Title: Defining the Role of Poetry in Society: The Ongoing Conversation – Tufts Poetry Awards
Headings: Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Blog
Kingsley & Kate Tufts Poetry Blog
May 10, 2017
Defining the Role of Poetry in Society: The Ongoing Conversation
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Content: But in order to determine what poetry’s role in society is/should be, we first need to construct a working definition of what poetry is: “ writing that formulates a concentrated imaginative awareness of experience in language chosen and arranged to create a specific emotional response through meaning, sound, and rhythm .” In a time in which we are taking care to emphasize traditionally underrepresented narratives of groups of people more and more, I believe it is poetry’s ability to relay awareness of experience that cements its role in society at large. In addition to arts programs being severely underfunded, there is also a lack of diversity. For example: as of 2015 only 5% of funding for Latinx and African-American arts organizations came from individual donations. Since poetry is focused on relaying experience in a highly salient way, there is great potential for it to be utilized as a means to build empathy and bridge gaps of understanding between people who come from differing backgrounds. In this way poetry can be a vehicle for messages of social justice. However, this is not to say the sole purpose of poetry is to serve as social commentary. In a highly thought-provoking piece, the Poetry Foundation interviewed a few poets to probe their thoughts concerning the societal role of poetry.