| Abstract: | This article deals with a topic-poetry-that is often considered to be of marginal interest to politics. To prove otherwise is the article's principle task-a task that is pursed through an engagement with Pablo Neruda's work. Nobel laureate, international diplomat and political activist in one, Neruda reveals how poetry can enter the political process and, perhaps more importantly, turn into a critical historical memory. To engage political struggles a poet must be as accessible as possible. Neruda was well aware of this necessity, which is why he wrote in the language of everyday life. But he was also aware of the need to break through existing linguistic habits, for it is through these very conventions, inaudible and seemingly harmless as they are, that practices of domination become objectified. The article discusses both the theoretical issues that are at stake in this paradoxical tension and the more specific attempts Neruda undertook to engage political issues related to fascism, imperialism and class domination. |
