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language: Greenlandic (English tr. Ken Norris and Marianne Stenbaek)
country: Denmark
year: 2008
form: poetry
dates read: 5.4.24
Taqqat uummammut aqqutaannut takorluukkat apuuffiannut / The Veins of the Heart to the Pinnacle of the Mind is a collection of poetry by the Greenlandic writer and activist Aqqaluk Lynge (translated by Ken Norris and Marianne Stenbaek) published over a span of 35 years (early ’70s to mid-2000s). the poems are on a mix of topics, but primarily deal with the impacts of Danish colonialism — land enclosure and sedentarization, the suppression of Greenlandic language and culture, resource extraction, ...
Lynge’s poetry is sharp and full of heavy irony, perhaps best illustrated by “Nunarput Danmarkilu sernigineqarlit—immikkut” (“God save Denmark and Greenland—Separately”), my favorite poem in the collection:
Kalaallit Nunaat imminut napatissinnaangilaq
aqatsiassapput
suna tamarimi akiitsuuvoq
pissapputmaaniinngilagut iluanaarniarluta
ittuunngivillutik saassavaatigut
—aap, sunaaffa
soormiuna taava maaniippisi?//
Greenland is a losing concern
they say
It’s all a deficit
they say
We don’t make any money from it
they say
Of course we don’t really want to make any
they sayOh really?
Then why are you here?
I also was really struck by a moment in “Sukkut tamaana” / “Easing In”:
But now we say
the one who gives charity
does it to appease his own guilt
the print run for this was only a thousand copies, so it’s not the easiest book to access, but I would definitely recommend it if you can get your hands on a copy.
moods: inspiring, polemic