Mesut ┼Юenol
Lecturer at the Communications Faculty of Bah├зe┼Яehir
University (Istanbul), Author, Poet, Translator & the Executive Board
Member of the Three Seas Writers and Translators Center
Poet Maya Herman Sekulic’s Epic Poetica Raises
Awareness
Abstract
In human civilized
history, there have always been women figures who proved and asserted
themselves against the backdrop of the majority of the cases where women were
on a lower status or repressed. Dr. Maja Herman Sekulic thinks and feels that
she is very much connected and associated with Old Europe’s Moon-White-Death
Goddess as the embodiment of the whole cycle from birth to death and rebirth.
In “Lady of Vincha”, the lines give us a sense of a narration bridging those mythical
stories to us. Do women possess some divine and omnipotent capabilities or are
they so deeply visionary human beings that they cause good and bad? Since the
Moon-White-Death Goddess can control all the cycles of life, it is worthwhile
to listen to the voice of an extremely intuitive and perceptive poet, - as it
is her claim that true poets are always women -. We can readily see in Maja
Herman Seculic’s poetica both a spiritual and legendary formula to give us a
sense of the old days’ myth when women were much more potent leading figures.
And her poetry certainly makes us question who we are and what we should do to
correct the wrongs in today’s constantly changing, and unfortunately in many
ways unjust, societies.
KEY WORDS: woman
poets, spiritual leaders, poetry, awareness.
Poet Maya Herman Sekulic’s Epic Poetica Raises
Awareness
Introduction
Today we have an
abundance of distorted and biased knowledge about our past depending on who
wrote our history books and how things were characterized. Up until modern
times, the perceptions, thinking, attitudes and actions about ourselves and
others have been influenced by those of embedded clich├йs and stereotypes.
“These clich├йs and stereotypes – whether they are positive or negative, true or
untrue – fundamentally affect our behavior towards other places and their
people and products.” (Anholt, Competitive Identity: 1)
Actually literature is
one of the ways to overcome these clich├йs and stereotypes. A celebrated author,
musician and UNESCO Goodwill Ambassador Z├╝lf├╝ Livaneli asserts his views on
this subject:
Literature treats people solely on the
basis of their being “human”, separating them from symbols such as religion,
nationality, uniform and flag. An example I admire is A Journey to Arzrum
(Erzurum) by Alexander Pushkin. The great poet travelling with the Russian army
fighting against the Ottomans and gaining some land in the Eastern Anatolia.
One cannot find in any sentence of the poet any hidden prejudice whatsoever
that conveys concepts of militarism or friend-or-foe. He speaks of both the
Russians he belongs to and the “enemy” Turks with the same clean-hearted
approach. (Livaneli, Rosetta Literatura 02: 9)
What kind of womanhood
saga is embedded in the history of humankind? Have women had their time of
enlightenment, power and recognition superior to men? This is obviously all
about the journey of men and women together and their interdependence or
proportionate power sharing relationship, and an equilibrium established
according to their given societies in certain periods of time.
Poet Maya Herman
Sekulic’s epic poetry raises an awareness in the recognition of the leading
women figures in European history – be they poets, warriors, commanders,
administrators, scientists, philosophers, artists, magicians and other public
personalities. Poet Sekulic’s being vocal about her mythical thesis adaptable
to modern times in terms of its spiritual validity, is something that should resonate
strongly among contemporary poetry circles in the world. Actually in every
corner of the world, humanity has witnessed such legendary women’s existence
and their imprints in true history which is not always written the way we have known.
Gender Issues
Gender issues play a
huge role in growing our own biased opinions towards the expected personality
traits of men and women throughout the centuries. This unnatural formation of
personality in boys and girls, pathetically though, have been causing many
women to nurture an obsession which could alienate them from their own valuable
potent common humane qualities and womanhood. In other words, they fall into
the so-called beauty trap given the conditioning environment in their respected
communities.
Extensive records show that the use of
beauty aids in ancient Rome rivals that of contemporary women. Wealthy Roman
women spent hours being primped and painted by their slaves. Although their
clothing was loose and they did not corset their bodies, they used vast
quantities of scents and cosmetics. Some women even used a different perfume
for each portion of their bodies. (Baker, The Beauty Trap: 16)
There is a very strong
correlation between the way women dressed and the degree they were being
repressed in their social environment. Through their struggle women, in time,
have gained a relatively equal footing and freedom in dressing now in comparison
with their male counterparts.
