“Homo Narrans” (One of many)
(The first Homo Narrans you see!) Link: http://bodyliterature.com/lillian-yvonne-bertram/ Happy New Year everyone! This next poem by Lillian-Yvonne Bertram is quite intriguing. Bertram has written and released a series of poems she calls “Homo Narrans,” which roughly translates to “storytelling person.” This immediately made me think of Homo sapiens, which means “the wise ape” (in Latin) or “knowing person.” As I read through several of the poems, I found that many of them were structured like vignettes or cameos of various mini-tales, each having their own meanings and lessons. The Homo Narran I chose to analyze opens with the speaker fervently searching for their mother and father. A “librarian” approaches them and says that their parents have boarded another “plane” that has taken off. Bertram offers some explanation for this unusual conversation in the 5th line: “This library is an airplane.” The speaker expresses that they don’t want to be on this plane, but the librarian states that the library they’re in has already taken off. It seems like these first few lines may be alluding to a child who has been dropped off at a school, or some other learning center similar to a library, by their parents. The child has been placed on a “plane” and sent away on a trip towards the acquisition of knowledge and personal development, and the parents have boarded a separate “plane” that is heading towards “real world” and occupational experiences. The remainder of the poem (following line 12) introduces a significant amount of imagery, and changes the mood of the piece from the unsettling hopelessness of a child facing separation anxiety to the curiosity one gets when the are left to explore to their own devices. The librarian is shown to widely smile as the child looks out the window and sees what I can only assume to be the cornfields of their home drift out of view. At the same time, books begin to slip off of their shelves; the librarian instructs the speaker and other people on the plane to “look forward, [and] hold [their] arms overhead like children on a roller coaster” (lines 21-24). The librarian’s smile expands to an exaggerated “forehead to jaw” length (lines 25-26) as she demonstrates the motion. This definitely led me to imagine the librarian as a teacher or instructor, specifically of naïve young children. To me, the overall tone of the poem is quite a bit hostile. The speaker cannot escape the library, and is being told by a complete stranger, who’s little too nice, how to behave on the plane. The librarian is trying very hard to distract from the situation, and it seems to be working! Bertram could possibly be recounting her experiences with the American education system, and pointing out the manipulation many students are exposed to from a very young age… What are your thoughts? Comment below! :)
1 Comment
Josie Kremer
1/13/2017 08:14:47 am
Hi Alecia!
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AuthorHello everyone! My name is Alecia Guishard. Welcome to Reader's Delight, a site that fosters an open discussion on literature, as well as provides an avenue for my own thoughts on various reads. Archives
March 2017
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