Claudia Rankine's Citizen: An American Lyric

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An Analysis of Citizen: An American Lyric It seems as if Claudia Rankine’s, Citizen: An American Lyric, is the artistic representation of the defining mood in this particular point in history as shown by widespread ideas and beliefs. When reading the book it is easy to think, “this is not really poetry”. Judges at the Book Critics Awards of 2014 declared that “It is not just poetry”. The sections of the book themselves are often categorized as essays, prose, stories, etc., in reviews by critics while the text as a whole is considered to be poetry. Ruth Kocher, an american poet, succinctly categorizes it as, “the poem… language that is perhaps poem or not poem”. Frankly, Citizen, is marooned in genre limbo. While it may seem inconsequential to define what exactly Citizen is, Kocher uses this indecision to express her concerns, “asking about the role of form and invention, within a discourse of the body, of identify, maybe even of the self and Other”. …show more content…

It is why when Rankine writes “you” you feel its abrupt force and the word “you” leaves behind a sense of unease. Addressability is why for a caucasian it is so awkward and complicated. Just by implying whom a caucasian is addressing he is subconsciously noting races that he is ready to shut out. This sort of language envisions a culture with the premise of certain peoples gone, at the same time, the races that are left out are also addressed. Prior to emphasizing the key points of Judith Butler’s philosophical lecture Rankine acknowledges a writer that believes that things are appropriate within certain context:
After a pause he adds that if someone said something, like about someone, and you were with your friends you would probably laugh, but if they said it out in public where black people could hear what was said, you might not, probably would not. Only then do you realize you are among "the others out in public" and not among "friends."

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