Poetika: Jurnal Ilmu Sastra
Vol 10, No 1 (2022): Issue 1

THERE IS NO POSSIBILITY OF ANOTHER SUBJECT ON THE PERSONA “WE” FROM REAGAN’S POEM LIFE

Astrinda Nilasastri Iswalono (Universitas Gadjah Mada Yogyakarta)



Article Info

Publish Date
30 Jun 2022

Abstract

Written by young Reagan, Life is a poem with a distinctive discourse as a literary work in the beginning of American modernism. The study of Life in the present article focuses on the interpretation of “we” and is contextualized within the historical narratives of the Puritans and the spirit of American Dream in the 20s. The analysis of the poem’s representations of the symbolic, the imaginary, and the Truth presented here is a Žižekian reading of the subjects “we” in the poem’s text who appear to get themselves into a pseudo activity in relation to the narratives of the Founding Fathers as the chosen ones in the holy journey of establishing America. The speaker of the poem, which is part of “we,” reflects the spirit of American Dream and reminds his fellow Americans to keep going amidst the feeling of alienation caused by the modern capitalism that is expressed by words “suffer”, “struggle”, “weep”, “drench”, “break”, “jade”, “sorrow”, “warp” and “pain” 15 times in only 8 stanzas/32 lines. The speaker’s sense of Americanism becomes the only Truth for the “we” until they grow their own Cynical Awareness.

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Journal Info

Abbrev

poetika

Publisher

Subject

Arts Humanities

Description

POETIKA: Jurnal Ilmu Sastra publishes academic articles within the scope of literary criticism (limited to poem, prose, drama, oral tradition, and philology). The articles cover the form of a result on specific analysis; academic reports; closed reading; and the application of certain theories to ...