Slam poetry as confrontation on the streets and in schools

Abstract

This paper presents the political dimension of slam poetry, an artistic practice that can be characterized both as a manifestation of social contestation, and as a production of institutional critique. It is observed that this practice has been, progressively, transported to the institutional school space. This paper focuses on reflecting about this process in schools located in the state of Espírito Santo, Brazil. Based on the political ethnography method, the aim was understanding both the process of transposing slam poetry to schools, and what occurs to its political potential in this new environment. Results show that, even facing a few adaptations, the slam maintains its political potential in schools, since it also aims to democratize this new environment.