Oral poetry is reclaiming knowledge once inseparable from writing worldwide

Evidence

Oral forms of poetry are multiplying, giving rise to ceremonies, perfôrmances, and shows. AlI around the wodd-in the Antilles, in the Arnericas, in Africa and A-;ia-poets of the spoken word savor this turnaround, which mixes the jangling brilliance of oral rhetoric into the alchemy of written words. Poe tic knowledge is no longer inseparable from writing; momentary flashes verge on rhythmic amassings and the monotonies of duration. The sparkle of many languages utterly fulfills its function in such an encounter, in which the lightning of poetry is recreated in time’s gasp. — Édouard Glissant, Poetics of Relation, 457

Categorization

Category: Factual Claims

• XREF: The oral-written shift speaks to the reader’s question of collective (not individual) poetic identity — the spoken-word renewal is a group phenomenon across the Caribbean, Americas, Africa, Asia.

Related

• Poetic knowledge no longer depends on writing alone (similarity 0.93)
• Poetry imparts form to knowledge and is therefore never obsolete. (similarity 0.81)
• The loss of writing’s prestige paradoxically drove oral languages to imitate writing. (similarity 0.80)
• Oral and written composition are continuous rather than opposed techniques. (similarity 0.79)