Periodic Reporting for period 2 - PoetryDA (Poetry in the Digital Age)
Periodo di rendicontazione: 2022-07-01 al 2023-12-31
The Research Project “Poetry in the Digital Age” (acronym: PoetryDA; Principal Investigator: Prof. Dr. Claudia Benthien) at Universität Hamburg, Germany, investigates contemporary poetry and its forms of medial presentation. These contemporary modes of presenting poetry are often located outside the book, e.g. on the stage or the internet. Such forms of presentation, which supplement poetic language by means of music or visual components, or with the physical presence of the poet, are opening up access to a genre that has frequently been considered abstract and elitist. Poetry is also gaining new functions, creating communities characterized by physical or virtual co-presence, and often serving as a tool for political activism, the expression of opinions, or the playful negotiation of transculturality and multilingualism.
Situated between literary, cultural, and interart studies, PoetryDA is developing tools to analyze today’s multifaceted poetry formats, from pop culture to works of literary art, by scrutinizing their forms and sites of presentation and performance - ranging from the theater stage to social media, from the written page to the urban space. The Project aims to answer the following questions: What factors have contributed to poetry’s current popularity? What is the best way to systemize its sub-genres? What new methods and theories are required to analyze them? How do entertainment and “high” culture contrast with each another, interact, or mix? Which are the functions (aesthetic, cultural, social, political) of these new forms and modes of presentation? The research is structured into three Sub-Projects, focusing on (1) poetry and performance, (2) poetry and music, and (3) poetry and visual culture.
Sub-Project 1 (SP1) “Audioliterary Poetry between Performance and Mediatization” examines three fields: live poetry performance (readings, spoken-word, poetry slams) created through the co-presence of audience and performer; the mediatization of performed poetry, e.g. recordings of events published or posted online, situated in and framed by a media landscape that has been transformed by digitalization; and contemporary audio poetry, i.e. spoken poems recorded in sound studios, produced for acoustic reception, and distributed in recordings or online. To investigate audio-literary poetry, its performance, and mediatization, researchers with backgrounds in media studies, performance studies, psychology, and literary studies are collaborating with each other in this Sub-Project. The team consists of postdoctoral researcher Dr. Henrik Wehmeier as well as PhD students Marc Matter and Clara Cosima Wolff.
Sub-Project 2 (SP2) “Music(alization) and the Lyric: Recent Medial Correlations” inquires into the contemporary impact of digitalization on musical poetry. It examines poets who collaborate with musicians and sound artists, who manipulate their voices - e.g. using loop pads – or use synthesized voices in their performances. Of interest are also hybrid genres between music and poetry, such as contemporary forms of the art song and poetry set to music, as well as performance styles in between speaking and singing, such as rap. The team in Sub-Project 2 comprises researchers from sound studies, musicology, and speech science, all with an additional background in literary studies. The research associates in SP2 are Vadim Keylin, PhD (postdoctoral researcher), Rebecka Dürr, and Kira Henkel (PhD students).
Sub-Project 3 (SP3) “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture” investigates (audio-)visual poetry. One of its most important tasks is to adapt the international research that has been done on electronic literature, another is to explore the connection between experimental (audio-)visual poetry formats and pressing social issues such as human-machine relations or the advancing climate catastrophe. The team in this Sub-Project includes researchers with expertise in literary studies, visual culture studies, comparative media studies, and film studies. Postdoctoral researchers Dr. Wiebke Vorrath (until March 2023) and Antje Schmidt are collaborating with PhD students Anna Hofman and Magdalena E. Korecka.
Situated between literary, cultural, and interart studies, PoetryDA is developing tools to analyze today’s multifaceted poetry formats, from pop culture to works of literary art, by scrutinizing their forms and sites of presentation and performance - ranging from the theater stage to social media, from the written page to the urban space. The Project aims to answer the following questions: What factors have contributed to poetry’s current popularity? What is the best way to systemize its sub-genres? What new methods and theories are required to analyze them? How do entertainment and “high” culture contrast with each another, interact, or mix? Which are the functions (aesthetic, cultural, social, political) of these new forms and modes of presentation? The research is structured into three Sub-Projects, focusing on (1) poetry and performance, (2) poetry and music, and (3) poetry and visual culture.
Sub-Project 1 (SP1) “Audioliterary Poetry between Performance and Mediatization” examines three fields: live poetry performance (readings, spoken-word, poetry slams) created through the co-presence of audience and performer; the mediatization of performed poetry, e.g. recordings of events published or posted online, situated in and framed by a media landscape that has been transformed by digitalization; and contemporary audio poetry, i.e. spoken poems recorded in sound studios, produced for acoustic reception, and distributed in recordings or online. To investigate audio-literary poetry, its performance, and mediatization, researchers with backgrounds in media studies, performance studies, psychology, and literary studies are collaborating with each other in this Sub-Project. The team consists of postdoctoral researcher Dr. Henrik Wehmeier as well as PhD students Marc Matter and Clara Cosima Wolff.
