- The Arts Fuse
In the anthology Pathetic Literature (Grove Press, 672 pages), Lambda award-winning poet and writer Eileen Myles, whose work illuminates the sublime quotidian of everyday life, has gathered together what could be seen as a global anthology. The book’s 106 contributors reinvigorate the meaning of pathos – their words inspire deep-seated emotions. Among the volume’s lesser known and emerging literary voices, there are selections from the work of Franz Kafka, Samuel Beckett, Simone Weil, Rumi, Gwendolyn Brooks, Jorge Luis Borges, and Victor Hugo.
Myles writes about their editorial approach: “This gathering is not so much queer, as adamantly, eloquently strange, and touching, as if language itself had to pause.” Another prerequisite for inclusion in the anthology — “undermining of normalcy.”
While the luminaries provide the conceptual palimpsest for the compilation, contemporary artists realize its ambitious vision. Sex abounds with Bob Flanagan’s sadomasochist kink, Samuel Delany’s celebration of public sex, and Kevin Killian’s boyhood trysts. Death permeates various narrations, such as Rebecca Brown’s and Robert Glück’s AIDS caregiving as well as Rose Feliu-Pettet’s detailing of Allen Ginsberg’s deathbed machinations.
Trauma, addiction, and resiliency are examined by Porochista Khakpour while surrealism infuses Can Xue’s vision of her mother’s death and Dennis Cooper’s conversations with a snowman. Identity is upended in various ways: Michelle Tea’s visit to Poland, Kathy Acker’s childhood memories, Jack Halberstam’s investigation of nothingness, and Tongo Eisen-Martin’s wariness of whiteness.
Andrea Dworkin rages against convention, Judy Grahn ruminates on the fragility of life, Chantal Akerman’s converses with her elderly mother, and Layli Long Soldier conjures up the execution of 38 Dakota men. Some of the more arcane selections include Myles’ own 1991 campaign announcement for US President and a play by Valerie Solanas, the woman who shot Andy Warhol because he wouldn’t produce it.
This far-flung, idiosyncratic collection of transgressive poems, plays, and prose is laser-focused on celebrating the outsider. The result is a resplendent affirmation of humanity that has become so essential and necessary today. In the acknowledgments, Myles hints that Too Pathetic might be forthcoming. Let’s hope so.