Performance Poetry | Symposium
A Report 💛
The fortnightly symposium of In Tandem, the Research Club of Queen Mary’s College, Chennai, got off to a grand start sharp at six this evening!
Three vibrant young poets -
Souparno Bhattarcharya, Samuel Ragland and Madhulika recited from their poems.
An Excerpt from Madhulika’s poem titled, Dinner table conversations
... The way we must walk, talk, behave and dress
Expected to please the men…
Dear oldies,
I must mockingly confess…
Men being told to hide their emotions
To sexualize women
To objectify…
Let me ask you if
The twisted honour of your broken family
Is far more precious than your only child!
Controlling emotions and displaying toxic masculinity
Is not what we need to show to the world
To be a man!...
Souparno Bhattarcharya commenting on his poem said -
I’ve chosen mirage as a motif… We have a society that has both good and bad sides. It is a world where on one side people are dying, whereas on the grave you have three little flowers blossoming!
It will be our challenge to choose the good rather than the bad!
Because something that looks bad to us can well be good!
Similarly, something that looks good to us could possibly be bad as well!
As regards the last part of my poem - on the working class, people are being exploited. History has witnessed that we rebel, and at the end of the day, truth wins.
Samuel Ragland when he was asked,
“What inspired you to talk about authorities?”
He replied,
Well, I’m from the North East. People usually have prejudices on the people from the North East!
Though I talk about politics, there is no substantial solution that comes forth.
Even when I was travelling to my hometown from Manipur to Nagaland, there were many conflicts.
They check our documents, etc
A novel that I read recently, titled, A Portrait of the Artist as a Young Man gave me hope! The artist tries to come to terms with politics. So I try to understand them, and criticize them, so that they improve for the better.
Madhulika, speaking on her poem, ‘Dinner Table conversations’, said,
As the poem suggests, it talks about how society as such – be it family and friends, the expectations they have on you - just because you are the only girl or boy, they set the bar so high!
Growing up as an only child, there were a lot of unjust events that I went through ever since I was young.
Dinner table conversations, as the title suggests, reflects on the fact that, when I talk with my family members, they feel I’m not old enough to talk about stuff like that.
The lines of the poem came to me so fast…
Many people especially girls are able to relate to the poem a lot!
The country has a lot to improve…
she observed!
Ms. Sayujya Sankar, Assistant Professor, Stella Maris College, Chennai, then gave a talk on Performance Poetry.
Excerpts from her talk -
I want to touch upon a few things on performance poetry.
Performance poetry is a niche phrase we use today to refer to certain kinds of poems like Spoken Word Poetry!
And it is always done in front of an audience.
In that sense, in an online forum such as this, there are certain restrictions to Performance Poetry.
That’s because you can’t hear multiple voices at the same time!
That’s the bane of the online for teachers, performance poets and so on!
Performance poetry essentially uses certain formats like the use of alliteration, assonance, repetition, etc.
Performance poetry doesn’t have any music that accompanies it.
But as you speak out your poetry, you can make sounds like whistles, etc.
This is something that you do with Performance Poetry the way we know it today.
It’s been around since the 60s and the 70s; however in the 1980s it took a different turn!
It was called Slam!
Slam competitions!
Right back from the times of the Sangam age, we have had this notion of performing poetry.
In the akam and puram traditions, there was a certain pattern to the poetry. There is a form to which you spoke out your poetry!
And that’s not just the case with India alone.
Even in the West, ballads and lyrics were sung in the company of musical instruments to groups.
The repetitive quality is prominent in the oral form, so that others will remember your lines!
Somewhere in between we ended up on written poetry!
In the Ghazals, again, which form a huge part of our culture, we have a singing tradition, and the spoken form of ghazals, where someone will come out with a certain line, and the audience has to respond!
All these form part of the oral tradition which we see as Performance Poetry today!
Today it is put into a small box where we read out as performance poems!
It can be about anything under the sun.
The idea of performance today is attributed to a very subjective position.
Something that you can speak out – almost like talking to a friend!
The Beat Poets like Allen Ginsberg, Jack Kerouac etc rebelled against tradition, and wanted poetry to be spontaneous!
These people also led to performance poetry the way we have it today!
Two forms of protest poetry from the Indian context!
When we think of performance, we think of standing in front of a mic, put on an act, and then you speak!
But that is not necessarily not what performance poetry is.
It is rooted in our personal lives.
There is this norm that music should not be used. But I think we should redefine those boundaries.
In Arivu’s song, ‘Sanda Seivom’, everyone is participating - by beatboxing, clapping, etc.
It is something that is very personal, and at the same time, it is very political!
Performance poetry, in the context of cultural marker, these are the things we need to take into account!
Dr Preethi Srinivasan, Head, Dept of English, QMC, spoke on the idea of minstrels, on poetry that is read, and poetry that is performed!
Prof. Sreelatha, Associate Professor & Head (Retd), Department of English, Chellamal Women’s College, Chennai giving her observations, said -
When the Pachaiyappa College boys used to board the buses, and they started singing their gaana, I used to get irritated first…
From Valluvar Kottam to Pachaiyappa College Bus Stop I used to listen to them every day.
But then I later came to understand that they sang on contemporary issues… So yes! Performance poetry really helps. And that’s what performance poetry wants to do!
The Personal can hence become political and social as well,
she observed!
Ms. Shabitha, Research Scholar, Dept of English, QMC, coordinated the event and also gave the concluding remarks.
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