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Citizen An American Lyric Claudia Rankine Books

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Citizen An American Lyric Claudia Rankine Books

Rankine's experimental work here is unique strong and has struck a cord on race relations and theory as well. The prose poems are particularly strong, exploring "micro-aggressions" and other forms of tension in lyric vignettes that can delve into the psychology and social pathology of those seemingly minor events. The poetry around Serena Williams and black bodies are particularly innovative and the narrative pulls one through some real earned rage, but one not used the tropes of experimental poetry may be frustrated with some of the other sections. That said, Rankine is a master of layering and complicating while exploring seemingly invisible in US society. Furthermore, Rankine depth of feeling can pull one through what may seem like otherwise poetically intimidating techniques. For understanding the racial divide, for appreciating experimental poetry, for insight into American life, Rankine's Citizen has earned all the awards it has gotten and will get people to go places both artistically and socially that would otherwise make them uncomfortable.


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Citizen An American Lyric Claudia Rankine Books Reviews

WOW!!! I read this through twice and will continue to read, as well as all that Rankine has written! Absolutely took my heart out of my chest and had me sobbing and changed forever! Her work is unparalleled! So, I will add some quotes of Rankine, although the entire book is quotable and I highly recommend you watching Rankine read from "Citizen," and answer questions via youtube [...]
""You like to think that memory goes far back though remembering was never recommended. Forget all that, the world says. The world's had a lot of practice. No one should adhere to the facts that contribute to narrative, the facts that create lives. To your mind, feelings are what create a person, something unwilling, something wild vandalizing whatever the skull holds. Those sensations form a someone. The headaches begin then. Don't wear sunglasses in the house, the world says, though they soothe, soothe sight, soothe you."
""That time and that time and that time the outside blistered the inside of you, words out maneuvered years, had you in a chokehold, every part roughed up, the eyes dripping."
This is top of my list of all the books I've read this year! Get a copy! You won't be able to put it down, but if you do, maybe you ran out of tissue! LOVE!!!
Claudia Rankine’s Citizen An American Lyric, may be thought of as a book of poetry, especially because it was the recipient of the NAACP Image Award for Outstanding Literary Work in Poetry. However, the pieces collected in this book defy easy classification; Citizen is a book of lyricism, image, blank space, identity, and tribute. It is a counter-narrative to the racism of the dominant white culture in America, as it seeks to give voice to those who have been silenced and grouped into a collective that erases individuality. Rankine seeks to reclaim the image of the black body by removing it from view; the writing in this book is highly lyrical, but holds back in its imagery. Rather, images appear as actual photographs that color the stark white pages of the book. By deemphasizing the image of the black body in her language, Rankine speaks against the conception of the black body as something merely to be viewed.
But Rankine does more than remove things from view; she calls forth every person’s complicity in the racist culture of which Americans are all a part. She does this by writing most of the pieces in this book in the second person. The reader is confronted with herself over and over in lines such as “The sky is blue, kind of blue. The day is hot. Is it cold? Are you cold? It does get cool. It is cool? Are you cool?” Rankine seems to be asking the reader, are you cool with this? Will you sit by and allow systematic racism to oppress and destroy an entire people? She lets no one escape her microscope, ultimately showing us that both the victim and the oppressor are damaged by the effects of racism.
Citizen is an essential read for every American, at the very least because it undercuts the idea that there is one single, true American narrative; in reality, the lessons we learn in history class are largely a “fiction of facts.” Black people in America have been continuously oppressed through the language of the white narrative; in this book, Rankine uses lyricism and photographs to reclaim the oppressive linguistic translations of the black experience—she illuminates another side of history.
Rankine's experimental work here is unique strong and has struck a cord on race relations and theory as well. The prose poems are particularly strong, exploring "micro-aggressions" and other forms of tension in lyric vignettes that can delve into the psychology and social pathology of those seemingly minor events. The poetry around Serena Williams and black bodies are particularly innovative and the narrative pulls one through some real earned rage, but one not used the tropes of experimental poetry may be frustrated with some of the other sections. That said, Rankine is a master of layering and complicating while exploring seemingly invisible in US society. Furthermore, Rankine depth of feeling can pull one through what may seem like otherwise poetically intimidating techniques. For understanding the racial divide, for appreciating experimental poetry, for insight into American life, Rankine's Citizen has earned all the awards it has gotten and will get people to go places both artistically and socially that would otherwise make them uncomfortable.