The screen is now the stage: digital media and spoken word performance.

McGowan, Jack (2022) The screen is now the stage: digital media and spoken word performance. In: Enduring Performance: The Post-pandemic Future of Spoken Word, 12th - 13th of February 2022, University of Winchester. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

In response to the rising consumption of spoken word through the screen (pre- and post-pandemic) this paper will examine the relationship between contemporary performance poetics and digital media platforms. The precise nature of affect transmission and entrainment in a digital context must be necessarily differentiated from that of affect in a live performance. However, the extent to which media platforms and modes of engagement have the potential to shape new opportunities for the production and consumption of spoken word demands further investigation. Drawing from material affect theories and an examination of digital media, this paper presents a case for the consumption of spoken word via multimodal digital platforms as a rich site for the encounter and exchange of affect, as well as the proliferation of bold and socially engaged spoken word content.

This paper will also investigate the potential that elements of digital media may lend to experimental spoken word, using native features of digital media platforms to enhance and enrich a performance. User behaviour and modes of engagement with social media platforms including the use of native features such as likes, reactions, and shares have the potential to enhance a performance in ways that move beyond simple attempts to replicate a live encounter with spoken word. This paper will offer an examination of the ways in which these modes of interaction can be harnessed to generate new and engaging content, as well as the impact of these developments for live performance. The fundamental importance of affect and affect transmission for performance poetics will be underscored, offering some speculative insight into the future developments of digital media such as immersive media (AR, VR, and XR), and how these developments may shape and enhance 21st century spoken word poetics.

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