Quote:
Originally Posted by Susan McLean
Having read Dave's essay, I think it is not about "Which poets are getting published these days and why?" but "What is the imagination capable of?" I suspect that the answer to the latter question must include "It depends on the poet." All poets have blind spots when it comes to imagining the experience of people whose lives are very different from their own.
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I agree with you, Susan. But identity--even temporarily borrowed identity, as in a persona poem--is not just something we define for ourselves. Identity is also, whether we like it or not, something that other people assign to us. Just as poets have blind spots and biases, readers do, too. So the answer to "What is the imagination capable of?" is not just "It depends on the poet," but also "It depends on the reader." Just as some poets are more persuasive than others when they invite readers to share their imaginative vision, some readers are harder to persuade than others.
When an author from a more-represented category adopts the persona of someone from a less-represented category, the question "Which poets are getting published these days and why?" is definitely relevant to the reader's perception of the writer's motive.
Does the persona-adoption feel like it's being done mainly for an opportunistic author's own benefit, at the possible expense of others who are already less advantaged? Or does it feel like an honest attempt to promote deeper understanding and empathy for a different aspect of the human condition?
Dave's essay is championing the latter, empathetic motive, and I agree that it should be championed. But let's not overlook that a more self-serving and exploitative motive for identity-borrowing exists, too.