prison (not far from Vroncourt), was called up for deportation. Here is the letter from her fellow prisoners also sentenced to deportation:

1. Louise Michel. 2. Nathalie Le Mel. 3. Marie Caieux. 4. Madame Leroy. 5. Victorine Gorget. 6. Marie Magnan. 7. Elisabeth Deguy. 8. Adèle Desfossés (wife of Jean-Baptiste Viard – not to be confused with Auguste…). 9. Madame Louis. 10. Madame Bail. 11. Jeanne Taillefer. 12. Marie Théron. 13. Louise Leblanc. 14. Adélaïde Germain. 15. Mme Orlowska. 16. Mrs. Bruteau. 17. Marie Broum. 18. Marie Smith. 19. Marie Caieux. 20. Augustine Chiffon (embarked two years later). 21. Adeline Régissard (embarked two years later).

All these women (including Louise) were sent from Auberive to Rochefort (La Virginie’s port of departure) via Langres and La Rochelle. Louise’s testimonies highlight the extreme harshness of the conditions inflicted on the convicts.

On board La Virginie, Louise Michel and 18 fellow prisoners were locked in a cage. In the cage opposite, Henri Rochefort, Henri Ménager, Henri Place, and Wolowski were locked up. Of course, the convicts were not allowed to communicate from one cage to another, but they did it anyway! The convicts were only allowed to leave the cage for half an hour a day to go on deck. They were very poorly fed. Although the way they were treated depended on the captains, there was no shortage of punishments against them ! "Nathalie Le Mel and Henri Rochefort began to be ill, from the first moment and ended at the last; there were some among us who were also ill, but none during the entire voyage; for me, I escaped seasickness as well as bullets, and I really reproached myself for finding the voyage so beautiful, while in their frames Rochefort nor Madame Le Mel enjoyed nothing"; "There were days when the sea was rough, the wind blowing in a storm, the wake of the ship was like two rivers of diamonds joining in a single current that sparkled in the sun a little far away" (p.383, La Commune).

I quote one of his poems that perfectly illustrates his deportation convoy, entitled "Dans les mers polaires":

The snow falls, the flood rolls,

The air is icy, the sky is black,

The ship creaks under the swell

And morning mingles with evening

Forming a heavy round,

The sailors dance while singing:

Like an organ with a thundering voice,

The wind blows in the sails.

Another testimony: "The cruelest thing I saw on La Virginie was the long and terrible torture inflicted on the albatrosses, which came in flocks around the Cape of Good Hope. After having caught them with hooks, they were hung up by their feet so that they would die without staining the whiteness of their feathers. Poor Cape sheep! How sadly and for a long time they raised their heads, rounding their swan necks as much as they could in order to prolong the miserable agony that could be read in the terror of their black-lashed eyes." (La Commune)

The landing took place on December 10, 1873. She arrived on the Ducos peninsula, which was a hostile environment. It was an environment "without running water, without greenery, and furrowed by small arid hills interspersed with two valleys, Numbo and Tendu, ending towards the sea in marshes where grow puny mangroves and rare niaoulis. Never did settlers want to waste an hour on this dead land." She met up with Paschal Grousset, Olivier Pain, Cipriani, Champy, Henry Bauer, as well as Blanquist friends she had known before the Commune, members of the Corderie du Temple, and marching companies. She learned late of the death of Augustin Verdure (he died in April 1873 in Noumea); in Verdure's case, many letters were addressed to him, but he did not have time to read them... Regarding the letters, she specifies that "the correspondence naturally remained three and four months on the way, and had taken a long time to regularise. Verdure, not receiving letters from anyone, became so upset that he died; a packet of letters addressed to him arrived a few days after his death. Once the mail had been regularised, one could have a response to each letter after six to eight months; there was a letter every month, but what we received was three or four dated. And yet, what a joy the arrival of the mail! We hurriedly climbed the small hill above which was the mailmaster's house, near the prison, and like a treasure we took the letters away". (La Commune).

