I came across an article by Harvard Professor Steven C. Caton entitled, "Peaks of Yemen I Summon": Poetry as Cultural Practice in a North Yemeni Tribe (1990). Caton was my first introduction to the anthropology of poetics however I’m very glad for that; Caton's research is fascinating. Poetry is always something I've loved as a writer and a reader. Poetry slams, popular in politically active cities like Seattle and among a certain socially conscious crowd, involve spoken word poetry done in a competitive style at various public venues, much like a music show would be carried out. These nights of powerfully themed rhetoric can serve as a arena for public debate. I've only been to a few; spoken word poetry in Seattle often has an angsty feel to it that is still dispassionate enough to be boring. I love poetry for the beauty it gives to language, but these slams are rarely 'about' the prosody or parallelism I've learned to swoon over but rather about protest and making a statement, a stance I have to work a little harder at adopting.
Caton's work on Yemeni tribal members' use of poetry in political rhetoric, or indeed other commanding rhetoric as well, reminded me of those angst ridden Seattlites who used poetry as a means to 'slam' political movements (and other personalities) that went against ‘common’ good, capitalistic ventures that were overbearing or national and international events that people felt needed to be 'addressed' publicly and in opposition to some other individual. It was as much about competing against a peer as it was being politically involved. Positioning oneself, building honor, saving face, these all are accomplished in spoken word poetry from Yemen to Yessler and anything that expansive must have some potency. In these Yemeni tribes, being able to construct beautiful poetry and perform it with intensity is part of being a man, or building up to be one, and a powerful political orator. Responses to the opposition that are quick and quick-witted are golden, much like the poetry slammer that can 'one-up' his competition with a forceful verse. Caton suggests that spoken poetry is an extremely powerful mode of communication where Yemeni men can take stances on violence, warfare and injustice; they can 'do' things with these performances that they cannot do with a flat intonation. So powerful is this method of communication, indeed across the Arab world, there are TV shows that feature talented poets, which can include women and children as well (see below image from Million's Poet). They strut in, dressed to the nines, janbiya in tow and recite several minutes of verse. The audience claps at certain turns of phrases or dramatic pauses and they are judged by a panel, much like American Idol except these idols are really worth idolizing.
References
Caton, Steven C.
1990 "Peaks of Yemen I Summon": Poetry as Cultural Practice in a North Yemeni Tribe. Berkeley, Los Angeles: University of California Press.
