Charles Bernstein’s prose and poetry contain clear political messages. For example, his first piece entitled “Electronic Pies in the Poetry Skies” unexpectedly turns readers’ thoughts toward democracy and freedom as malleable concepts particularly in relation to the Web. Bernstein attempts to lead readers to question the existence of democracy and freedom throughout history until the present. How wide is the space that has been created by technological languages for people? Bernstein claims that “Language reproduction technology… has a history of democratizing social space while at the same time not democratizing it enough”. Nevertheless, later, the writer prompts readers to wonder what can be “enough”, how freedom can exist within electronic spaces, and how much freedom there is. I believe that the writer is carefully leading us to recognize the politics behind everything, especially the politicization of electronic spaces. Since politics cannot be separate from economy, Bernstein emphasizes the capitalization of the Web and its pertaining to or limitation of freedom. The writer states: “our lives are neither free nor unlimited”. Bernstein stresses the connection between our real lives and the tools we use to free ourselves and to practice freedom. If our lives are not free, then the tools we are using to fill or enrich our lives are not free either – including the Web. Through his presentation of several concepts in “Electronic Pies in the Poetry Skies”, I interpret Bernstein as claiming that everything is connected to power and authority in one way or another. Even if we think that electronic spaces have given us more freedom, these spaces are invaded and controlled by people who have the capital – the power.
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Yes, we often speak of poetry as if it were disconnected from other realities (of power, of economics). I like this line “It may be as useful to participate in a conversation “over your head” as “at your level.””