During Elizabethan times, women were
extremely repressed socially, which was reflected in their wearing of
restrictive corseting and broad skirts and their exaggerated concern with their
hairdos and toiletries… In the eighteenth century, tremendous technological
advances made fabric easier to manufacture and dye, and an age of elegance was
born. But women were still restricted politically and socially, and their
clothing reflected their social status. (Baker, The Beauty Trap: 17)
And there are somewhat
heroic and tragic stories of the women who were able to capture the imagination
of certain generations in history. One of the recent historical figures to
analyze is Marilyn Monroe who has been considered a matchless beauty as well as
a dumb blonde. However, when you investigate her life, you may find how clever
and capable, how brave a woman she was, although she was suffering some
psychological problems. Here you have a renowned Slovak playwright Milan
Richter’s words:
Who was Norma Jeane really and who was Marilyn Monroe? A
promiscuous, uneducated girl yearning for an acting and modeling career? Was
she a woman of unique beauty and sex appeal that no man could resist? Was she
an orphan longing for her father’s love? A wife and a lover demanding absolute
love and devotion from her partner? A woman yearning to have babies whom she
could give a happy childhood? Was she an actress wishing to play in a
Shakespeare or Dostoyevsky drama? (Richter, Marilyn Monroe’s Short Unhappy
Life: 20)
Another sad story
comes out into the light by the Irish novelist, Sebastian Barry, and his novel
called “Secret Scripture” where an old woman in a mental hospital writes about an
ordeal she had gone through in the last century’s extremely conservative
Ireland. Literary critic Joseph O’Conner writes:
Roseanne
McNulty, forgotten centenarian, long-time resident of the Roscommon regional
mental hospital, is facing an imminent upheaval. The decrepit Victorian
institution is soon to be demolished, leaving its residents displaced in a
starkly changed modern Ireland that has all but buried its violent origins.
Attempting to organize her memories, some reliable, others shifting, she
embarks on the writing of a chronicle.
(theguardian.com/books/2008/may/24/fiction1)
Men and Women – Discussion
on Natural Difference from Sociological and
Political Psychological
Points of Views
In scientific circles, debate continues to reveal the
difference between men and women in many respects. Even in sociology though,
there are theories opposing or supporting the natural difference approach.
How far are the
behaviour and communicative practices of women and men the result of biological
differences? Some scientists hold that aspects of human biology, ranging from
hormones to chromosomes to brain size to genetics, are responsible for innate
differences in behaviour between men and women. These differences, they claim,
can be seen across all cultures, suggesting that natural factors produce gender
inequalities in society. For example, evolutionary psychology draws attention
to the fact that, in almost all cultures, men rather than women take part in
hunting and warfare. Surely, this indicates that men possess biologically based
tendencies towards aggression that women lack? Sociologists remain unconvinced
by these arguments, which tend to be reductionist – reducing complex human
activities and social relations to a single biological ‘cause’. Anthropological
and historical evidence on human behaviour actually reveals much variation over
time and place. Because a trait is more or less universal, it does not follow
that it is biological in origin; there may be cultural factors of a general
kind that produce such characteristics. (Giddens & Sutton, Sociology: 624)
When
in group, social and psychological settings, individuals may act in a
conformist way to go along with their group norms or actions even to a degree
leading to massacres and killings. This also provides an explanation why historically
and socially woman intellectuals and leaders have been repressed and seen as
second class people in their societies.
Many of the ethnic conflicts that occurred
in the post–Cold War era have
been shockingly
brutal and can devolve into genocide. How can violence become so severe? These
are situations in which the group perceives an intense threat, which, in turn,
increases cohesion; dehumanization of other groups; deindividuation, so people
see the group as responsible for events, not their own actions as individuals;
and strong pressures for conformity and unanimity in the face of threat. The
emotions emanating from ethnic out-group stereotypes are often extremely
powerful. They
can change from
simmering bitterness and resentment to rage and hatred toward other ethnic
groups when underlying conflicts increase in intensity. (Cottam and et. al., Introduction
to Political Psychology: 259)
Some Mythological
Context
As it is evident in Maya Herman Sekulic’s OPUS, the European
women had their heydays in European history. Let us see how it was in the Black
Sea Region of Anatolia as far as powerful women lived—known as Amazons, are
concerned:
The Amazons are the legendary people of this region. The Amazons,
who are thought to be the warrior women living between Giresun and Samsun, from
the accounts of the legends, had come to help Trojans during Trojan War against
Achaeans to defend Anatolia. This is so because again according to the legends,
Aphrodite who was considered the mother of the Amazons is from Troy. Even it is
cited that Penthesileia, the queen of the Amazons, fights with Achilles one to
one. She would not be recognized as a woman in her armor. Through trickery
Achilles manages to wound her, and when he takes off her armor he falls in love
with her, but it would be too late to do anything. She dies in the hands of Achilles. Who can
claim that the queen of the Amazons is not our country-women? (Dizman, Second
International Ordu Festival of Literature: 196)
Another historical woman figure is Hypatia. She was in
her time a very influential and respected woman.
Hypatia
(born c. 355 CE—died March 415,
Alexandria), mathematician, astronomer, and philosopher who lived in a very turbulent era in Alexandria’s history, was in her time,
the world’s leading mathematician and astronomer, the only woman for whom such a
claim can be made. She was also a popular teacher and lecturer on philosophical
topics of a less-specialist nature, attracting many loyal students and large
audiences. Her philosophy was Neoplatonist and was thus seen as “pagan” at a time of
bitter religious conflict between Christians (both orthodox and “heretical”),
Jews, and pagans. (www.britannica.com/biography/Hypatia)
In human civilized
history, there have always been women figures who proved and asserted
themselves be it in political, social, cultural or intellectual life spheres.
