Moving Words: Malagasy Slam Poetry at the Intersection of Performance, Politics, and Transnational Circulation (WGF - Dissertation Fieldwork Grant)

Summary

This resource is an application for the Dissertation Fieldwork Grant from the Wenner-Gren Foundation.

Initial findings suggest that recent developments in who can speak and what can be said in kabary (Malagasy oratory) show that the form does not, as has been suggested, solely serve to rigidify social hierarchies; it is also a means of reflecting and improving current realities. Nonetheless, a critical component of kabary remains substantiating one's claims by referring to the razana (ancestors) through the use of codified ohabolana (proverbs) and hainteny (short poems), the avoidance of the first person singular, and other mechanisms by which the speaker indicates that she does not speak for herself alone. This notion of speaking with and for others is similarly salient in Malagasy slam poetry, despite its many divergences with kabary in form, origin, and setting. In Malagasy slam, unlike in much of American slam, poets rarely refer to personal experiences of difficulty or discrimination when addressing political and social issues. However, in a context of political instability where regional and linguistic affiliations have significant impacts on economic livelihoods, Malagasy slam poetry is a key site where young people express their individual viewpoints on these issues at the same time as they seek to speak with and for the people.

This Resource is Part of the Following Collections

• WGF - Support for Research Projects   •
• Wenner-Gren Foundation

Keywords

Spatial Coverage

Individual & Institutional Roles

Contact(s): Wenner-Gren Foundation

Notes

Rights & Attribution: This resource is an application from the Wenner-Gren Foundation and has been approved by the grantee solely for pedagogical purposes. Please do not cite, circulate, or duplicate any part of these documents without the express written consent of the author.

File Information