An Exploration of Spoken Word Poetry, its Communities and Digital Media

My proposed research topic will be on spoken word poetry, its communities and the use of digital media. This study takes an interdisciplinary approach drawing on insights and literature from media and communications, performance and English studies. Through using ethnography of live events, internet ethnography and semi-structured interviews, this project aims to examine and analyse how communities are formed and sustained through spoken word poetry and the influence of digital media, as well as how gender, race and ethnicities are represented. I expect to find that digital media and live events are a continuum, not a dichotomy and they combine to build spoken word communities, which are inclusive of genders, races and ethnicities and that this is represented at events, online and at an organisation level.