Murad Shubert and poetry as an exercise in intransigence

Adrian Grima gave this talk on “Murad Shubert and Poetry as and Exercise in Intransigence” at the Valletta Campus of the University of Malta during an academic conference hosted by the Department of French in the Faculty of Arts on Tuesday 9 May, 2023. The session was chaired by Dr Marilyn Mallia, Head of the Department of French.

The minimalist poetry of the Maltese-Moroccan writer Murad Shubert is, to borrow a phrase from Alain Badiou, “an exercise in intransigence.” It is a poetry that challenges the everyday use of language, the banalization of discourse; it cannot be traded in the market of words. The poetry of Shubert refuses to pander to a dominant discourse high on the easy formulas and quick fixes of traditional media and social media. It does want to communicate, to tell stories, to share emotions, to pinch and prod, but it is not hell-bent on controlling that process of communication. These are poems that navigate an existence that is always at the edge, a liminality that is existential and highly political. To join in the journey is to navigate the same perilous waters that are often essential to way poetry is, uncompromising, undeterred.

I am looking forward to talking about the Maltese poetry of Murad Shubert on May 9, 2023, the second day of an international conference on ‘Existence et Littérature’, jointly organised by the Department of French at the University of Malta and research group RETiiNA. International from Université Paris 8. Papers will be mostly in French.

I will be reading Murad’s poetry from the point of view of Alain Badiou’s work on the intransigence of poetry. This is my abstract:

Murad Shubert and poetry as an exercise in intransigence

Adrian Grima

The minimalist poetry of the Maltese-Moroccan writer Murad Shubert is, to borrow a phrase from Alain Badiou, “an exercise in intransigence.” It is a poetry that challenges the everyday use of language, the banalization of discourse, because, to once again resort to Badiou, “it is without mediation, and thus also without mediatization.” It is a poetry that refuses to pander to a public high on the easy formulas and quick fixes of traditional media and social media. It does want to communicate, to tell stories, to share emotions, to pinch and prod, but it is not hell-bent on controlling that process of communication. These are poems that navigate an existence that is always at the edge, a liminality that is existential and highly political. To join in the journey is to navigate the same perilous waters.

Special thanks to Dr Marilyn Mallia, Head of the Department of French at our University, and to Prof. François Soulages.