Volume V (2022)
there are many implications for modern poetry. I will explore these implications in the final
section of this paper. Modern poetry has become synonymous with inscription-based poetry,
where declamation-based poetry exists today solely as an antiquated form that has, 1) either
persisted as a strictly oral tradition or 2) has since had one type inscribed which is now regarded
as the token of that work. Accordingly, modern poetry is critiqued differently today based on
inscription-based identity conditions — “ over time, an artistic virtue was made out of this
historic contingency: a poem that held on to older practices — that is, a poem with a great deal of
repetition, in whatever form — came to be considered old-fashion, juvenile, unsophisticated,
primitive.” 21
An implication of the ontological state of modern poetry is that it is unclear whether
ancient texts like The Iliad —which were originally “constructed on the basis of what were once
performances” 22 but today read as inscriptions — should follow the identity conditions of
inscription or declamation-based poetry. This follows from the lack of an answer I have
regarding the identity conditions of declamation-based poetry in the modern age. While it would
be tangential to spend too much time piecing apart the pros and cons of each in this paper, it is
still worth noting this ontological grey area.
Another important implication of modern poetry arising from the declamation versus
inscription distinction is deciding where to situate spoken word poetry. Spoken word poetry is a
movement that falls between the two ontological traditions, making it difficult to discern which
identity conditions it should follow. As Ribeiro puts, “The spoken work poetry movement is
proof in its very label that mainstream poetry is no l onger spoken.” 23 The movement seems to
paradoxically arise from inscription-based poetry — not declamation-based poetry — because it
21 Ribeiro, 146. 22 Ribeiro, 145. 23 Ribeiro, 148.
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