(Re-)Locating Prestige: Poetry Readings, Poetry Slams, and Poetry Jam Sessions in Contemporary Spain

Abstract

Spanish contemporary poetry is enjoying extraordinary vitality. One of its more noteworthy manifestations is witnessed in poetry recitals, poetry slams, and jam poetry sessions. These events — performed in alternative venues outside official or prestigious literary circles such as cafés, bars, or clubs — take place without any form of support from official cultural institutions but manage to attract a high number of poets and audience members. Their great popularity signals a key feature in Spanish literary circles: a new and non-traditional generation of literary consumers — and producers — has emerged. This article analyses said cultural shift: the new spaces poetry has infiltrated, and scholars’ reluctance to adapt their concept of poetry to meet these recent developments. Performance poetry generates a great traffic of ideas and cultural exchanges, and this article explores its cultural value and calls for a redistribution and relocation of prestige within new economies of aesthetic value that can legitimize this poetry as a worthy form of cultural production.