By Tanya Batson-Savage, Staff Reporter
Mutabaruka
THE PAGE is often the place of judgement for literature. However, dub poetry is an artform created for the stage, not the page. Even so, the artform has increasingly dubbed its way into the sanctity of print.
Most of the creators and innovators of dub poetry who helped the artform rise to popularity in the 1970s and beyond, have texts containing their work. Since her first collection of poetry, Riddym Ravins and Other Poems, the first lady of dub, Jean 'Binta' Breeze, has produced several texts with her latest being The Arrival of Bright Eye and Other Poems.
Linton Kwesi Johnson also has an impressive list of publications to his name. His latest coup occurred when the Mi Revolushanary Fren: Selected Poems was published by Penguin Modern Classics. The publication is particularly impressive because it made Johnson the first Jamaican and the second poet to be included in the series.
Additionally, many poems have made their way to anthologies. The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse in English edited by Paula Burnett, and Wheel and Come Again edited by Kwame Dawes are two of the texts which use the page to celebrate the power of oral literature.
Indeed, dub poetry is not the only oral form which makes it to the pages of The Penguin Book of Caribbean Verse as the text also includes the words of reggae icons Bob Marley, Peter Tosh and Jimmy Cliff; the soca lyricism of Lord Kitchener and The Mighty Sparrow and several folk songs.
In an interview published on artsinternational.org, Linton Kewsi Johnson says, "I consider myself a poet, full stop. I work in both oral and scribal traditions and my work has been influenced by the reggae tradition and Jamaican folk culture, among other influences." His argument is a rather valid one and speaks to the nature of the growth of the artform.
It is particularly interesting that Johnson, who it has been argued is the creator of the term 'dub poetry', would find the name limiting. As a part of the same interview, Johnson goes on to say that the continued use of the term is an attempt at dividing poets.
DUB POETRY LEGITIMATE
In getting dub to the page, the question of whether or not the poem will remain effective is a legitimate one. How much of the poem is based on the performance, the poets timing, pitch, expression and how much on the words themselves. This question makes it easy for critics to dismiss dub poetry and other performance poems, as not being legitimate.
However, poems such as Oku Onuora's Pressure Drop have no problem maintaining their strength on the stage.
hunga a twis man tripe
jus say 'eh' man fight
man nerves raw
man tek a draw c o o l
In this case the way the poems rest on the page allows much of its rhythm and cadence to be included in the printed version, which would change should some of the spaces be omitted.
Mutabaruka speaks of the relationship between performance and the printed version of the poetry. According to Mutabaruka, the poems always hit the page before it can get to the stage. "Is not something that you just go to the studio and do," he argued, pointing out that poets write down and edit their work before they ever take it to the performance stage.
SOMETHNG EXTRA DURING
PERFORMANCE
He explains, however, that both forms have their place and even so, the poet can often lend something extra to the poem during performance. "It's like you're seeing the words. The poet is bringing to life the poem," he said. "You (the poet) actually become the poem."
Mutabaruka argues that the added force given during a performance explains why many dub poets often read their work. Even so Mutabaruka also says that he believes most poets prefer their poems on the page.
Interestingly, Mutabaruka is also not enamoured with the term 'dub poet'. He notes that the rhythms
he engages his poems with go far beyond dub and so the term
is limiting.
Cherry Natural constantly advocates that poetry should be active and be liberated from the page. Even so, she is another dub poet whose work has been published. Natural currently has two printed collections, Mek Wi Reason and Earth Woman.
She argues that printed forms of the work give her work additional reach and that is what truly matters. However, as Natural also points out, many people prefer to listen than to read. Thus, though dub poetry's place on the stage may continue to grow stronger, there is no indication that it will relinquish its right to the stage.
