The spoken word is an art form that has existed in human society for a long time. Poems, or a type of spoken singing or stories, sometimes accompanied music, held captive many an audience long before the first book was ever written, and oral traditions in cultures predate the written word. Because reading was not a common accomplishment, troubadours and balladeers often told stories of adventure, romance, tragedy, and comedy to large audiences, even after books became available.
Today, the term “spoken word” refers to two distinct art forms. One is entirely based on recorded spoken word, such as novel readings or poetry recitation, which provides us with modern “books on tape.” In its second definition, the art form refers to performances in which poets, and occasionally comedians or social commentators, recite or invent on-the-spot poems, commentary, jokes, and the like for an audience. The latter stems from long-held oral traditions in a variety of cultures.
Songs did take the place of telling stories or reading poems, but the Beat Poetry movement emphasized the importance of performing poetry and other writings over poetry fans. Typically, beat poets would recite their poems with music playing in the background, though this was not always the case. The poet might time his phrasing to coincide with certain parts of the musical performance, but the emphasis was on the words rather than the music. Depending on the poet, the music could be live or recorded.
This tradition has drawn some ridicule, with some claiming that participants and fans took it too seriously. There were certainly some bad poems written and performed, as there are in any genre of poetry. Mayo Angelou, who critics cite as one of the most skilled at reciting her work, because her rich voice and phrasing lend resonance and depth to her work, was one of the most valuable ones, and poets who grew out of the Beat Generation.
By the mid-1970s, spoken word had few adherents, but interest in the form resurfaced in the 1980s. The variation of spoken word performance in hip-hop and rap contributed to this. Rap artists frequently performed poetry with a musical accompaniment and with specific phrasing and resonance. Many rap artists’ poetry has been evaluated and continues to be evaluated music fans and literary analysts alike, with a number of these artists being regarded as extremely important contributors to the world of poetry.
Along with rap, the beat type spoken word, often set to jazz and sometimes including other performance elements such as slides or pictures, reemerged as a popular form. Slam poetry was another offshoot of spoken word, in which poets competed against one another, often extemporaneously. Slam poetry has its origins in Japanese competitions of this nature, such as the beginning and end of waka, a 10th-century poetic form.
However, spoken word does not always have to include poetry and has never gone out of style. It can be a recitation of stories, a solo comedic act, or a storyteller’s performance. The art form has no hard and fast rules, which explains why it has so many different names. Robin Williams, like Allen Ginsberg and Patti Smith, is a master of this literary form.