About Power

muscle, electricity, fame, potency, beliefs, money,
magic, authority, addictions, sway, resistance,
establishment, mobs, physics, emotions, access,
stars, royalty, knowledge, influence, fuel

Every year at this time, we look back and see the theme we chose for TWO LINES the previous summer in a new light. Invariably, it seems almost uncannily to presage the dominant themes of the subsequent year’s news. When we selected the theme for this year, of course, the United States was already engaged in a war (or two), but we could only imagine how ugly it would turn. All wars are about power, but the current conflict revolves around so many of the variations and facets of power that we hoped to explore in this issue: threats and coercions, tests of will, powerful surges of public opinion, the sway of preconceived notions and of faith, the jockeying of factions, struggles between ruling families with powerful grudges, weapons (real and imagined), the lure and corruption of money and oil and big business, the naked power of taking—or sparing—life.

Meanwhile, we in California are still digesting an unprecedented event that occurred right here at home—the gubernatorial recall. The recall itself was prompted in part by an energy crisis that simultaneously caused power outages and sapped the treasury (and the popularity) of the incumbent; that crisis, in turn, was the result of a power grab in the energy industry. The recall circus brought characters of the most unlikely sort to town, and when it was over, the state was left in the hands of the strong man, symbol not only of manly (and robotic, for that matter) strength, but also of Hollywood fame and wealth.

Yet those are just examples of power in its more obvious forms. We explore many more subtle forms in this issue, as Managing Editor Shevi Berlinger describes:

In this issue, we see the power of human transformation—the urge to create something new of ourselves, the courage to interrupt the flow of routine for something we believe in, whether through a hunger strike in a Korean factory or by standing still amidst the chaos of occupied Czechoslovakia. We see the power of hidden agendas at work in Italian and Argentine letters—and how these currents can sometimes be as obvious as the electricity that surrounds us in our everyday lives. We see power imploding in a Chinese poem of rage and witness Russian love poems borne of powerful desire, despite dire circumstances. As always, we see translators standing on their predecessors’ shoulders to examine the expanse of great poems ripe for retranslation, poems like the ancient Greek text published in its remaining fragments here. We see the interaction between translator and author at its most imaginative, with the power even to reshape a piece in its original language. And we see that the power of belief survives—whether carved five thousand years ago on a clay tablet, published in the underground press fifty years ago, or written about just this year—resilient in its travels from one language to the next.

Finally, of course, language itself is power. Consider the impact and potential finality of simple phrases like “I do,” “I solemnly swear,” or “Charge!” Words can set events irrevocably in motion: “Lights! Camera! Action!”…. “Ready! Set! Go!”…. “Ready, Aim, Fire!” The film is rolling, the racers have left their marks, bullets are flying, regardless of what is said next. Think of the mighty whose words have proven their undoing: “I am not a crook.” “Read my lips: no new taxes.” “I never had sex with that woman.”

We are never more aware of the power of words than when we are deprived of them. In a nation that theoretically values the freedom of expression, many voices are still censored, even silenced. Some are accused of giving solace to the enemy because they speak against the political establishment; others are accused of collaborating with criminals simply for translating their words. Unbelievably, even editors and publishers may now face serious legal consequences for working on manuscripts from Iran and other disfavored nations, on the grounds that any alterations to such texts amount to trading with the enemy. The English politician Lord Hallifax once said, “Power is so apt to be insolent and Liberty to be saucy, that they are very seldom upon good terms.”

In the face of such an abundance of muscle-flexing, we decided to pay tribute to this year’s TWO LINES theme with a power-sharing arrangement of our own: we invited two guest editors to take the helm while I wrestled with the awesome powers of a newborn baby. Marian Schwartz, renowned Russian translator and former president of the American Literary Translators’ Association took charge of the prose; Geoffrey Brock, Stegner Fellow in poetry at Stanford and award-winning Italian translator, handled the poetry. Unilateral force can be a lonely way to go, and we were delighted to establish a wonderful balance of power between such talented editors.

Here’s a word from Marian Schwartz on guest-editing “Power”:

So this is where the spark comes from in editing a magazine: you start with a blank slate and improvise with the material that writers, often total strangers, send in. When I was asked to guest-edit the prose section of this “Power” issue I approached the process with an open mind, eager to read submissions on their own merit and let the most impressive writing and translation lead me where it would. In the end, what struck me most about the individual pieces is how difficult it is to portray power in a positive sense without equating it to magic.

Little did I know, when I began, the range not so much of the types of power someone might write about—political, interpersonal, psychological, spiritual—but of the human attitudes and emotions that can be associated with it. Power can lead to moving, even tragic situations, but not necessarily. It can be tricky. Or sly. It can just plain backfire—whether in the wrong hands or not. And the most welcome surprise: it can be very funny. Whatever the perspective, though, as this issue makes quite clear, power and humans rarely make for a happy mix.

In keeping with the success of this arrangement, we will bring out a second issue each year with guest editors. This issue will center on a particular region of the world and its language, and will be edited by one or two experts in the field. Look for our first regional issue, focused on Latin America, due out this fall.

Rudyard Kipling wrote, “Four things greater than all things are—Women and Horses and Power and War.” With the themes of our first issue, “Battlefields,” and the present issue accounted for, I suppose we know what Kipling would suggest for our next two themes…. In the meantime, relish the power.

—Olivia E. Sears, Editor