On the Ducos peninsula, the deportees were installed inside a fortified enclosure surrounded by soldiers. "Through the narrowest of the breaches of the double coral belt, the most accessible, we enter the bay of Noumea. There, as in Rome, seven bluish hills, under the sky of an intense blue; further away, the Mont-d'Or, all cracked with red gold-bearing earth. Everywhere mountains, with arid crimes with torn-out gorges, gaping from a recent cataclysm; one of the mountains has been split in two, it forms a V whose two branches, by joining together, would make the rocks which hang on one side half-torn back into the alveolus, while their place is empty on the other."

In 1874, Louise Michel witnessed the escape of Rochefort, Jourde, Grousset, Pain, Bullière, Granthille. In response, Governor Gaultier de La Richerie called a council of war. "The guards saw while calling out that Rochefort, Pain, Granthille, Bullière, were missing (...) At Bastien Granthille's call someone shouted: he has boots, Bastien, he has gone to put them on. And as the guards were desperately calling Rochefort, some said: he has gone to light his lantern; others: he promised to come back; still others: go and see if they are coming", "Too worried to be able to punish at this moment, the authorities were saving themselves for later. The spectacle of the frank gaiety that reigned among the deportees put the galley slaves into such a rage that they tore down the very innocent curtains of all this, going to check whether they would find anything in the escapees' hut that would put them on the trail" ; "After Rochefort's escape, Messrs. Aleyron and Ribourt, sent to terrify the deportation, probably in order to make Rochefort return, were ridiculous enough to send sentries to the heights around Numbo for a while who looked like they were playing La Tour de Nesle with grandiose scenery". In fact, in 1874, Henri Rochefort escaped in the middle of the night. He went to Sydney, Melbourne, New York, then London, where he resumed his activities as a journalist. For their part, François Jourde and Olivier Pain then worked at the Schiltigheim factory founded by Augustin Avrial and Camille Langevin.

In 1875, she was transferred to the Baie de l’Ouest. She began to take an interest in the Kanak people, their history and their culture. Louise Michel and Charles Malato (son of Antoine Malato, a future important figure in French anarchism) were the rare Communards to denounce and protest against the mistreatment that the colonizers inflicted on this people. Let us not forget that the majority of the deported Communards were hostile towards the Kanaks (they even reduced them to their supposed “cannibalism”!). First, she became friends with a certain Daoumi, who introduced her to the legends of the tribes and the language. She later resumed her duties as a teacher, giving lessons to the Kanaks.

In 1878, Louise Michel (like Charles Malato) supported the Kanak insurgents, "I am with them, as I was with the people of Paris, revolted, crushed and defeated". Ataï, Kanak chief of Komalé, asked the French colonists to end the dispossessions. In June 1878, Chêne, a former convict and guardian of a colonial property, was assassinated by Kanaks; Nouméa was plunged into stupor. The colonial administration reacted by imprisoning 10 tribal chiefs. The preparation of the attack on Nouméa was abandoned and the offensive was launched from Poya to Baie Saint Vincent.

The day before the June 25 uprising, a group of Kanaks came to say goodbye to Louise, who gave them her red Commune scarf as a sign of solidarity. The uprising spread to Grande Terre. On June 27, Governor Olry declared a state of siege. The settlers carried out a bloody repression, which cost the lives of more than 2,000 Kanaks (from June 1878 to June 1879).

Atai was killed on September 1, 1878 by a member of the Canala tribe who had rallied to the colonial troops. His head was cut off to be sent to Paris as a military trophy. Louise Michel considers Ataï's assassins as traitors. In her Memoirs, speaks of Ataï’s death: “Ataï himself was struck by a traitor. May traitors everywhere be cursed! According to Kanak law, a chief can only be struck by a chief or by proxy.” Nondo, a chief sold to the whites, gave his power of attorney to Segou, handing him the weapons that were to strike Ataï. Between the Negro huts and Amboa, Ataï, with some of his men, was returning to his camp, when, breaking away from the columns of the whites, Segou pointed out the great chief, recognizable by the snow-whiteness of his hair. His sling rolled around his head, holding a gendarmerie sabre in his right hand, a tomahawk in his left, having around him his three sons and the bard Andja, who was using an assegai as a lance, Ataï faced the column of whites. He saw Segou. Ah! he said, there you are! The traitor staggered for a moment under the gaze of the old chief; but, wanting to finish, he threw an assegai at him which went through his right arm. Ataï then raised the tomahawk he was holding in his left arm; his sons fall, one dead, the others wounded; Andja rushes forward, shouting: tango! tango! (cursed! cursed!) and falls, struck dead. Then, with blows of an axe, as one cuts down a tree, Segou strikes Ataï; he raises his hand to his half-detached head and it is only after several more blows that Ataï is dead. The death cry was then uttered by the Kanakas, echoing through the mountains.