Maya Herman Sekulic’ Modern Mission to Raise Awareness
about the Modern Women’s Place in Society
Maya Herman Sekulic
revisits its roots to create an awareness in her inner self as well as in
others’ conscience via her poetry she uses as a powerful weapon.
She takes her grand
and divine muse from the Goddess of Birth, Death and Beauty which also refers
to the embodiment of womanly qualities, so to speak. She talks about some
forgotten women powers not recognized properly in our modern times. She thinks
we lost the good memory of what capabilities women used to have as leaders,
healers, warriors, survivors and saviors of their communities. Being in true
harmony with nature, revering the moon instead of making it a mere satellite of
the Earth, Maya sees the poet as the truth-teller as Goethe does. And her
poetry collection entitled Lady of Vincha, is not only a culturally and
intellectually relevant to her philosophy and mission she has taken for the
rest of her life, but also a very close acquaintance to her soul since there is
a link between Lady of Vincha and her ancestral lines. This fact makes her a
genuine activist of her own cause to promote symbolism of the first truth
telling person, and through her, the heritage of Old Europe giving wise women a
very special place and prominence.
Vincha’s script and
other archaic, ancient writings are testimony to old and extraordinary wisdom
and spirited poetic expression the world should be aware of and recognize
fully. The aim had been to create a harmony between nature and humankind, and
women are best suited to lead the way. The influential role of women was not
limited to Europe as Maya Herman Sekulic indicates. It was even more the case
in those ancient civilizations in Africa, Asia and Americas.
I would like to share
here with you a part of Maya Herman Sekulic’s long poem called Lady of Vincha,
to me a meaningful representation of her powerful poetica:
……
At the edge of
meadow, in the chaos of stones,
Hidden from views
by high blades of grass
She lays naked
shameless, fearless,
She has a nice
name – Freedom,
She became Mother
and Mistress
Of life and death,
of fertility – Goddess.
The Goddess of
Moon, he loved her
Lips, her small
feet, he kissed,
He sculpted her in
clay, in stone,
With those big
eyes, masked,
Omniscient,
omnipresent – Vidovdanka
“Not of this world”, in owe he prayed.
She was his, mine
– Maya, our Proto Mother,
Lady of Vincha, of
Divostima, of Danube,
Bent arm over her
heart, in prayer, in spite,
Painted black and
red to stand out among equals,
The mistress
blessed of a Thousand-year Empire,
From Mura to the
south of Vardar river,
peaceful and fair
as in fairy tale.
Still, when he
would hear her cry
He would take her
in his arms, her with wide hips,
And he would kiss
her eyes, he with those wide shoulders,
Her eyes otherworldly,
scary, passionate,
Illuminated under
moonlight,
He would kiss her
white face, her white thighs.
…. (Sekulic, Lady
of Vincha: 21)
Conclusion
With her credentials
and living in both the US and Serbia, Maya Herman Sekulic has elevated herself
to a level of becoming the first internationally recognized woman poet in
Serbian literary circles in her particular position. To make sense of current
social and political relationships in a given society, some of the most
revealing indicators have to do with the intellectual personality figures and
their composition. So, Maya Herman Sekulic proves to be a woman poet now
embraced in her beloved country and a scientific conference on Maja
Herman Sekuli─З’s Contribution to Scientific Research, Literary and Translation
Studies organized by the Faculty of
Foreign Languages, Alfa BK University in Belgrade.
Since she is listed in the official
history of Serbian literature, since she has produced numerous literary works
in different genres, in different languages, and also since she provided so
many literary translations into various languages, Maya Herman Sekulic deserves
to be recognized as one of the leading literary figures to create a more
inducing and encouraging psychological environment to make more Serbian woman
litterateurs come forward. I think Maya Herman Sekulic’s advocacy on Old
European Culture and the Role of Women in Today’s World shall be understood
widely in time throughout European countries if not in the whole world.
List of References
- Anholy S. (2007).
Competitive Identity. London, Palgrave Macmillan
- Baker N. (1984).
Beauty Trap, New York, Toronto, Franklin Watts
- Cottam M. et. al.
(2016). Introduction to Political Psychology, New Yourk & London, Routledge
Taylor & Francis Group
- Dizman I. (2011).
Revisiting Ordu’s Distant History, Second International Ordu Festival of
Literature Book, Ordu, Alametifarika
- Giddens A. &
Sutton P. (2013). Sociology, Cambridge UK & Malden USA,
Polity Press
- Livaneli Z. (March
2013), Goethe’s Dream, Rosetta 02, Istanbul, p. 9
- Richter M. (2015),
Marilyn Monroe’s Short Unhappy Life), Istanbul, Opus
- Sekulic M. (2017).
Lady of Vincha, Belgrade, Pesic & Sinovi,
- O’Conner J. (24 May,
2008), The Secret Scripture, Retrieved on 22 January 2018, theguardian.com/books/2008/may/24/fiction1
