The Deceitful Speaker Beats the Reader: Exploring Readers' Response to Amiri Baraka's "Somebody Blew Up America"
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2014
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Haverford College. Department of English
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Award
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eng
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Abstract
Amiri Baraka's "Somebody Blew Up America" prompted an overwhelmingly negative response from the American public. Many claimed that the poem was filled with hate and anti-Semitism. As a result, the public successfully supported a campaign led by the Anti-Defamation League (ADL), to have Baraka removed from his position of Poet Laureate of New Jersey. Yet, a reading of "America" suggests that these claims are unfounded, even irrational. Why, then, do readers respond in this way? A close examination of Baraka's "America" reveals that the poem's speaker engages in a "beating" of the reader. Readers' negative response, then, is a result of the beating that they endure. Yet, the speaker veils that this beating takes place. Thus, readers' explanations for their aggression become irrational. In addition, the speaker obscures that he is the source of this beating. As a result, the assaulted readers do not know where to place the blame, and incorrectly conclude that Baraka the author is the culprit. This seems like the correct conclusion, as Baraka looks similar to the speaker. Yet, we find that readers in actuality conflate Baraka the author with his author function. As Baraka is placed in this space, he endures the aggression that rightly belongs to the speaker.