It is well-known that in the face of the Kanak revolt, the deported communards, with the exception of Louise Michel and Charles Malato, sided with the repression. However, Stéphane Pannoux points out that the majority of the deportees, while awaiting amnesty, were witnesses from a distance, and only a few debated. The deportees were informed of the progress of the revolt through newspapers and mail from France, and by the echoes of the fighting relayed by those living in Nouméa or Ducos, the barracks of the troops arriving as reinforcements. From July 1878 to March 1879, the Album de l'île des Pins published by and for the communards reported on the insurrection. The authors noted the places, the names of the tribes, the identity of the actors including the Kanaks, the chronology of events, the reactions of the population as well as the echoes of the Caledonian or Parisian press. They mention the Kanak victims, the destruction of tribes, the arrests, the convictions, the executions. From now on, the Kanak insurgents are no longer seen by the majority of the deportees as savages driven only by the desire to kill, but as "enemies with opposing interests". In the context of the penal colony, where censorship weighs on writings, this would demonstrate a desire to remain neutral (without entering into the debate around neutrality). Victor Cossé expressed this neutrality, "I am neither Kanak nor a civilizer" (while deploring "the violence of the savages"!).

Here is an example to illustrate the involvement of the deportees in the Kanak revolt (according to S. Pannoux): On June 26, the National Guard of Moindou, which includes 80 deportees, is raised. From the end of 1878 to April 1879, commanded by Charles Amouroux, they became the Canala Scouts; among them we find Gaston Da Costa, Henri Berthier, Alphonse Bioret, Prosper Tavernier, pardoned in 1879 - before the amnesty vote - for their "patriotic action".

In 1879, Louise Michel's sentence of "deportation to a fortified enclosure" was changed to "simple deportation". Thus, she left the Ducos peninsula for Noumea, and continued to teach. "On Sundays, from morning to night, my hut was full of Kanakas learning with all their hearts on condition that the methods were lively and very simple. They carved flowers from their country quite gracefully in relief on small boards that Mr. Simon gave us (...) I have never had more docile and affectionate students. They came from all the tribes", "Poor Daoumi had loved the daughter of a white man. When his father married her, he died of grief. It was for her as much as his own that he had begun this giant's work: to learn what a white man knows. He tried to live in a European way" (La Commune); "In Noumea, I found good old Etienne, one of the Marseille death row inmates commuted to deportation. Mr. Malato senior (Antoine), for whom the mayor Mr. Simon had great veneration, and at the local counter one of our sailors from the Commune, Ensign Cogniet, Mrs. Orlowska who was like a mother to us, Victorine having the Noumea baths under her direction and offering us as many as we wanted. There, we fraternized widely." (The Commune). Louise Michel also gave lessons to the children of Algerian deportees, then in a girls' school.

On July 11, 1880, a general amnesty was decreed. Louise Michel was thus authorized to return to France. She recounts her last moments in Noumea: "The last July 14 spent there, between the two evening cannon shots (it is the cannon that announces the days and the nights), at the request of Mr. Simon, we went, Madame Penaud, director of the Noumea boarding school, an artilleryman and I, to sing La Marseillaise on the Place des Cocotiers. In Caledonia, there is neither dusk nor dawn: darkness falls suddenly (...) We heard the Kanaks crying in the light rustling of the coconut branches." She later learned that her mother had a "paralytic attack."

"Before my departure from Noumea and taking the mail on the shore I found the black anthill of the Kanaks. As I did not believe that the amnesty was so close, I had to go and found a school in the tribes; they reminded me of it with bitterness by saying: but you will not come again! So, without intending to deceive them, I told them: yes, I will come back (…) I looked at the black anthill on the shore and I too was crying. Who knows if I will not see them again ?".

