It’s Weird to Try to Champion Poetry While Also Arguing That Songs Aren’t Literature
IF SONGS AREN’T LITERATURE—AND THEREFORE AREN’T POETRY—THEN WHAT EVEN IS POETRY? WHY ARE POETS OUT ON SOCIAL MEDIA TRYING TO LIMIT POETRY AS A MEDIUM? WHY WOULD POETS SEVER THEIR CONNECTION TO PRE-LITERATE AND NON-LITERATE TRADITIONS? WHEN DID THE BOOK BECOME CENTRAL TO THE DEFINITION OF LITERATURE, AND WHY ARE WE COMPLICIT?
These questions are published here in all capitals because I don’t want answers.
(By the way, lots of times people who have made war have won the Nobel Peace Prize—so Bob Dylan grabbing the literature one is by comparison not so offensive—even if you find it scandalous that a crude, unwashed songwriter be equated with a SERIOUS poet.)
Param Anand Singh is a poet and translator who used to be called R.M. O'Brien. A sticker he made might be in a movie.
Latest posts by Param Anand Singh (see all)
- First We Take Brian Williams - April 10, 2017
- Secret Famous Haiku Desk Part II: The Aftermath - April 4, 2017
- It’s Weird to Try to Champion Poetry While Also Arguing That Songs Aren’t Literature - October 13, 2016
