In 2009, Levi’s Jeans launched the “Go Forth” campaign, a series of commercials and print advertisements drawing on the poetry of Walt Whitman. As Wieden + Kennedy, the marketing firm that designed the campaign explains, “The campaign is inspired by the passion Walt Whitman felt for the potential of America and promise of the future. Films were created to demonstrate Levi’s awareness and relevance in the world through ‘America’ and ‘Pioneers! O Pioneers’ accompanied by readings of Whitman’s poems of the same name. Outdoor and printed material evoked the spirit of the new pioneer – today’s progressive – by featuring such optimistic statements as ‘Will work for better times,’ ‘All I need is all I got,’ and ‘Tough as your spirit’” (Campaign). Situated in the context of the 2008 financial crisis, these sentences suggest that Whitman performs a reparative function: Whitman rescues America’s faith in its own futurity; he salvages the conflation of the United States and futurity by revising Manifest Destiny as the “spirit of the new pioneer.” The campaign’s optimism consists in coding futurity in terms of American exceptionalism and capitalism. America’s potential entails putting people back to work (“Will work for better times”) and cultivating endurance for austerity measures (“All I need is all I got”). The commodity form becomes the vehicle for a renewal of America, so that the symbolic value of the Whitmanian future does not simply presuppose the material conditions of capitalism but also contributes to sustaining them. It is perhaps not surprising, then, that the campaign’s manifesto-like prose poem, printed on posters plastering the walls of the New York City Subway system, reads like a call to reinvest in neoliberalism: “I am the new American pioneer, looking forward, never back./No longer content to wait for better times ... /I will work for better times. ... All I need is all I got./Bruises heal. Stink is good. And apathy is death,/so I strike up for the new world!” (Campaign). It is tempting to read Wieden + Kennedy’s campaign as little more than the abduction of poetry for the service of capitalism. At the same time, however, the “Go Forth” campaign also calls attention to Whitman’s role

中文翻译：

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“当解放与彻底毁灭同时发生”：沃尔特·惠特曼来世的生物政治，残疾与乌托邦

2009年，Levi's Jeans发起了“ Go Forth”运动，该活动以沃尔特·惠特曼的诗歌为基础，制作了一系列广告和印刷广告。正如该活动的营销公司Wieden + Kennedy所说：“该活动的灵感来自沃尔特·惠特曼（Walt Whitman）对美国潜力和对未来的希望。制作电影的目的是通过“美国”和“先锋”展示李维斯在世界上的认识和相关性！在《先驱者》的陪同下，阅读惠特曼同名诗词。户外和印刷材料唤起了新先锋的精神-今天的进步-表现出乐观的言论，例如“将为更好的时代而努力”，“我所需要的就是我所拥有的一切”和“坚韧如你的精神”（广告系列） 。面对2008年的金融危机，这些句子表明，惠特曼履行了赔偿职能：惠特曼挽救了美国对自己未来的信念；他通过将Manifest Destiny修改为“新开拓者的精神”，挽救了美国与未来的融合。该运动的乐观主义在于，就美国例外主义和资本主义而言，编码未来主义。美国的潜力包括使人们重返工作岗位（“为更好的时代而努力”），并为紧缩措施培养耐力（“我所需要的就是我所拥有的”）。商品形式成为美国复兴的工具，因此惠特曼式未来的象征性价值不仅简单地以资本主义的物质条件为前提，而且还为维持它们提供了条件。那么，竞选活动的宣言式散文诗也许就不足为奇了，印在贴满纽约地铁系统墙壁的海报上，读起来就像是对新自由主义进行再投资的呼吁：“我是新的美国先驱，充满期待，永不退缩。/不再满足于等待美好的时光……/我会为美好的时光而工作。...我所需要的就是我所拥有的。臭很好。冷漠是死亡，所以我为新世界而奋斗！” （运动）。将维登·肯尼迪的竞选活动读成绑架诗歌为资本主义服务，简直是诱人的。但是，与此同时，“ Go Forth”运动也引起了人们对惠特曼角色的关注 /挫伤he愈。臭很好。冷漠是死亡，所以我为新世界而奋斗！” （运动）。将维登·肯尼迪的竞选活动读成绑架诗歌为资本主义服务，简直是诱人的。但是，与此同时，“ Go Forth”运动也引起了人们对惠特曼角色的关注 /挫伤he愈。臭很好。冷漠是死亡，所以我为新世界而奋斗！” （运动）。将维登·肯尼迪的竞选活动读成绑架诗歌为资本主义服务，简直是诱人的。但是，与此同时，“ Go Forth”运动也引起了人们对惠特曼角色的关注