Louise Michel indicates that she became an anarchist in the context of her deportation. On this subject, allow me to retrace a discussion with Nathalie Le Mel on board La Virginie: “Between two clearings of calm where she was not too bad, I shared with Madame Le Mel my thoughts on the impossibility that any men in power could ever do anything other than commit crimes, if they are weak or selfish; be annihilated if they are devoted and energetic”; Nathalie Le Mel claims to agree with her.

Louise Michel returned to Paris on November 9, 1880. Several thousand people were present at her arrival, including Louis Blanc, Henri Rochefort, and even Clemenceau…

Sources :

Edith Thomas

Xavière Gauthier

Laure Godineau

Stéphane Pannoux

[eurydicees]

in need of fanfic/book recs from ya <3

ooooooh okay idk what genre of book or fandom/ship fic you want so here are my general recent favorites! i'm not gonna give a summary, just a small note/review with my thoughts, so ur gonna have to google the books and click the ao3 links--my apologies but this post was getting way too long lmfao

real life books!

gideon the ninth / the locked tomb series by tamsyn muir: i'm really working my way through this series and i loooooove it. the characters make me crazy and every turn in the plot has me screaming a little. there's been a lot of deranged texts to irls about this one.

under the whispering door by t.j. klune: this book DID make me cry. it's a really well woven story about love for your family and your friends and death and finding satisfaction and fulfillment in life (and death) and moving forward. HIGHLY recommend his other book (the house on the cerulean sea) as well!! i read that one first and it's a really gorgeous, satsifying read.

the shell collector by anthony doerr: this is a short story collection technically but i loooooove it. each story individually is really beautifully done and i absolutely LOVE his writing style. i think i take a lot of inspiration from him for my own writing!

on earth we're briefly gorgeous by ocean vuong: top books that, like, make yourself feel seen. another author/poet that i feel i can attribute a lot of inspiration for my style and love of words to in general.

sharks in the rivers by ada limón: poetry collection! but one of my all time favorite poetry collections and i can't let this go unnamed. i absolutely ADORE ada limón (you may know her from "the great blue heron of dunbar road" or "instructions on not giving up", which floats around tumblr pretty regularly). i think i first read this collection for class but it genuinely changed something in me. i actually have a tattoo based on these poems <3

post-colonial love poem by natalie diaz: another poetry collection but this one, like, fucked me up. it's woven together as a collection in an absolutely breathtaking way, but each poem also stands alone really beautifully.

fics - haikyuu!!

a mote of dust suspended in a sunbeam by swampdragons (iwaoi, 6911 words): i read this a bit ago and really loved it, though it was also really emotionally difficult for me to personally get through--one of those fics that really drives the emotions home so deeply that it hurts to keep going. part of that might just be my own personal connection to the topic. idk. but either way it's ABSOLUTELY worth it.

The Benefits of Patience by Moami (iwaoi, 3363 words): this one's silly and funny and so much more lighthearted than the prev rec lmfao. it's like. healthy but messy but established but not established but a real relationship but an almost relationship to be iwaoi <3333

The Way He Looks At You by roobtheboob (iwaoi, 3805 words): i think i read too much iwaoi. but this one's really cute i PROMISE. i like the kyoutani POV idea a lot and i think the way kyoutani is written overall is really well done, particularly in the team dynamic and his respect for iwaizumi.

The years shall run like rabbits by ladyoflalaland (ushiten, 7292 words): obsessed w this fic. ushijima's mother is written out to be a REALLY interesting character and her strained relationship with ushijima is fascinating. the passage of time of it all......man.

fics - other fandoms

"Normal" by OnigiriCat4Ever (fruits basket, kyohru, 7140 words): this one's a really cute post-canon character study of sorts and i really love it. i love how the 7yo hajime is written and his relationship with kyo is really sweet.

