Dancing Barefoot
Why Must Not Death be Redefined?
-Patti Smith, “Dancing Barefoot” (1979)
Patti Smith’s question is based on an assumption, though not her own. Death can be redefined. Indeed, we redefine death all the time. In the sixteenth century, Jews, infidels and lepers were considered the already dead. That is no longer so. Today in the United States when Iraqis die, they are numbers, when U.S. Servicemen and women die, they get posthumous fame as the last five minutes of a CBS news broadcast or the cover story of a local newspaper. Was it Heart who wrote that an American death was front page news, 10 European deaths made front page, and 100 dead from elsewhere got the headline? That can change.
What is most interesting about Smith’s question is the manner in which it is phrased. Her use of anastrophe (the unusual arrangement of words in a sentence, often for poetic effect) emphasizes redefinition and not death. And while syncopation is natural to good musicians and composers, its metaphorical use here (word for beat) suggests the very possibility of that which she claims cannot happen. Thus Smith hopes to redefine death by fighting against the near-omnipotence of the dictionary and our assumptions. I for one would be glad to see a redefinition.
-Patti Smith, “Dancing Barefoot” (1979)
Patti Smith’s question is based on an assumption, though not her own. Death can be redefined. Indeed, we redefine death all the time. In the sixteenth century, Jews, infidels and lepers were considered the already dead. That is no longer so. Today in the United States when Iraqis die, they are numbers, when U.S. Servicemen and women die, they get posthumous fame as the last five minutes of a CBS news broadcast or the cover story of a local newspaper. Was it Heart who wrote that an American death was front page news, 10 European deaths made front page, and 100 dead from elsewhere got the headline? That can change.
What is most interesting about Smith’s question is the manner in which it is phrased. Her use of anastrophe (the unusual arrangement of words in a sentence, often for poetic effect) emphasizes redefinition and not death. And while syncopation is natural to good musicians and composers, its metaphorical use here (word for beat) suggests the very possibility of that which she claims cannot happen. Thus Smith hopes to redefine death by fighting against the near-omnipotence of the dictionary and our assumptions. I for one would be glad to see a redefinition.
posted by Definer at 5:56 PM
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