Sub-Project 2 (SP2) “Music(alization) and the Lyric: Recent Medial Correlations” inquires into the contemporary impact of digitalization on musical poetry. It examines poets who collaborate with musicians and sound artists, who manipulate their voices - e.g. using loop pads – or use synthesized voices in their performances. Of interest are also hybrid genres between music and poetry, such as contemporary forms of the art song and poetry set to music, as well as performance styles in between speaking and singing, such as rap. The team in Sub-Project 2 comprises researchers from sound studies, musicology, and speech science, all with an additional background in literary studies. The research associates in SP2 are Vadim Keylin, PhD (postdoctoral researcher), Rebecka Dürr, and Kira Henkel (PhD students).
Sub-Project 3 (SP3) “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture” investigates (audio-)visual poetry. One of its most important tasks is to adapt the international research that has been done on electronic literature, another is to explore the connection between experimental (audio-)visual poetry formats and pressing social issues such as human-machine relations or the advancing climate catastrophe. The team in this Sub-Project includes researchers with expertise in literary studies, visual culture studies, comparative media studies, and film studies. Postdoctoral researchers Dr. Wiebke Vorrath (until March 2023) and Antje Schmidt are collaborating with PhD students Anna Hofman and Magdalena E. Korecka.
The Project was established in 2021. The first significant achievement was the completion of the individual research proposals, which laid the foundations for the monographs, edited books, and articles that would later be published.
The abstracts can be accessed on the Project website (https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/laufend.html) which was established in mid-2021. The website was followed by the Project’s Instagram (@ercpoetryda) and Twitter @ERCPoetryDA) accounts.
Since 2021, the members of the research team have given many talks at conferences and have organized panels and other events. They have also written or conceptualized a number of articles and books (see: https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/publikationen.html).
So far, four research fellows have completed their two-month stays in Hamburg: Prof. Hans Kristian Rustad, Oslo University (Norway); Prof. Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen, Aarhus University (Denmark); Prof. Daniela Silva de Freitas, Universidade Federal de Alfenas (Brazil); and Prof. Jessica Pressman, San Diego State University (USA). The next research fellow will be Prof. Dr. Fabian Wolbring, University of Marburg (Germany). The fellows have participated in Project meetings, conferences, and other events, given talks and papers, and have worked on related publications, given advice, and collaborated with the team.
The first Poetry Debates series with public events on the topic of “The Politics of Poetry” was held in fall 2021 at various venues in Hamburg and on a live stream. The second series followed in fall 2022 with the topic “Poetry and Technology.” The third series, “Whom Does Poetry Belong to?” has been conceptualized and planned for fall 2023.
The Project’s first international conference, “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture,” took place in Hamburg in May 2022; the second conference “Audioliterary Poetry between Performance and Mediatization” was held in May 2023. A concept has been developed for the third conference on “Poetry, Music, and Sound Art: Recent Medial Correlations,” which will be held in June 2024. All conferences have been bilingual (German-English) and included an international call for papers to integrate, in particular, younger researchers as well.
An agreement was concluded with De Gruyter publishing house (Berlin/Boston) in early 2022 for the launch of the Project’s peer reviewed English-German book series “Poetry in the Digital Age,” with PI Claudia Benthien as series editor. The agreement included a list of planned volumes and the establishment of an international peer review board. All books will appear as hardcover and in open access. The first three volumes in the series will appear in the fall of 2023: Claudia Benthien and Norbert Gestring: “Public Poetry: Lyrik im urbanen Raum” (vol. 1); Hans Kristian S. Rustad: “Situating Scandinavian Poetry in the Computational Network Environment” (vol. 2); and Magdalena E. Korecka and Wiebke Vorrath (eds.): “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture / Lyrik und zeitgenössische Visuelle Kultur” (vol. 3).
Furthermore, a structure has been developed for “Poetry in the Digital Age: An Interdisciplinary Handbook,” and international authors working in the field have been commissioned with the majority of its articles. More than half of the articles have already been edited by Claudia Benthien, Vadim Keylin, and Henrik Wehmeier. The Handbook will appear in the series in 2025.
The abstracts can be accessed on the Project website (https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/laufend.html) which was established in mid-2021. The website was followed by the Project’s Instagram (@ercpoetryda) and Twitter @ERCPoetryDA) accounts.
Since 2021, the members of the research team have given many talks at conferences and have organized panels and other events. They have also written or conceptualized a number of articles and books (see: https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung/publikationen.html).
So far, four research fellows have completed their two-month stays in Hamburg: Prof. Hans Kristian Rustad, Oslo University (Norway); Prof. Birgitte Stougaard Pedersen, Aarhus University (Denmark); Prof. Daniela Silva de Freitas, Universidade Federal de Alfenas (Brazil); and Prof. Jessica Pressman, San Diego State University (USA). The next research fellow will be Prof. Dr. Fabian Wolbring, University of Marburg (Germany). The fellows have participated in Project meetings, conferences, and other events, given talks and papers, and have worked on related publications, given advice, and collaborated with the team.
The first Poetry Debates series with public events on the topic of “The Politics of Poetry” was held in fall 2021 at various venues in Hamburg and on a live stream. The second series followed in fall 2022 with the topic “Poetry and Technology.” The third series, “Whom Does Poetry Belong to?” has been conceptualized and planned for fall 2023.