The act of loving in return by kindokja (bllk, ryusae, 2809 words): this one's both funny and heartwrenching and sweet and painful all at once. beautiful, necessary mix in a fic. i like it a lot.

turn your face (towards the sun) by youareoldfatherwilliam (atla, gen, 5813 words): im normal about fics abt the chit sang and the 41st, in case u were curious!

that's all i got for now? i literally just went through my most recent bookmarks and cherry picked some special highlights lol. feel free to let me know if you want anything more specific!!!!! u already know i loooooove giving recommendations<3

[karinyosa]

from @villageauntie on instagram: “was asked to share ideas of what people who are unable to attend physical gatherings can do to support. these are some of the things i came up with. please feel free to add more in the comments.

yes, i am purposefully leaving out certain words and flags so this post can stay in the feed. but you know who and what this post is for”

id under the cut.

image 1 ID: white title text against a dark gray background that says "nine things you can do" with the subtitle "i was asked to compile a list of suggested activities for those who are unable to attend protests or who are not active on social media. these are from my own experience and those taken from history. i invite you to explore additional ways to support and share them in the comments".

image 2 ID: title says "pray tahajjud". subtitle says "wake in the last third of the night and pray. pray without ceasing. pray like you mean it. prayer is not the least we can do, it is the best we can do. know that your prayers reach. so reach inside and use your limbs and your tongue to supplicate to the one from whom all mercy descends. pray. pray. pray".

image 3 ID: title says "provide childcare". subtitle says "many who are active in the struggle are also parenting young children. offer to watch the babies so that both physical and digital organizing can take place. you can offer to watch children in your home, at the community center, a house of worship, or even outside. just offer it and make it free".

image 4 ID: title says "get educated". subtitle says "read books on palestine, on sudan, on the struggles of oppressed people worldwide. study anti-colonial thought. watch documentaries. study about makandal. read june jordan, kwame ture, amilcar cabral, james baldwin, toni morrison, marc lamont hill, and others. read more, scroll less (unless you are scrolling to get informed). read, digest, reflect".

image 5 ID: title says "educate others". subtitle says "organize a study circle. talk to your friends. interrupt falsehood with fact. have meaningful conversations with coworkers. ask questions, listen more. use what you have read to empower your family. read to their children. answer their questions. use your voice to help others to know and never forget".

image 6 ID: title says "prepare meals". subtitle says "make food. buy food from a local restaurant that is trustworthy. buy fruit. take it to your neighbors, to the masjid, to those who are or will be actively protesting. feed the people because nourishment is important and food is a way to show love and support".

image 7 ID: title says "organize fundraisers". subtitle says "if you have something you can make/sell, use it for a fundraiser. food, quilts, artwork, services, whatever. sell it and donate it to reputable charities providing support. something is better than nothing. no amount raised is too small". as an addition from me, i've also seen people do free art for people willing to commit to calling their reps every day. and for places to donate, i've seen lots of people talking about humanitarian organizations, but two more that i'd like to suggest are the palestinian social fund (palestiniansocialfund.com, their about says "The path to liberation requires material support that is directed toward self-sustainability. The Palestinian Social Fund raises unconditional funding for cooperative farms in Palestine through grassroots efforts. These farms are started by youth who are returning to the land to reclaim food sovereignty and control their own destiny.") and palestine action (palestineaction.org), who participate in direct action activism against weapons trading with israel, mainly focusing on the company elbit.

image 8 ID: title says "engage in arts activism". subtitle says "write poems. paint, sew, sing, dance, create. the artists are desperately needed. make work that amplifies the moment and educates. pour your heart into your craft with the intention to help. art can do what other activism cannot. say it with your craft".

image 9 ID: title says "participate in digital organizing". subtitle says "use your devices as organizing tools. set up a weekly zoom. invite speakers to engage and educate. engage in digital campaigns and letter writing. harness the power of technology for the greater good".

image 10 ID: title says "write letters/essays". subtitle says "write to your elected officials. flood their interns with letters and calls. write essays and post them to your substack/medium/local paper. people are looking to be informed. add your voice through the written word. people will read".

[librarycards]

(for book rec asks!) convenience store woman by sayaka murata, devotions by mary oliver, the penelopiad by margaret atwood, post colonial love poem by natalie diaz, and slaughterhouse five by kurt vonnegut!

thank you, and great choices!!

