genç, safiye akdeniz üniversitesi - edebiyat fakültesi - alman dili ve edebiyatı bölümü, Antalya, turkey

Poetry Slam: The Playground of Literature

15395

First held in Chicago in 1986, the poetry slam is a form of stage contest where amateur poets recite their poems in small cafes or nightclubs. After rapidly gaining popularity in the U.S.A., such events began to spread more widely in Germany in the mid-1990’s. Indeed, the poetry slam community in Germany has become the second largest group of young poets (slammers) in the world with more than 2000 performers. This research concerns the poetry slam as a phenomenon which attracts the new generation, who appear to have been moving away from literature and from poetry in particular. In this respect, recent slam performances in international competitions and in Germany have been examined, with a special focus upon how voice and speech are combined. For instance, how variables such as speech tempo, long or short pauses, and the variation of spoken pitch (intonation) are attuned to the contents in such slam performances were all analyzed. In addition, the use of body language and stage performance is addressed. All of these elements have been illustrated through the example of slam contest.

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Poetry Slam , Slam Poetry , Hip , hop Culture , Poetry Contest , Stage Performance

Mediterranean Journal Of Humanities

278