123251 AR Literature Course - 1/2 (MA) British/Irish/New English & Cultural Studies (2023W)

These days, we often encounter poetry not in books but spoken on the radio, at public ceremonies, open mics and poetry slams, or on social media. Events such as the World Poetry Slam Championships or Amanda Gorman’s much-noted performance at Joe Biden’s presidential inauguration in 2021 demonstrate that poetry is very much an art of the voice. This course will explore poetry as spoken word – an immensely popular form that frequently ties in with current cultural debates and is also a valuable resource in the EFL classroom.
Paying close attention to the medial specificities of oral poetry performance, we will critically interrogate ideas around the ‘authenticity’ of the performing voice in relation to the generic conventions of lyric poetry and the dramatic monologue. We will further examine the identity politics enacted by poetry performances, which can often be understood as forms of socio-political activism, resonating, for instance, with #MeToo, queer liberation, and the Black Lives Matter movement, and study the workings of humour in spoken word.

The course will include guest appearances by Shefali Banerji (“Poetry Off the Page” project, Univ. of Vienna) and Magdalena Korecka (“Poetry in the Digital Age” project, Univ. of Hamburg), as well as by spoken-word artist Jasmine Gardosi (16 Nov), whose performance at the Queer Writers Festival (17 Nov, 6:30pm) we will jointly visit.

AIMS:
Students will become familiar with a range of spoken word texts, partly of their own choosing. They will learn to apply various critical perspectives to these texts, such as media studies, genre theory, gender studies, life writing studies, and postcolonial criticism. TEFL students will have a chance to familiarize themselves with a range of methods for incorporating spoken word poetry in the EFL classroom.

METHODS:
Short lectures, classroom discussions, group work, presentations, individual research and writing assignments.