Resistencia

3 min read

Hello and welcome to my segment on Kriti’s blog– Ariel’s Arcs! Today I am sharing about Resistencia. A huge thank you to Netgalley and Tin House for providing me with this arc in exchange for a review!

Resistencia: Poems of Protest and Revolution is a series of poems in their original languages with paired English translations. Some of the poems are contemporary, while others were written in the height of revolutions during the 70s and 80s.

This poetry anthology weaves together voices from all over Central and South America: From Columbia, Peru, Brazil, Nicaragua, Uruguay, Dominican Republic, Mexico, Honduras, Bolivia, Chile, Guatemala, El Salvador, French Guiana, Puerto Rico, Haiti, Paraguay, Argentina, Cuba, Costa Rica, Guadeloupe, Panama, Venezuela, and Ecuador. Each different country creates a different context, but the underlying themes of Protest and Revolution and the strength that coincides with rebellion remain present throughout.

When I picked up this book I was really excited to learn and listen. With my graduate studies focusing on conflict analysis with a focus on conflict escalation techniques such as protests, civil disobedience, and revolutions, I felt honored to listen to the voices of those who could provide a deeper insight into resistance.

Overall, this book is a beautiful tapestry of many voices within Latin America with the poems in their original languages alongside the English translation. Poems of resilience, desperation, resistance, and hope highlight the nuances that various people groups faced throughout a long history of colonization.

For a small glimpse of the power this book holds, here is an excerpt of one poem called Huelga by Juan Gustavo Cobo Borda (Translated into English by Mark Eisner)

I want a giant strike,
that extends even to love.
A strike that brings everything to a halt,
the clock the factories
the yard the schools
the bus the hospitals
the highway the ports

A strike of eyes, of hands, and of kisses.
A strike where it is forbidden to breathe,
a strike where silence is born
so you can hear the footsteps of the
tyrant as he walks away.