City: Bolshevik Superpoem in 5 Cantos

by Manuel Maples Arce, Brandon Holmquest (Translator)

Part of Ugly Duckling Presse's Lost Literature Series (#8), this poem, originally self-published in Mexico in 1924, is part of the Latin American literary movement known as Stridentism. Maples's poem is clearly influenced by Walt Whitman and Dadaism. Translation by Brandon Holmquist. Bi-lingual Spanish/English edition.

Genres: Poetry

First published January 1, 1924

Reviews

[Caleb Orta Curti · Rating 2 out of 5]

Maples Arce me encanta, pero este poemario simplemente es demasiado pretencioso. Es bastante evidente su inmadurez como poeta. Pretende enunciar una nueva ciudad, ser la voz de los proletariados y expandir una especie de revolución bolchevique, sin embargo termina creando una voz poética que intenta imitar y competir con otros poetas vanguardistas. Y nada más que eso: una voz que intenta. Dicho esto, algunos versos sobre la ciudad, el ruido y la experiencia que éstos constituyen son buenos, sin embargo siempre están precededios o sucedidos por otro verso pretencioso. Recomiendo únicamente si el lector tiene algún tipo de interés en las vanguardias o el estridentismo. Una estrella por esos versos y otra por las bien logradas ilustraciones.

[Jorge · Rating 5 out of 5]

Poemario de temática urbana (no se puede esperar otra cosa del padre del Estridentismo). Es un canto a la ciudad moderna, tal y como los estridentistas entienden la modernidad: motores, cables, ferrocarriles, grúas, las chimeneas humeantes de las fábricas y telégrafos. El imaginario poético de Maples es un poco así, pero a mí me encanta la forma en la que plasma todos estos elementos y las metáforas que utiliza. 4.5/5

El puerto:
lejanías incendiadas,
el humo de las fábricas.
Sobre los tendederos de la música
se asolea su recuerdo.

Un adiós trasatlántico saltó desde la borda.

Los motores cantan
sobre el panorama muerto.

[Jomar Canales Conde · Rating 3 out of 5]

como objeto, es una joya de libro, una cápsula de su época, con ilustraciones tremendas de jean charlot; pero la poesía de maples arce es mala mala. en fin no deja de ser interesante: maples arce fue fundador del estridentismo, parte de las vanguardias de latinoamérica en la década del veinte, e inspiración de bolaño para los viscerrealistas y todo ese lío con cesárea tinajero (maples arce sale en los detectives, de hecho). pero llegué aquí, irónicamente, por una entrevista en que octavio paz lo menciona jajaja.

[Q.P. Moreno · Rating 2 out of 5]

El bonapartismo de Obregón marca uno de los periodos más locos y extraños de la historia de México. Hablamos del ganador, del padre del México revolucionario, y hace 100 años muchos genuinamente pensaron que era una victoria del socialismo, que nos levantábamos sobre los hombros de Rusia.

Fuera de eso, el poema no es nada especial... es Maples Arce, es bueno, pero no supera y hasta retrocede de los que hizo en Andamios interiores.

[Lina Quezada · Rating 3 out of 5]

Interesante.

[Ezequiel Iturre · Rating 4 out of 5]

Un interesante poema vanguardista que toma mucho del futurismo europeo y se configura como una obra clave del movimiento estridentista latinoamericano.

[Barbara · Rating 4 out of 5]

Reading Arce's City: Bolshevik Superpoem in 5 Cantos, I suppose we can't help but think Whitman, and Ginsberg, though I understand this poem was originally published in 1924, so it predates Ginsberg. Of course, I also think of Lorca's Poeta en Nueva York, obviously because Arce wrote the poem in Spanish, but mostly for the kind of surreal bustling and teeming masses (though not so much vomitous masses). Still, I think of the poet (Arce, Lorca, Whitman, Ginsberg) holding his gaze primarily at (literal and figurative) ground level, an expansive, panoramic gaze in terms of who inhabits the city and most importantly, who are its builders and caretakers -- Bolshevik, right? Not knowing anything about the poet, that's an obvious clue about the poet's political and social concerns.

Anyway, what I really wanted to write about was the Afterword of the translator, Brandon Holmquest, as I notice the translation's apparent lack of "faithfulness" to the text. Here, I really mean line by line, literal word for word faithfulness, which doesn't always mean faithfulness to the poem itself, its "message":

The biggest effect in a practical sense is the rearrangement of lines in a stanza to "deromanticize" the poetic outcome. [...:] but the attempt has been made to avoid presenting an inaccurate caricature based on conventions of English tone and translation practice, and not on the poet and his poem.

I hadn't previously thought about it this way, the "caricature" which results from quaint Spanish to English renderings, but I get it. So I appreciate the effort to decenter English here.

Finally, this 30-page chapbook is an Ugly Duckling Press production, #8 in its Lost Literature Series. It's a gorgeous letterpress production, typeset in FF Scala, and clean hand-sewn binding. I really adore the poetry book as an artifact, art piece/art object/keepsake (though, I'm also conflicted because of the possibilities of digital print/POD - that would be its own blog post).

[Amy · Rating 3 out of 5]

I wish that the history lesson included at the end of the poem would have been the introduction instead. I only gave this poem 2 stars in my head, wondering at first what kind of weirdly outdated poem this was. Had I known it was written in the 1920s I would have read it with some better historical context and appreciation for the artistic and literary movements of the time, with consideration of the particular political climate in which the poem was written. So, after reading the endnotes I bumped up my rating one star, with a bit more appreciation for the overall effect than I initially had.

[Tom · Rating 4 out of 5]

Like reading Allen Ginsberg, except that this was originally written in Spanish in 1924--so Maples shows a strong influence by Walt Whitman. It introduced me to a literary movement I had never heard of before: Stridentism. In the case of CITY, this means that, in addition to echoes of Whitman, you'll also notice echoes of Dadaism.

[YZ]

Amanda

[Holly Raymond · Rating 5 out of 5]

Let's just say that Manuel Maples Arce puts the "super [good] poem" in "Bolshevik Superpoem"! Ha ha ha. Little joke 4 all of u out thurr in cyberspace.