Performance Poetry of the 2000s: Trans-autorship and Trans-mediality in the Italian Spoken Word Poetry
“Performance Poetry in the 2000s: Trans-Authoriality and Transmediality of Spoken Word Poetry in Italy” (“La poesia performativa degli anni 2000. Trans-autorialità e trans-medialità della Spoken Word Poetry in Italia”)
Università dell’Aquila & Université de Lausanne (CH)
Directors: Serena Guarracino (Università dell’Aquila); Camille Vorger (Université de Lausanne)
Co-director: Massimo Fusillo (Scuola Normale Superiore – Pisa)
Abstract
This doctoral project aims to map the Italian contemporary slam and spoken word poetry scene (2001–2025), situating it in comparison with international contexts. The study is guided by three principal analytical questions: What is performative poetry? How can it be studied? And how is it published?
The research focuses on the different modes of publication—live performance, print, and digital formats—and seeks to contribute to the historicization of these oral works, often ephemeral and at risk of being forgotten.
Moreover, the project proposes a methodological framework grounded in interdisciplinary approaches, including performance studies, the sociology of literature, and practice-based research. Through an autoethnographic perspective, it examines trans-authorial and transmedial creative practices, encompassing collective composition, collaboration with AI, and audience participation. The study also addresses the challenges of canonization and archiving of these ephemeral, popular, and countercultural artistic forms, highlighting the political and ethical engagement of the artists involved.
