Abstract
Spoken word poetry, an emerging genre in Kenyan literature, is popular among the urban population. The performance of this creative work draws audience from different socio-economic backgrounds who view it as a source of entertainment. Majority of these poets begin off by staging performances in order to exercise their talents and entertain their audience without financial gain. However, once they get the desired popularity, their interests change and they begin to view the performance of spoken word poetry as an alternative source of income. It is against this background that this paper seeks to explore the relationship between work and leisure in the performance of spoken word poetry in Kenya. Scholars in the field of leisure studies are constantly seeking the relationship between work and leisure. This research seeks to examine the representation of labour and leisure in the creative industry of spoken word poetry in Kenya. The study explores the characteristics of work and leisure to determine the leisure/work relationship in the performance of spoken word poetry in Kenyan literature.
Highlights
Richard Florida (2002), in his thesis talks about the emerging ‘creative class’ and its role in promoting strategies for urban development based on the stimulation of creative industries
Ravenscroft and Gilchrist look at the rising “creative class” as a preserve of the rich who can afford to venture into creative activities while working because they are wealthy and they can afford to shift their focus from work at times to explore their creative skills without putting their businesses in jeopardy
While the “working society of leisure” lifestyle does not resonate with that of the majority of the spoken word poets in Kenya since most of them have not yet made enough resources to afford them such a privilege, this study examines how leisure and work are intertwined in this emerging genre in Kenya
Summary
Richard Florida (2002), in his thesis talks about the emerging ‘creative class’ and its role in promoting strategies for urban development based on the stimulation of creative industries. Neil Ravenscroft and Paul Gilchrist use Richard Florida’s thesis to talk about how the rising ‘creative class’ brings forth a new lifestyle which they refer to as the “working society of leisure”, where work and leisure are related They use their interviews with creative workers to assert that the working society of leisure lifestyle can only work for those who are ready to take economic risks because they have enough resources. While the “working society of leisure” lifestyle does not resonate with that of the majority of the spoken word poets in Kenya since most of them have not yet made enough resources to afford them such a privilege, this study examines how leisure and work are intertwined in this emerging genre in Kenya Most of these spoken word poets engage in the art form for the love of it, as well as for the financial gain that comes. This gives them a “higher job satisfaction than regular employees” (Benz & Frey, 2004, P.96)
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