Mutabaruka (formerly Allan Hope) was born in Rae Town, Kingston on 26th December, 1952. After primary education he attended Kingston Technical High School, where he was a student for four years. Trained in Electronics, he left his first job after about six months and took employment at the Jamaica Telephone Company Limited. During his time at the Telephone Company he began to examine Rastafarianism and to find it more meaningful than either the Roman Catholicism of his upbringing or the political radicalism into which he had drifted.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's there was an upsurge of Black Awareness in Jamaica, in the wake of a similar phenomenon in the United States. Muta, then in his late teens, was drawn into that movement. Illicitly, in school he read many "progressive books" including Eldrige Cleaver's Soul on Ice and some that were then illegal in Jamaica, such as The Autobiography of Malcom X. Muta saw himself as a young revolutionary. But when he deepened his investigation of Rastafarianism, which he had once regarded as essentially passive, he came to find its thinking more radical than that of the non-Rastafarian group with which he had associated. While still employed at the Telephone Company, he stopped combing his hair, started growing locks, altered his diet, and declared himself Rastafarian. A number of his friends thought he was going mad.
After leaving the Telephone Company, Muta found life in Kingston increasingly unsatisfactory. He and his friend Yvonne left Kingston in 1971 in search of a more congenial environment. They have settled in Potosi District, in St. James. They have two children and the house that Muta built. Muta has had periods of close contact with the Negril Beach Village, where he has explained to guests certain aspects of Jamaican culture. He has talked at great length with many foreigners, and has found the experience broadening. To Muta now, Rastafarianism is part of a universal quest which may also be pursued by other routes, such as Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity. He disapproves, however, of institutionalized religion: the priest "has used your mind/to make love/with the/dead."
Muta was the first well-publicized voice in the new wave of poets growing since the early 1970's. They have developed a living relationship between a poet and a fairly wide audience such as, in Jamaica, only Louise Bennett has achieved before them. Early work by Muta regularly appeared in Swing, a monthly that gave fullest coverage to the pop music scene. Introducing Outcry (March, 1973) John A. L. Golding Jr. wrote: "In July 1971, Swing Magazine published for the first time a poem by Allan Mutabaruka...Our readers were ecstatic. Since then, and almost in consecutive issues, we have derived much pleasure in further publication of this brother's works... They tell a story common to most black people born in the ghetto... And when Muta writes, it's loud and clear." That his poems in Sun and Moon (1976), a volume shared with Faybiene, are quieter is one indication of Muta's particular development.
Like Louise Bennett (and like many of the Black Americans of the sixties whose work they had sampled) the new and popular Jamaican poets write mainly in the unofficial language of the people, feel close to Black musicians (to whom they sometimes allude), and make good use of opportunities to perform. I can still vividly recall the pleasure of hearing Muta read the the Creative Arts Centre in the early 1970's. He more than holds his own in the company of other skilled performers such as Mikey Smith and Oku Onuora (formerly Oralndo Wong) with whom he has recently shared programmes. But though, like the others, he is on intimate terms with reggae lyrics and he sometimes does angry poems. Muta resists the label of "dub poet" as much as "protest poet". Each, he feels, refers to only one aspect of his work.
Granted that many of Muta's poems are fully realized only in performance, some of them seem to me far more successful than others. My own favorite is "Nursery Rhyme Lament" which, I am told, is now discussed in some of our schools. In "Dan is the Man in the Van", the famous calypso song by The Mighty Sparrow, British nursery rhymes taught in colonial schools are pilloried as absurdly irrelevant in that context; in Muta's "Nursery Rhyme Lament" they are distorted into local meaning, they are reworked as history into the patterns of harsh reality - water rates, light bills, overpopulation, meat shortages and so on. The poem (especially when performed) is very funny; and deadly serious in the criticism it implies. Another special favorite of mine is "Revolutionary Poets" - "revolutionary poets/'ave become entertainers" - with its multiple ironies, including some that surely touch that poem itself. If few of the other pieces in this volume seem as fully achieved as these, this is, after all, a collection of "the first poems", in which the voice of the young Mutabaruka speaks to and for a host of troubled young people.
In the late 1960's and early 1970's there was an upsurge of Black Awareness in Jamaica, in the wake of a similar phenomenon in the United States. Muta, then in his late teens, was drawn into that movement. Illicitly, in school he read many "progressive books" including Eldrige Cleaver's Soul on Ice and some that were then illegal in Jamaica, such as The Autobiography of Malcom X. Muta saw himself as a young revolutionary. But when he deepened his investigation of Rastafarianism, which he had once regarded as essentially passive, he came to find its thinking more radical than that of the non-Rastafarian group with which he had associated. While still employed at the Telephone Company, he stopped combing his hair, started growing locks, altered his diet, and declared himself Rastafarian. A number of his friends thought he was going mad.
