ABSTRACT
Beat feminism finds its full expression in the work of Anne Waldman, manifesting in the poet’s treatment of literary writing as activism, and in her conception of the feminist form in poetry as a speaking out against oppression. Waldman places at the heart of the process of cleansing the idea of chanting as a way into self-discovery. Fast Speaking Woman makes use of the teachings of Maria Sabina, a Mazatec Indian shamaness who became known for her chants in the 1960s. Waldman’s understanding of live performance as feeding into the meaning of the text also speaks to the idea of community, which is an important feature of chant tradition of Maria Sabina. Waldman traces here an ongoing symbiosis between the feminine discourse and the male poet. The Iovis Trilogy would develop this symbiosis into an identity that is realized as a series of fluid gender identities that nevertheless retains its feminist form.
