Poet—Invisible Representative for Minorities

On April 30, 2009, in room B101 in the Veritas building, Natasha Trethewey gave a lecture on the subject of ‘Poetry and History—Insights into Native Guard.’ The lecture was held in partnership with the United States Embassy in Korea under the sponsorship of the department of International Affairs as part of a special lecture series. It was given in English and translated by an interpreter. The poetical work ‘Native Guard’ which won the Pulitzer Prize, the most authoritative prize in the fields of journalism, literature, and music, deals with grief for the poet’s mother as well as a Northern military unit of African-American soldiers in the Civil War and the disappearance of historical records. Natasha Trethewey grew up with her stepfather because of the law in Mississippi which prohibited marriage between blacks and whites. What was worse, she experienced the horror of her mother being killed by her stepfather. Through this tragedy, she watched, with deep concern, racial problems and estranged minorities. “It was amazing because Natasha Tretheway
is a master of poetry. I appreciate her consideration in speaking slowly to help Sookmyungians understand for. However, her poetical values are somewhat difficult to feel sympathy” said Kim Darm, freshman in Division of Communication. In this lecture, she stated that if someone wants to become a poet, he or she has to have historical consciousness because the poet is an informal legislator across the globe. She declared that she would like to realize social justice through her poetry which corrects unfair policies and historical misconceptions and speaks for minorities.

Park Bae Hyewon