Mairead Case, Tiny

Ali Smith, Autumn

Robin Coste Lewis, Voyage of the Sable Venus and Other Poems

Vivek Shraya, She of the Mountains

Claire Oshetsky, Chouette

[fiercynn]

Hey do you have any poetry you can suggest because I saw your response to that OP, I’d love some stuff to read!

so i started responding to another similar ask by @unitedstates0fdakota but i accidentally posted it when it was incomplete so i decided to continue here! check out that post for the first two recs, george abraham's birthright and romeo oriogun's sacrament of bodies

more than organs, kay ulanday barrett

kay ulanday barrett is a poet, performer, and educator, navigating life as a disabled filipinx-amerikan transgnder queer in the u.s. with struggle, resistance, and laughter. pamela sneed, one of the reviewers quoted on the back of more than organs, describes the collection as about “hunger that is physical, spiritual, and queer”, and i think hunger is an excellent way to put it. i love how the pieces in this collection oscillate between visceral and playful – there’s a poem called “pain, an epistle” but also one called “actually, jenny schecter wasn’t the worst”.

you googled “authentic” / & now are seated next to me. / as I speed walk you to the cart / aunty gives me the last dish / gets the idea that I’ve waited too long / for something to just taste right. / I wish for a dumpling stuff / of bullet skins to be the shrapnel / in every white man’s throat. / go ahead / say the word oriental / at my table / one more time. —  “I just want dimsum undisturbed by wypipo”

a theory of birds, zaina alsous

zaina alsous is a prison abolitionist, a daughter of the palestinian diaspora, and a movement worker in south florida. the blurb for a theory of birds describes it as “putting ecological conservation in conversation with arab racial formation, state vernacular with the chatter of birds”, and as someone who wanted to be an ornithologist as a child and now works in climate policy, it feels like she wrote this to speak to my soul.

Inside the dodo bird is a forest, Inside the forest a peach analog, Inside the peach analog a woman, Inside the woman a lake of funerals, disappointed male lovers, scientists, Inside the lake a volcano of whale songs, Inside the volcano a language of naming, Inside the language an algorithm for de-extinction, Inside the algorithm blued dynamite to dissolve the colony’s Sun, twinkle twinkle, I didn’t mean to fall in love with failure, its molting rapture, I didn’t mean to name myself from a necklace of silent vowels, I didn’t go looking from for the bird, I entered through the empty cage, hips first —  “Bird Prelude”

boy with thorn, rickey laurentiis

rickey laurentiis is a poet who was raised in new orleans, louisiana, to study light. this is true for a lot of poetry imo, but every piece in boy with thorn requires reading at least twice in a row, because laurentiis’s use of language is so deft and stuffed with meaning that i needed to experience it from different angles. the description for the collection tells us “in a landscape at once the brutal american south as it is the brutal mind, boy with thorn interrogates the genesis of all poetic creation—the imagination itself, questioning what role it plays in both our fascinations with and repulsion from a national history of racial and sexual violence”.

Therefore, my head was kingless. I was a head alone, moaning in a wet black field. I was like any of those deserter slaves whose graves are just the pikes raised for their heads, reshackled, blue and plain as fear. All night I whistled at a sky that mocked me, that fluently changed its grammar as if to match desire in my eye. My freedom is possible, it said. —  “Conditions for a Southern Gothic”

eye level, jenny xie

this is kind of cheating because i first read eye level when it came out in 2017, but i recently reread it so i feel like it counts! jenny xie was born in anhui province, china, and now lives in the united states. eye level travels with xie from phnom penh to corfu to hanoi to new york city, and her descriptions piercing, sensual, and bottomless.

Sunday, awake with this headache. I pull apart the evening with a fork. White clot behind the eyes. Someone once told me, before and after is just another false binary. The warmed-over bones of January. I had no passport. Beneath the stove, two mice made a paradise out of a button of peanut butter. Suffering operates by its own logic. Its gropics and reversals. Ample, in ways that are exquisite. And how it leaves —not unlike how it arrives, without clear notice. —  “Zuihitsu”

i also post about english-language palestinian poetry (both written in english and in translation) in my #palestinian poets series, each of which features poems you can find online!