Spoken Poetry: the Rules of Social Discontent

Abstract

This paper is an attempt to analyze the relative success of spoken poetry in the last decades. Poetry slams have become venues that attract more and more young talented people, larger audiences and the interest of the media. This should make us reconsider the role of poetry in the present cultural and social environment. I will insist on the importance of form and conventions in generating social networks that helped transform a marginal genre into a phenomenon most appealing to the young people as well as a financial success story.