Introduction

When Jael Uribe confessed that more things came up when she searched on Google under the term 'war' rather than peace, Rati Saxena replied immediately, there is no need to search for peace since it is amongst us. But the observation still holds that most of the poems deal more with war than with peace. Why is this so?

Perhaps an analogy used by Freud might come closer to the truth. Sigmund Freud said we hardly hear anything when a couple is happily in love, but once they develop difficulties, then they need to talk with others to relieve the pressure when things do not work out.

However, it is a curious fact when polemics are directed against the use of words especially if clever manipulators suggest people no longer wish to hear politicians continue talking but wish instead to see actions. The philosopher Kant tried already to refute the saying, it may be good in theory, but in practice! Always theory is not needed to know in which direction culture should shift its focus so as to prevent war. Hence it would be a mistake to dismiss theory as if irrelevant or to outplay practice against theory. For humanity needs to reflect what is going on, hence no action cannot be just the fulfilment of an idea but needs measures for appraisal. And secondly, Jürgen Habermas made the astute observation, violence is always there, where there is 'no theory'.

How important culture as 'theory' is, that underlines Otoniel Guevera who organizes poetry festivals in remote villages of El Salvador since a country full of violence. The problem is that the people are left all alone. Even worse, the government of El Salvador does not support actions which aim to carry culture into remote villages, but without cultural tools people cannot protect themselves against violence aiming to coerce them into obeying the lawless gangs. And where there prevails no sense of human justice, many horrific things can happen at a scale hardly possible to imagine. But they happen if not challenged in a non violent way. The fact that this raw violence is happening in so many places around the world is puzzling, but explains why so many are literally at a loss of words when faced by so much violence.

No wonder then that Séamas Cain would write on 15^th of August 2014:

“I attach, as a humble TXT file, three poems concerning war (for the presentation on Malta). I am sure that this file contains many more words than you would ever care to use at the event ... but use whatever you think best for the event. These poems present my opinions and emotions; I see no reason to write anything else.”

In one of his poems about war, Seamas Cain writes:

War, we hate your shrunkenness.
	Curse this pleasant place,
	War War we bless you.

Especially the last line may reveal more than intended. It may indicate the use of slave language. That is always the case according to the philosopher Ernst Bloch, if a curse is really a blessing, and vice versa when someone wishes to bless something, then it is a curse in disguise. And once trapped in such a vicious cycle, it seems that only words count as if the talkative drive has gone on automatic pilot. Another explanation is offered by Katerina Anghelaki Rooke at the end of her 'war diary', for when poets begin to moralize, they no longer write poems but turn to prose. Indeed, peace needs no moral justification while war is without any morality and therefore needs words to mask itself. Hatto Fischer 1.9.2014

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Introduction