After leaving the Telephone Company, Muta found life in Kingston increasingly unsatisfactory. He and his friend Yvonne left Kingston in 1971 in search of a more congenial environment. They have settled in Potosi District, in St. James. They have two children and the house that Muta built. Muta has had periods of close contact with the Negril Beach Village, where he has explained to guests certain aspects of Jamaican culture. He has talked at great length with many foreigners, and has found the experience broadening. To Muta now, Rastafarianism is part of a universal quest which may also be pursued by other routes, such as Hinduism or Buddhism or Christianity. He disapproves, however, of institutionalized religion: the priest "has used your mind/to make love/with the/dead."
Muta was the first well-publicized voice in the new wave of poets growing since the early 1970's. They have developed a living relationship between a poet and a fairly wide audience such as, in Jamaica, only Louise Bennett has achieved before them. Early work by Muta regularly appeared in Swing, a monthly that gave fullest coverage to the pop music scene. Introducing Outcry (March, 1973) John A. L. Golding Jr. wrote: "In July 1971, Swing Magazine published for the first time a poem by Allan Mutabaruka...Our readers were ecstatic. Since then, and almost in consecutive issues, we have derived much pleasure in further publication of this brother's works... They tell a story common to most black people born in the ghetto... And when Muta writes, it's loud and clear." That his poems in Sun and Moon (1976), a volume shared with Faybiene, are quieter is one indication of Muta's particular development.
Like Louise Bennett (and like many of the Black Americans of the sixties whose work they had sampled) the new and popular Jamaican poets write mainly in the unofficial language of the people, feel close to Black musicians (to whom they sometimes allude), and make good use of opportunities to perform. I can still vividly recall the pleasure of hearing Muta read the the Creative Arts Centre in the early 1970's. He more than holds his own in the company of other skilled performers such as Mikey Smith and Oku Onuora (formerly Oralndo Wong) with whom he has recently shared programmes. But though, like the others, he is on intimate terms with reggae lyrics and he sometimes does angry poems. Muta resists the label of "dub poet" as much as "protest poet". Each, he feels, refers to only one aspect of his work.
Granted that many of Muta's poems are fully realized only in performance, some of them seem to me far more successful than others. My own favorite is "Nursery Rhyme Lament" which, I am told, is now discussed in some of our schools. In "Dan is the Man in the Van", the famous calypso song by The Mighty Sparrow, British nursery rhymes taught in colonial schools are pilloried as absurdly irrelevant in that context; in Muta's "Nursery Rhyme Lament" they are distorted into local meaning, they are reworked as history into the patterns of harsh reality - water rates, light bills, overpopulation, meat shortages and so on. The poem (especially when performed) is very funny; and deadly serious in the criticism it implies. Another special favorite of mine is "Revolutionary Poets" - "revolutionary poets/'ave become entertainers" - with its multiple ironies, including some that surely touch that poem itself. If few of the other pieces in this volume seem as fully achieved as these, this is, after all, a collection of "the first poems", in which the voice of the young Mutabaruka speaks to and for a host of troubled young people.
Terjemahan
Mutabaruka (sebelumnya Allan Harapan) lahir di Rae Town, Kingston pada 26 Desember 1952. Setelah pendidikan dasar ia menghadiri Kingston Technical High School, di mana dia adalah seorang mahasiswa selama empat tahun. Terlatih dalam Elektronika, ia meninggalkan pekerjaan pertama setelah sekitar enam bulan dan mengambil kerja di Jamaika Telephone Company Limited. Selama waktunya di Perusahaan Telepon ia mulai memeriksa Rastafarianism dan merasa lebih bermakna dibandingkan baik Katolik Romawi asuhan nya atau radikalisme politik di mana dia melayang.
Pada akhir 1960-an dan 1970-an ada kenaikan dari Black Kesadaran di Jamaika, setelah fenomena serupa di Amerika Serikat. Muta, kemudian di akhir remaja, telah ditarik ke dalam gerakan itu. Sah, di sekolah ia banyak membaca "buku progresif" termasuk Eldridge Cleaver's Soul on Ice dan beberapa yang kemudian ilegal di Jamaika, seperti The Autobiography of Malcolm X. Muta melihat dirinya sebagai seorang revolusioner muda. Tetapi ketika ia memperdalam penyelidikan tentang Rastafarianism, yang ia pernah dianggap sebagai dasarnya pasif, ia datang untuk menemukan pemikiran yang lebih radikal daripada kelompok non-Rastafarian dengan yang telah terkait. Sementara masih bekerja di Perusahaan Telepon, ia berhenti menyisir rambutnya, mulai kunci tumbuh, diubah diet, dan menyatakan dirinya Rastafarian. Sejumlah teman-temannya mengira ia gila.
