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A review by ester30
Zong! by M. NourbeSe Philip
After some careful thought, I have decided not to give this book a rating. The reason behind this is that this text is extremely important, but I don't want my complicated thoughts on the author and her intention to be conflated.
Philip takes apart the well known 1781 two-page Zong case and strategically separates and rearranges them to create a haunting and mournful masterpiece.
The form and content that Philip uses within her poetry enables marginalized writers to create from intergenerational trauma which can be observed from her silent spaces and the violence it assumes, the function of archival documentation, the multitude of voices, and a form that mimics water. The discussion of Zong and the abilities it undertakes through different forms is essential to the dialogue of the uprising of the Black Lives Matter Movement, especially right now as the George Floyd case is still in process.
The reason why I am a bit perplexed is at the authority that Philip possesses, despite claiming none. She creates a text that is complicated and calls for attentive readers to create meaningful connections. However, at the same time after reading many reviews I wonder if she overcomplicated the poems to the point where the reader overlooks her poetry as random or nonsensical. I also wonder if by 'not telling the story that must be told' if she's actually silencing the submerged victims that were jettisoned off the Zong ship which is the opposite of what she wanted to do. Nevertheless, in a way she did include the voices, but only to those who listen attentively, to those who understand the complexities of our colonized language, to those who feel the utterances of the drowned voices through her tidalectic writing, and through the loud silences.
Philip takes apart the well known 1781 two-page Zong case and strategically separates and rearranges them to create a haunting and mournful masterpiece.
The form and content that Philip uses within her poetry enables marginalized writers to create from intergenerational trauma which can be observed from her silent spaces and the violence it assumes, the function of archival documentation, the multitude of voices, and a form that mimics water. The discussion of Zong and the abilities it undertakes through different forms is essential to the dialogue of the uprising of the Black Lives Matter Movement, especially right now as the George Floyd case is still in process.
The reason why I am a bit perplexed is at the authority that Philip possesses, despite claiming none. She creates a text that is complicated and calls for attentive readers to create meaningful connections. However, at the same time after reading many reviews I wonder if she overcomplicated the poems to the point where the reader overlooks her poetry as random or nonsensical. I also wonder if by 'not telling the story that must be told' if she's actually silencing the submerged victims that were jettisoned off the Zong ship which is the opposite of what she wanted to do. Nevertheless, in a way she did include the voices, but only to those who listen attentively, to those who understand the complexities of our colonized language, to those who feel the utterances of the drowned voices through her tidalectic writing, and through the loud silences.