What was Brodsky's theory on language and reality?
Language is not a tool to describe reality; it is the very element in which we exist, the architecture of our consciousness. To mismanage language, to debase it with political cant or sentimental platitudes, is to dismantle the structure of our inner world. In my view, the poet's task is to maintain the purity and precision of language, to wield it with an almost religious fervor. For it is through the rigorous, often arduous, application of words that we can preserve our individuality, push back against the encroaching silence, and discover that we are, in fact, not alone in our struggles, as I argued in 'A Part of Speech'.
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