The Project’s first international conference, “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture,” took place in Hamburg in May 2022; the second conference “Audioliterary Poetry between Performance and Mediatization” was held in May 2023. A concept has been developed for the third conference on “Poetry, Music, and Sound Art: Recent Medial Correlations,” which will be held in June 2024. All conferences have been bilingual (German-English) and included an international call for papers to integrate, in particular, younger researchers as well.
An agreement was concluded with De Gruyter publishing house (Berlin/Boston) in early 2022 for the launch of the Project’s peer reviewed English-German book series “Poetry in the Digital Age,” with PI Claudia Benthien as series editor. The agreement included a list of planned volumes and the establishment of an international peer review board. All books will appear as hardcover and in open access. The first three volumes in the series will appear in the fall of 2023: Claudia Benthien and Norbert Gestring: “Public Poetry: Lyrik im urbanen Raum” (vol. 1); Hans Kristian S. Rustad: “Situating Scandinavian Poetry in the Computational Network Environment” (vol. 2); and Magdalena E. Korecka and Wiebke Vorrath (eds.): “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture / Lyrik und zeitgenössische Visuelle Kultur” (vol. 3).
Furthermore, a structure has been developed for “Poetry in the Digital Age: An Interdisciplinary Handbook,” and international authors working in the field have been commissioned with the majority of its articles. More than half of the articles have already been edited by Claudia Benthien, Vadim Keylin, and Henrik Wehmeier. The Handbook will appear in the series in 2025.
The research conducted in the Project advances the field of poetry studies far beyond the state of the art due to its interdisciplinary methodology. Most previous research into contemporary poetry has been conducted from a literary studies perspective. PoetryDA greatly expands the analytical toolbox available to poetry scholars by drawing on a wide range of disciplines, including film and media studies, performance theory, art history, sound studies and musicology, etc. Moreover, the Project employs qualitative methods such as research interviews, media ethnography, and netnography to investigate the production, reception, and social circulation of poetry. The researchers in the Project apply these innovative tools to specific case studies, working successfully in interdisciplinary teams within and between the three Sub-Projects and combining methods and theories from different disciplines in their own individual research.
Another innovative characteristic of the research Project is its incorporation of very recent materials, most of which have not yet been investigated at all, e.g. political activist poetry on social media platforms, the use of AI and text-to-speech technologies in poetry performance, and multimodal sign language poetry, to name but a few. Connected with this is research into poetry’s increased engagement with a broad range of current cultural, social, and political contexts (e.g. urban design and disability advocacy) and themes (the Anthropocene, posthumanism, and cultural identity). Due to their novelty, most of these poetry formats, genres, practices, and contexts, which are being studied by PoetryDA researchers, have not yet been the subject of any academic studies.
By the end of the grant period, the Project expects to have published a total of fourteen books: nine monographs by individual researchers, four edited volumes, and the Handbook. Individual monographs will address a wide range of poetic practices, including contemporary sound and performance poetry, poetry films, art songs, rap and spoken word, etc. (see https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung.html). The edited volumes will focus on the topics that connect poetry to other aesthetic disciplines and practices, media and contexts. In addition to the completed SP3 volume on “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture,” two more books will connect poetry to performance and mediatization (SP1), and music and sound art (SP2). A further volume will explore the topics of the Anthropocene and posthumanism in intermedial poetic practice. Finally, the Project’s international Handbook is intended as a major summary of the research, presenting an overview of contemporary poetic practice and an array of innovative interdisciplinary research methods and critical debates.
Another innovative characteristic of the research Project is its incorporation of very recent materials, most of which have not yet been investigated at all, e.g. political activist poetry on social media platforms, the use of AI and text-to-speech technologies in poetry performance, and multimodal sign language poetry, to name but a few. Connected with this is research into poetry’s increased engagement with a broad range of current cultural, social, and political contexts (e.g. urban design and disability advocacy) and themes (the Anthropocene, posthumanism, and cultural identity). Due to their novelty, most of these poetry formats, genres, practices, and contexts, which are being studied by PoetryDA researchers, have not yet been the subject of any academic studies.
By the end of the grant period, the Project expects to have published a total of fourteen books: nine monographs by individual researchers, four edited volumes, and the Handbook. Individual monographs will address a wide range of poetic practices, including contemporary sound and performance poetry, poetry films, art songs, rap and spoken word, etc. (see https://www.poetry-digital-age.uni-hamburg.de/en/forschung.html). The edited volumes will focus on the topics that connect poetry to other aesthetic disciplines and practices, media and contexts. In addition to the completed SP3 volume on “Poetry and Contemporary Visual Culture,” two more books will connect poetry to performance and mediatization (SP1), and music and sound art (SP2). A further volume will explore the topics of the Anthropocene and posthumanism in intermedial poetic practice. Finally, the Project’s international Handbook is intended as a major summary of the research, presenting an overview of contemporary poetic practice and an array of innovative interdisciplinary research methods and critical debates.