ENG298.1002
James L'Angelle
University of Nevada, Reno
Dr A. Keniston
Fall 2019
Transforming David Mura; from Singularity to Solidarity
World War Two erupted globally and abruptly with the Japanese sneak attack on Pearl Harbor in December, 1941. As abruptly, in February of 1942, President Roosevelt signed Executive Order 9066 requiring Japanese-Americans, loyal or not, to be detained in camps. (1) Poet David Mura's mother was one of the detainees. Although the exact camp location was not mentioned in "An Argument, On 1942," Mura does mention in an interview, the following from another poem "The Colors of Desire;"
"....Where is 1944,
its snows sweeping down Heart Mountain,
to vanish on my mother's black bobbing head,” (2)
A description of the camp itself somewhat mirrors the elusive description given in Mura's poem;
"The ‘camp’ consisted of 467 barrack-style buildings sectioned into 20 blocks that served as administration areas and living quarters...A group of military police situated in nine guard towers manned the site and 130 government employees oversaw day-to-day operations." (3)
Thus, the backdrop for Mura's haunting look into the past suffered by his mother, and others, as they endured life during the war in a remote Wyoming detention facility. Mura speaks in his own voice and that of his mother as the poem progresses, interchanging depending on what needed to be clarified. The voice was singular, describing something in the present that happened far into the past. Three essential components rise from the poem that allow it to be transformed into an entirely new writing: location, time and voice, the result:
Cited Material
1. Exec Order 9066, https://www.history.com/topics/world-war-ii/japanese-american-relocation
2.) The Colors of Desire, https://www.davidmura.com/excerpts.htm
3.) Heart Mountain,