Brodsky Has Exiled Twice: The First Exile Was in 1964

Joselph Brodsky (1940-1996) has exiled twice in his life. First, he was sent into internal exile in Siberia in 1964. The second time he was sent into exile was 1972.

In 1964, he was charged with the so-called 'parasitism' 社会寄生蟲 and was found guilty of the charge. A famous exerpt from the transcript of his trial made by journalist Frida Vigdorova was smulggled to the West and can be found in the Wikipedia reference. Here is part of the transcript:

Judge: And what is your profession, in general?

Brodsky: I am a poet and a literary translator.

Judge: Who recognizes you as a poet? Who enrolled you in the ranks of poets?

Brodsky: No one. Who enrolled me in the ranks of humankind?

Judge: Did you study this?

Brodsky: This?

Judge: How to become a poet. You did not even try to finish high school where they prepare,
where they teach?

Brodsky: I didn’t think you could get this from school.

Judge: How then?

Brodsky: I think that it ... comes from God.

If you feel that the charge of parasitism 社会寄生蟲 was groundless and laughable, you are not alone. The message is that an authoritarian government can imprison anyone with any rational. Taiwanese who had lived through the White Terror era knew about this very well. Taiwanese needs to work hard to free ourselves from another authoritarian imprisonment in the future.