Een tijdje terug noemde ik hier het werk van Arabist Flagg Miller die onderzoek doet naar cassette-poëzie in Jemen. ‘Men of Words’ heet de film die Johanne Ihle voor haar afstudeer project voor visuele antropologie maakte over cassette-poëzie als middel voor sociale verandering. Janneke Adema schreef er reeds een mooi stuk over, waarin er meer valt te lezen over de achtergrond en inhoud van de film:

Packed in a burqa and carrying a camera (so I have been told), Ihle traveled into the vast mountains of Southern Yemen to the area of Yafi’ to record an ancient Yemenite tradition: a gathering of men, of poets, discussing and reflecting on current issues, politics, economics, social conditions and the local news and going ones via poetry. Clinging strongly to ancient oral traditions, at the same time the global media and communication streams have not gone unnoticed, even here in the localized context of Southern Yemen. Remarkable though – though not so remarkable as you first might think, as shall be explained later on – is that, in the light of increasing digitization and online media participation, the preferred means of recording and spreading these poetic discourses and reflections for Yemenite poets is the audio cassette. The specific media attributes of the cassette tape makes them into a strong moral weapon and communication and distribution device in a context of political and religious suppression and censorship.

Neem contact op met johanneihle[at]hotmail[dot]com om de film online te bekijken.