Setelah meninggalkan Perusahaan Telepon, Muta ditemukan kehidupan di Kingston semakin tidak memuaskan. Dia dan temannya Yvonne meninggalkan Kingston pada tahun 1971 untuk mencari lingkungan yang lebih menyenangkan. Mereka telah menetap di Kabupaten Potosi, di St James. Mereka memiliki dua anak dan rumah yang dibangun Muta. Muta memiliki periode hubungan dekat dengan Pantai Negril Desa, di mana ia telah menjelaskan kepada tamu aspek-aspek tertentu dari kebudayaan Jamaika. Dia telah berbicara panjang lebar dengan banyak orang asing, dan telah menemukan pengalaman pelebaran. Untuk Muta sekarang, Rastafarianism merupakan bagian dari pencarian universal yang mungkin juga dikejar oleh rute lainnya, seperti Hindu atau Buddha atau Kristen. Dia tidak setuju, bagaimanapun, agama dilembagakan: imam "telah menggunakan pikiran Anda / bercinta / dengan / mati."
Muta adalah suara yang dipublikasikan pertama di gelombang baru penyair berkembang sejak tahun 1970-an. Mereka telah mengembangkan hubungan yang hidup antara penyair dan penonton yang cukup luas seperti di Jamaika, hanya Louise Bennett telah dicapai sebelum mereka. Awal bekerja dengan Muta teratur muncul di Swing, bulanan yang memberikan liputan sepenuhnya kepada musik pop. Memperkenalkan Outcry (Maret, 1973) John AL Golding Jr wrote:. "Pada Juli 1971, Swing Majalah diterbitkan untuk pertama kalinya sebuah puisi oleh Allan Mutabaruka ... pembaca kami adalah gembira Sejak saat itu, dan hampir dalam masalah berturut-turut, kami telah diturunkan banyak kenikmatan dalam publikasi karya-karya ini lebih lanjut saudara ... Mereka menceritakan sebuah cerita umum untuk kebanyakan orang kulit hitam yang lahir di ghetto ... Dan ketika Muta menulis, itu keras dan jelas. " Bahwa puisi di Matahari dan Bulan (1976), volume bersama dengan Faybiene, lebih tenang merupakan salah satu indikasi perkembangan tertentu Muta's.
Seperti Louise Bennett (dan seperti banyak orang Amerika Hitam tahun enam puluhan yang pekerjaan yang telah mereka sampel) para penyair Jamaika baru dan populer menulis terutama dalam bahasa resmi dari orang-orang, merasa dekat dengan musisi Black (kepada siapa mereka kadang-kadang menyinggung), dan memanfaatkan peluang untuk melakukan. Aku masih bisa jelas mengingat kenikmatan mendengar Muta membaca Creative Arts Centre di tahun 1970-an. Dia lebih dari memegang sendiri dalam perusahaan pelaku terampil lainnya seperti Mikey Smith dan Oku Onuora (sebelumnya Oralndo Wong) dengan siapa ia baru-baru ini bersama program. Tapi meskipun, seperti yang lain, ia pada istilah intim dengan lirik reggae dan dia kadang-kadang tidak puisi marah. Muta menolak label dari "penyair dub" sebanyak "penyair protes". Masing-masing, ia merasa, merujuk kepada hanya satu aspek dari pekerjaannya.
Memang bahwa banyak puisi Muta adalah sepenuhnya terwujud hanya dalam kinerja, beberapa dari mereka tampaknya saya jauh lebih berhasil dari yang lain. favorit saya adalah "Nursery Rhyme Ratapan" yang, aku diberi tahu, sekarang dibahas di beberapa sekolah kami. Dalam "Dan adalah Manusia di Van", lagu kalipso terkenal oleh The Sparrow Mighty, sajak pembibitan Inggris diajarkan di sekolah-sekolah kolonial yang pilloried sebagai absurd tidak relevan dalam konteks itu, dalam Muta's "Nursery Rhyme Ratapan" mereka terdistorsi ke dalam makna lokal, mereka ulang sebagai sejarah ke dalam pola-pola kenyataan pahit - tarif air, tagihan cahaya, kelebihan penduduk, kekurangan daging dan sebagainya. Puisi (terutama bila dilakukan) sangat lucu, dan mematikan serius dalam kritik itu berarti. Lain favorit khusus saya adalah "Revolusioner Penyair" - "penyair revolusioner penghibur ave / 'menjadi" - dengan beberapa ironi, termasuk beberapa yang pasti sentuhan yang puisi itu sendiri. Jika beberapa dari potongan-potongan lain dalam buku ini tampak seolah sepenuhnya tercapai seperti ini, ini, setelah semua, kumpulan "puisi-puisi pertama", di mana suara Mutabaruka muda berbicara kepada dan untuk sejumlah orang muda bermasalah.
By : Arnold Belau
