The Other 9/11 — Forty Years Already!
Last night we went with old friend Jean Cormier (author of several books & videos on the Che, among many other writings) to Ivry (one of the last communist held suburbs of Paris) to catch a play in remembrance of 11 September 1973, the day the democratically elected government of Chili was overthrown by a CIA initiated coup, in which President Salvador Allende died & General Pinochet came to power, ushering in a murderously disastrous period for the country. The theater company, Le Théatre Aleph, & its founder & director, Oscar Castro, where among the many Chileans forced into exile after the coup. They eventually found a home here in Paris where they have been busy creating and staging plays and cultural events. Last night’s offering, written by Cesar Castro and with him in the main role, called The 11 September of Salvador Allende, was a moving recreation, without bathos, of the Chilean leader’s life & achievements. Below, a few photos from the both festive & wistful occasion, which also involved food, drink & memory sharing before & after the play.
“Todesguge/Deathfugue”
“Interglacial Narrows (Poems 1915-2021)”
“Always the Many, Never the One: Conversations In-between, with Florent Toniello”
“Conversations in the Pyrenees”
“A Voice Full of Cities: The Collected Essays of Robert Kelly.” Edited by Pierre Joris & Peter Cockelbergh
“An American Suite” (Poems) —Inpatient Press
“Arabia (not so) Deserta” : Essays on Maghrebi & Mashreqi Writing & Culture
“Barzakh” (Poems 2000-2012)
“Fox-trails, -tales & -trots”
“The Agony of I.B.” — A play. Editions PHI & TNL 2016
“The Book of U / Le livre des cormorans”
“Memory Rose Into Threshold Speech: The Collected Earlier Poetry of Paul Celan”
“Paul Celan, Microliths They Are, Little Stones”
“Paul Celan: Breathturn into Timestead-The Collected Later Poetry.” Translated & with commentary by Pierre Joris. Farrar, Straus & Giroux
I suppose it could be said that fighting historical battles from a great distance or even virtually is less damaging all around. Most of the combatants are aged or dead. It certainly beats the real thing which is visible and much too plentiful these days. That said, I seem to be forever suggesting to those I know whose preference in life is to carry ancient grievances on their back like a teenager’s backpack, “Its 2013. Pass it on.”
P.S.
I suspected that some might protest the suggested equivalency between 9/11 and Chile but then it occurred to me that every nation has a disaster it considers to have been the worst in history. The world becomes very small when we look at ourselves first. I have a friend, originally from Chicago, of Armenian descent who still refers to The Armenian Genocide. Those unfamiliar may Google it but it is acknowledged to have been one of the first modern genocides due to the organized manner in which it was carried out. Although it occurred in 1915, it is still the second most-studied case of genocide after the Holocaust eliminating as it did some 1 to 1.5 million Armenians. I’m sure others can cite additional atrocities. It seems to me that 9/11 is somewhat different than a coup, a corrupt dictator or any of many wacko tyrants history provides to choose from. The most recent and accurate comparison to 9/11 that I can recall would be the Kamikaze bombers of WWII.
P.P.S.S.
I have been reminded that the Kamikaze pilots were attacking battleships in wartime. Unlike the towers, the battleships shot back.