Accessing poetry through screen and stage : denaturalising the page and de-virtualising poetry

Abstract

This dissertation delves into two of the foremost developments which are potentially altering our understanding of poetry. These key modes are Instagram poetry, henceforth referred to as Instapoetry, and ‘performance or spoken-word poetry’. Drawing on Charles Taylor’s paradigm of authenticity, the first chapter probes Instapoetry’s popularity as well as the backlash which it receives. Following this, Hollie McNish’s ‘Embarrassed’ will be analysed in considering what kind of cultural values Instapoets are creating in these poems which frequently focus on issues which the world must address. Furthermore, before shifting the discussion onto Rupi Kaur, Félix Guattari’s studies on chaosmosis will be applied to Instapoetry, particularly the notion of the abstract machine, as well as Guattari’s standpoint that art allows for the reformation of subjectivity in relation to persistent technological development. This will reinforce the consideration of Instagram as a platform that does not constrain but, on the contrary, that can be employed by a new Instapoet to construct his/her own literary space. The second chapter will explore two current performance poets, Porsha Olayiwola and Kae Tempest. Firstly, a performance of Olayiwola will be analysed in terms of studying how poetry and theatre have amalgamated with one another and, in this case, exploring how current strands in performance poetry can be perceived as a fusion of Stanislavski’s system and Brecht’s alienation effect. Furthermore, Tempest’s socially engaged poetry will be juxtaposed with Claire Bishop’s argument regarding what the latter deems as the utter instrumentalisation of contemporary art forms if all they stand for is audience interaction and social change. The final chapter will consist in countering Ben Lerner’s position that we ought to cultivate our contempt toward our ideal of poetry. These discussions will address how performance and Instapoetry, through being literary spaces in which we engage with poetry not on the page, are unknowingly further plunging poetry into the realm of the actual and dissociating it from the aesthetic heights of virtuality and subsequently universality.