marți, 1 iunie 2010

Sounds like poetry

The Antares Poetry Festival took place in Galati this Saturday and Sunday (29-30 May, 2010). Many Romanian poets and literary critics from Galati and Braila, as well as authors from abroad, were invited on Saturday, at the Public Library “V.A. Urechea”. Most of them read poetry, most of it was boring, but I guess we could talk about this later on. For the time being I would like to speak about a less boring, conventional, traditional or realistic event that took place on Saturday at the Public Library. 
One of the poets who were invited to read was Jaan Malin, from Estonia. One could tell he wasn’t as boring as the others from the first moment he started his performance. Because he really gave a performance, what we could call a one-man show. The good part about this performance was that it didn’t need to be translated – the bad part about it was that few people understood it. I can’t say that I did, but I can say that I found it very interesting.
 
I first thought about the beat generation when I saw him perform, but there isn’t actually any link between the two, except for the emphasis on the way in which the poem is read. Then, I thought about a mime artist, but Jaan Malin’s performance had a very different intention. He was in fact trying to describe a universal, ancient, a pre-Tower of Babel language. And he succeeded, from my point of view. 
As I found Jaan Malin to be quite a character, I tried to find out more about him, about his artistic beliefs, his roots, his influences. So I found out that he belongs to a surrealistic (Malin’s father is a well-known surrealist painter in Estonia) movement called the sound poetry, which is, I believe, exactly what the name suggests: poetry of sounds, of universal language. Then, I found out that he was very interested in folklore, that he studied and collected so much folklore (not the country-side folklore, but the urban folk lore) that the Estonian President himself awarded him several years ago. However, folklore is not an influence on his poetry, as he himself states.
I couldn’t find too much information about Jaan Malin over the internet, but I did see that he has won the third place on the European Slam Poetry Festival and that his performances are rather appreciated in Europe. Well, although I don’t think the close-minded Europeans from Galati appreciated or understood his poetry, I can say that I quite enjoyed it and I hope to hear more about sound poetry in the future.
adrian haidu 

7 comentarii:

  1. si pe asta cine l-a mai scris? sper ca nu un galatean...

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  2. lasa ma ca nu e asa plictisitor sau prost scris precum alte texte publicate...e doar usor rigid....
    Vorbeste eu, ca eu stie!

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  3. Dl. Jaan nu e suprarealist. E pur si simplu in tonul vremilor acestora aiurea, in care rima facila si de circumstanta -- sa nu zic de complezenta, de-a dreptul! tinde sa ia locul poeziei reale. Cu cit este mai extravaganta (ori vrea sa para...) o persoana, in speta un artist, cu atit cad mai mult pe ginduri si ii privesc mai atent creatia. In afara de mimica aparte care-l recomanda / califica pentru alt tip de meserie, si de care abuzeaza la greu, nu am retinut din versurile domniei sale nicio emotie. Pacat. Mult zgomot pentru nimic -- zise Bardul.

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  4. pacat pentru cine? din moment ce eu am retinut si emotie si idee? cand va aud cu "poezie reala" ma gandesc la bug mafia - "iti prezint realitatea asa cum este ea".

    hai sa fim seriosi, nu ne place Jaan pentru extravaganta in sine (avem parte de destula extravaganta ca sa ne plictisim mult timp de-acum incolo), ci pentru ca vedem dincolo de ceeea ce, din cate se pare, iti blocheaza tie vederea.

    RăspundețiȘtergere
  5. Astept un event in care dl. Jaan sa ma delecteze cu sunete care provin din mult prea-vorbita Paleo-IndoEuropeana (dvs. cum ati identificat textul liric, by the way??) si atunci promit solemn ca voi fi in tonul vremilor in care domnul cu pricina in loc sa ... fie "suprarealist", adica mai pe inteles sa scoata sunete nearticulate, mai rau ca in comuna primitiva, citeste at random cuvintele de pe un ambalaj oarecare. Daca dvs. numiti asta poezie : racnetul nearticulat, precum si "lectura ambalajelor", nu mi-e de mirare ca ne situam pe emisfere de perceptie si receptare total diferite!!! Dvs. apreciati extravaganta, eu inca mai citesc poezie scrisa cu sufletul si mintea. Concomitent. Veti fi auzit de oare de asa ceva, ma intreb asa, cam inspre retorica? Par paranthese, as fi cumplit de interesat sa vad cum ati extras dvs. ideea din racnetele dlui. Jaan M. precum si tema + subtema + leitmotivul recitatului de pe ambalaje?? Ori veti fi facind parte din proiectul lui Carl Sagan -- Urechea Universului, incat ati ajuns la performanta de a va "traduce" dvs. insiva sunetele de pretutindeni, convertindu-le in texte literare scrise ... clasic, sa folosesc cu sfiiciune fata de eruditia dvs. doboratoare, acest Ccm!
    Diferenta dintre dvs. si mine rezida in aceea ca aveti ca reper valoric BUG Mafia, pe cata vreme eu doar valoarea unuia ca Basho. San.
    Ma mir ca nu l-ati declarat inca pe dl. Jan reformator de ... limba si de poezie, asa cum fac francezii acum cu Celine! Eu spun sa nu ezitati, deoarece la aplombul dvs. ca maine poimaine va si vad coleg cu dl. Oreste care a scris o carte foarte buna! Fireste ca astept cronica dvs. literara avizata, pe marginea ideilor vehiculate acolo.

    RăspundețiȘtergere