Perduta Gente (1989), de Peter Reading (1946-2011), como docu-poema: estudio y potencial enriquecimiento en términos musicales

Abstract

This End-of-Degree Project, based on research into a wide range of bibliographical sources, provides an analytical overview of the collage-based long poem by the British writer, Peter Reading (1946-2011), entitled Perduta Gente (1989). This analysis also explains why Reading’s composition may also be categorized as a docu-poem, given how it projects a synthesis of visually graphic material, on the one hand, and stanza-based poems, on the other, while the whole constitutes a disturbing, Dantesque vision of one of the marginalized sectors (who Orwell called “down and outs”) of British society at a time, the final fifth of the twentieth century, of extreme affluence being enjoyed by the so-called yuppie society. Prior to the stylistic analysis of the poem itself, attention is paid to the professional figure of Peter Reading in biographical and artistic terms with the aim of underlining how, as a socially aware writer, with a social conscience, he is clearly capable of facing the artistic challenge that involves creativity as it develops on the interface between art and the testimony to the existence of human degradation. In terms of the Project’s structure, the initial categorization of it and its author is followed by a second, central phase, which provides an analysis of the poem’s style, beginning with how Dante’s “Inferno” section of the Divine Comedy functions as an intertextual trigger mechanism within Reading’s composition. Thereafter, further sections explore the characteristics of the discourse types that contribute to the composition’s overall configuration, the features of the rhythmic component that sustains the sections of Perduta Gente in verse, together with the role of lexis and semantics in the impact of this work upon the reader. What is argued is that it is this same linguistic impact that historicizes this work, given that, through the aesthetics of documentary naturalism the role of the city of London is highlighted in the composition. Thus, history and linguistic history become synonymous and, as a result, this disturbing aspect of the history of the city, that of the scenario involving the down and outs, cannot be eliminated from its annals. Likewise, also in terms of how poetry can be seen to carry a vital social function, the history of the nation is also projected in terms of the need for ethically-based veracity in those sections of the work that are represented graphically as documents related to a serious radioactive leak at a nuclear power station, an incident which is the subject of a government cover-up. At the same time, this synthesis of historically-relevant documentation and poetic art is the way in which the American poet, Susan Howe, may be seen to provide a key professional point of comparison with Peter Reading. However, given that the objective of this Project is to explore the nature of the phenomenon of the docu-poem, what is paid more attention to is the way in which, potentially, this visually-based work can be enriched further by envisioning it as an audiovisual product. As a professional musician and singer-songwriter, in the third (creative) phase of this Project, its author includes examples of potential musical enrichment (via YouTube), of Reading’s docu poem. All of which points to how this tri-dimensional Project has indeed felt the impact of such a memorable long poem, i.e. docu-poem, while attempting to filter that same impact in terms of literary criticism. At the same time, the critical endeavor involved has tried to show how Perduta Gente (1989) is still alarmingly relevant at the ending of the first quarter of the new millennium.