They Tried to Bury Us They Didnt Know We Were Seeds Wall Art
This weekend, Families Belong Together protests erupted throughout the United States in response to the federal regime'southward new policy of separating children from their parents. This odious action has brought immigration issues to the forefront once again, and the protests come up fresh off a Supreme Court determination to uphold the Trump administration's travel ban.
At protests throughout the state and online, many supporters raised the now well-known phrase: "They tried to bury us, they didn't know nosotros were seeds." The long history of this phrase can exist traced, more recently, to Mexican activists who used it in support of the Ayotzinapa 43 — 43 students who were disappeared in Iguala, United mexican states in 2013. The anger from that moment has been attributed to a larger sentiment of frustration in Mexico against the ruling Institutional Revolutionary Party and outgoing president Enrique Peña Nieto.
Non directly referring to seeds, this person outside a voting booth in Mexico is wearing a shirt that references the Ayotzinapa 43. (via @Andalalucha)
During difficult times, the metaphor of seeds holds particular emotional sway. The idea that those who have suffered immensely might help behave the fruits of justice after on has taken on a global resonance, ane that extends over time and infinite to movements in the U.s.a. and Mexico, as well every bit throughout many Latin American communities, recalling the suffering of the Ayotzinapa 43 and their families.
The curious history of this phrase dates dorsum even further and further. I sat downwards with Greek media scholar Alexandra Boutopoulou, who is a doctoral researcher of visual social media and digital civilisation at the University of Sheffield. While not a professional poetry critic, the combination of her BA in Literature with her social media expertise helped shed more light on the phrase'southward origins.
* * *
An Xiao Mina: It seems that this phrase originates with the Greek poet Dinos Christianopoulos. Can you tell me more about the original verse form?
Alexandra Boutopoulou: In 1978, Christianopoulos wrote a minor couplet, which was included in the collection The Body and the Wormwood (1960–1993), translated into English by Prof. Nicholas Kostis (1995). The couplet reads:
what didn't you lot do to bury me
but you lot forgot that I was a seed
Allegedly, these lines were addressed to the Greek literary community that had strongly criticized Christianopoulos'southward verse at the time. Be that as it may, the power of the couplet lies in its very capacity to put down roots and then to blossom worldwide, especially since its creator had barely ever left the Greek borders. Indeed, Christianopoulos has been ofttimes criticized for his so-chosen provincialism and deliberate confinement within the limited bounds of his country of nascence.
AXM: How did Christianopoulos'southward work reach the wider world?
AB: His work was introduced to the English language-speaking world through translations past Kimon Friar in 1979 and/or Emeritus Professor Nicholas Kostis in 1995. Although not widely known, the poetry of Dinos Christianopoulos, with its sharp and contemptuous aphorisms on life and love, has established him in Greece both as a significant poet and a cult figure.
Dinos Christianopoulos is a nom de feather (his birth proper name is Konstantinos Dimitriadis), and he was born in Thessaloniki, Hellenic republic in 1931. He made his first appearance every bit a poet in 1949 with the poem "Biography," published in Thessaloniki's literary magazine Morfes (in Greek: Μορφές). By that fourth dimension, he had already started using the surname 'Christianopoulos,' which translates from Greek equally 'the son of Christ.' This detail surname pick reflected the diversity of Christian themes that would appear afterward in his work. Christianopoulos studied literature at the University of Thessaloniki, where he earned his degree in 1955.
AXM: The linguistic communication of his poem has influenced and then many movements today. What were his influences, and how did they bear upon his writing and perspective?
AB: Christianopoulos'due south verse has been influenced past the world-acclaimed poets Constantine P. Cavafy and T.Due south Elliot and displays a very intense just at the same time simple and personal way. As critic John Taylor noted, "sometimes charming, sometimes fell." Its dominant themes are the torments of dear, the erotic passion leading to loneliness, the occasional sexual relationships, but also a strong criticism of society with its stereotypes.
Christianopoulos's poetic trajectory moves forth the lines of what critic George Syrimis has noted equally "remorseful confessions to provocative and outspoken exhibitionism, from self-disgust and humiliation to self-credence and dignity, from self-denial to self-indulgence and cocky-cognition."
Though Christianopoulos used Cavafy equally a model for the poetic expression of his homosexuality, he moves beyond his mentor in terms of boldness and explicitness: his poems ooze corporal sensations, emotions, nights spent searching for lovers in the parks and bold chance encounters (as Taylor has pointed out).
AXM: Was he very well recognized in Hellenic republic?
AB: According to John Taylor, in 1958 he founded the critical literary journal Diagonal (in Greek: Διαγώνιος) which was published until 1983 and was a significant incubator for poets and writers of the time. In 1962, Christianopoulos launched Diagonal Publications, which published most of his ain books. His intimate relationship with his native Thessaloniki — a literary topos in all senses of the word, reflected in his verse — kept him spellbound, and Christianopoulos spent nearly of his life living there, making trips to Athens and mainland Greece only when necessary, mainly for professional reasons.
In January 2012, Dinos Christianopoulos was awarded the Grand State Prize for Literature, a prestigious prize past the Greek Ministry of Culture; however, he declined to receive it, stating:
Nor volition I show upward, nor will I stretch my mitt to take it; I want neither their prizes, nor their coin
He cited his own 1979 text "Enandion" (which translates from Greek as "Against").
AXM: He rejected the laurels!
AB: Having always been controversial and unconventional, Christianopoulos made very articulate through his poetry that he is against all awards because they diminish human being nobility, something he expressed in the first issue of Diagonal. For Christianopoulos, giving an award ways to recognize the value of somebody who is my inferior; and according to him, nosotros should bandage off the need to be canonical by big bosses of any kind. Receiving an honor means that I do accept intellectual bosses and, at some point, we should dismiss those bosses from our lives.
AXM: Why exercise you lot think this poem, in particular, has seemed to catch on in so many places?
AB: Indeed, these lines in detail have taken such a fascinating journey, reflecting the power of Christianopoulos'due south "logos" (Greek discussion for discussion/reason/speech). Especially if 1 considers that the poet himself had never expressed any desire to travel and discover the world exterior Greece, it is astonishing to realize that his poesy has reached people living so far away.
The quick answer would exist that social media played a disquisitional role in conveying the message around. Just social media was merely the vehicle; in essence, I believe that these particular lines work on ii levels: on the surface, they have this obvious ability and wit of their ain — a strong statement of resilience and continuity.
Only beneath the obvious, lies the "seed" of Christianopoulos's controversial poetry; as the artist is ready to fight against those who try to "bury" him (as mentioned before, allegedly these lines were addressed to the Greek literary community that had strongly criticized Christanopoulos'southward verse), then are those who fight for their own place in the world.
An additional remix from Gabe Ortíz (via @TUSK81)
In recent years in the Us, the immigrant rights movement has taken on the phrase in the confront of rising authorities actions against immigrants at the border, within the US, and those seeking to come to the US. With the latest, most odious decision to split up children from their parents at the edge, the urgency of these times has only grown.
From tiny seeds, we can look mighty changes.
Source: https://hyperallergic.com/449930/on-the-origins-of-they-tried-to-bury-us-they-didnt-know-we-were-seeds/
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