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In the last three lines of her poem after describing a woman pleading for
help at the feet of another, Pearse shows the stark irony of modern culture.
Hudson explains that we live in a ‘driven’ world where it is easy to lose
passion for life, and compassion for others. Whether our ‘drive’ relates to
work (as in the above poem), ignorance or any other drug of choice is
immaterial. Hudson also quotes the Danish philosopher Kierkegaard who
devised the aphorism, ‘there will come a day when people die for lack of
passion’. 9 It appears that that day may have arrived. Even though this is a
broad stereotype of the world, I do believe it holds some value.
To advance the reasons why the line is drawn between vulgarity and
horror, we may draw a distinction between the different purposes that art
may fulfil in society.
4 The role of art in society
Regardless of the type of art — whether it be visual, dramatic, musical or
literary — there has been a tendency for modern artists to shift towards more
‘controversial’ works. Lately, it appears to me that vulgarity demands
applause. Baker quotes Ryken where he says ‘Human evil and depravity are
one of the leading subjects of art’. 10 One should not confuse the concept of
vulgarity (in terms of humour, excitement and pleasure) with horror (in
terms of harsh realities). It is a peculiar observation of society that horror is
met with such hostility. Are we so trapped in a life of escapism that we
cannot deal with reality? Art affords us the opportunity to approach our
personal philosophies from a different perspective, when analysed in terms
of creativity and the artist’s intention.
When the play, Biko: Where the soul resides made its fist appearance on
stage in 2008, it was met with mixed reactions. 11 The use of the word ‘kaffir’
by a character in the play in the form of a police officer caused an upheaval
from all sides of the colour spectrum in our country. The necessity of the use
of that word was challenged. Fact remains, racially offensive words were
employed extensively in the past, and still unconstitutionally today. It
appears that it is only the moment that the severity of a real life issue is
exposed, that we complain. To my understanding, the playwright as well as
the director wished to portray reality as closely as possible and to harshly
9 T Hudson (2010) Om lief te hê podcast at 05:22 http://mosaiek.podbean.com/
(podcast accessed 26 October 2010).
10 T Baker ‘The lost arts’ (1997) Many-to-Many Issue 19:11.
11 Written and directed by Martin Koboekae.
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