Tissue Imtiaz Dharker Context Imtiaz Dharker Born in

Tissue Imtiaz Dharker

Context – Imtiaz Dharker Born in Pakistan and brought up in Scotland She now divides her time between various places Her poetry explores her cultural identity and her itinerant lifestyle

Let’s read the poem together. This is a difficult poem because it is so ambiguous. Dharker may be saying a number of things in this poem. Can you work out what some of these things might be?

Some of the key themes & ideas: The poem explores various meanings of the word tissue and builds up layers of ideas First 3 stanzas talk about the importance of paper as a way to record/understand our history & identity Stanzas 4 to 6 focus on the paradox that paper is fragile yet still controls our lives Final 13 lines look at creating things, particularly human life. Life is more complex & precious than other things we create. It’s also temporary but forms part of a bigger & on-going story There are others – you may have your own interpretation!

‘Paper’ is repeated throughout the poem. The power of paper & words is a key theme throughout poem. Enjambment stresses the word ‘this’ (meaning paper) - highlights the importance of paper in creating change Light connotes clarity and understanding. Stops things being hidden – may hint at what needs to change Paper that lets the light shine through, this is what could alter things. Paper thinned by age or touching, ‘Tissue’ is mainly structured in irregular quatrains of free verse, perhaps mirroring the irregularity of fluttering tissue paper and the unpredictability of human life. Humans also ‘thinned by age’ but older people and age old texts connote wisdom – link to Koran in next stanza. End stop enables the reader to pause and reflect on the power of paper to influence our lives. Enjambment is used over lines & stanzas - could emphasise the irregular and unpredictable pattern of human life.

“well” has double meaning of being used over the centuries but also being used for good. Shows longevity & importance of paper Reference to the importance of paper in social, moral and religious spheres. the kind you find in well-used books, the back of the Koran, where a hand has written in the names and histories, who was born to whom, Importance of family and history/identity. Could also connote the passing on of culture and beliefs from generation to generation

Paper used to record history of all people – allows them to know themselves & their history the height and weight, who died where and how, on which sepia date, pages smoothed and stroked and turned transparent with attention. Transparency signifies honesty/truth Poet emphasises the value of paper – the value of books as part of human heritage. The end-stopped line emphasises the importance of what has come before. ‘Smoothed and stroked’ - very sensual verbs imply a love of knowledge and the importance of recording history – lessons are learned from history and should be given our full ‘attention’

Shift in tone here – a volta. This stanza suggests that although buildings are more substantial than paper they still ‘fall away’ over time – links with Ozymandias. Short, blunt sentence before caesura– shows fixed nature of borders shown on maps – they create division. ‘Drift’ and ‘shift’ are verbs that show the movement of life and the changeability of everything. ‘If buildings were paper’ people would notice how temporary they are. If buildings were paper, I might feel their drift, see how easily they fall away on a sigh, a shift in the direction of the wind. Maps too. The sun shines through their borderlines, the marks that rivers make, roads, railtracks, mountainfolds, Alliteration creates flow and a sense of freedom – human life should be free and positive The wind is a natural force – nature outlives all human life and all human achievements. Sun is powerful & permanent force whereas borders are just marks on paper & can change Paper being a metaphor for human life, maps record human achievements also the thin paper of the maps represent the lives of humans with blemishes, scars, veins etc being symbolised by the marks of rivers, roads etc.

Receipts can tell the story of our lives, our habits and lifestyle - much the same as browsing history Fine slips from grocery shops that say how much was sold and what was paid by credit card might fly our lives like paper kites. We are controlled by money and the need to consume, also debt etc. This simile sums up our consumerist lives perfectly & the way we’re controlled by commerce

The poet’s work mirrors the architect’s work – the poet makes layers of meaning & words but the architect designs physical structures. Perhaps hints that the paper creations are stronger & more powerful Layer repeated to show the blocks of life built over time Muses that the architect would surely prefer to work with paper as nothing can be hidden like in concrete structures. An architect could use all this, place layer over layer, luminous script over numbers over line, and never wish to build again with brick Words can form the bricks to build meaning and explore the beauty of life

The consonance (repetition of consonant sounds in quick succession) of ‘block’ with ‘brick, ’ coupled with the enjambment across stanzas emphasises solidity and gives the words more impact Repetition of light imagery in the poem – remember light represents clarity and truth or block, but let the daylight break through capitals and monoliths, through the shapes that pride can make, find a way to trace a grand design Suggests that humans take pride in buildings and great works of architecture – possibly hints at the failings of human power, self-regard, & possession.

Enjambment of this phrase emphasises the importance of humanity and the living with living tissue, raise a structure never meant to last, of paper smoothed and stroked and thinned to be transparent, turned into your skin. Speaks to the reader – 2 nd person direct address of the possessive pronoun ‘your’ reminds us that paper records our lives. Perhaps suggests humans are as transient as paper but are part of a bigger whole. Structures don’t last but art and words do. They transcend the physical. Repetition of earlier line reminds us that we are all part of history and are connected with family

Thinking point: Who is the architect? Dharker describes herself as a Scottish Calvinist (branch of Protestantism) Muslim. She has a cross-cultural identity but one that still centres on faith. If we consider that the architect is a symbol of creation, someone with a ‘grand design’, who might the architect be?

Form & structure Lack of regular rhyme and rhythm gives the poem freedom and openness – maybe echoing the desire for human freedom and clarity. The short stanzas reflect the layers of human life built and recorded over history – the poem builds meaning in ‘layers’ The voice in the poem comes across as elusive – difficult to pin down – the whole focus is on humanity rather than a specific speaker.

Language Look for light imagery and the imagery of creation – man made creations contrast with natural creation. Light clarifies. It is not controlled by boundaries or objects. References to CONTROL – things that control human life: money, religion, pride, and governments – ‘capitals’ FREEDOM references – idea that humans should be free and not restricted by less permanent things such as buildings etc. ‘TISSUE’ has more than one meaning – parallels tissue of paper with human tissue

Links Think about themes in ‘Ozymandias’ Look back at your notes – similar themes of the power of nature and the transient nature of human life and human creations There is also the idea that human pride is futile and means nothing in the fullness of time