Wednesday, October 06, 2010

A Random Wednesday Conversation Starter

Everybody tells me that poetry is a dying art. Is it? What does it even mean for something to be a "dying art"? People still read and write poetry, and I think they always will, as long as language exists. Maybe poetry won't have as strong a command on the cultural landscape ever again that it once did, but is that the same thing as saying an art is "dying"?

Are there any arts that are truly dead?

8 comments:

Quince said...

We will always have artists, poets, writers etc. The problem is the best ones may not be recognized untill well after we are all gone.

What we do have in our life time is an abundant amount of people who judge art in terms of profitability and popularity.

We get movies like Jackass, celebrities writers like Snookie and music like 25 cents.

Our great grandchildren will enjoy the real artists of our time.

Roger Owen Green said...

"Nobody goes there anymore; it's too crowded." Or something like that.

I'm sure being a court jester is a dying art. Or, wait, maybe not. Is that not what Jon Stewart does?

The idea of a DYING art is always tricky; I've known serious poets for years.

Heck, maybe today's poetry is LOL cats. But is that then ART?

M. D. Jackson said...

Poetry is alive and well and more influential then ever. Just because it's now set to music and played over the radio doesn't mean it's not still poetry.

It's only the forms that have changed, not the intent.

anniepatrick said...

how can I not answer this one? poetry is not a dying art...it may not have the widespread readership of previous decades, ok centuries, but it's alive and well--innovative, modern, and eminently readable. Speaking for the arts in the southern tier, we're alive and well down here--as long as humans have the capacity for creativity and change, the arts will live long and prosper. :)

Lynn said...

The problem is that everybody thinks they can write poetry. I've even tried it myself. People who say it's a dying art are either (1)people who are frustrated that they can't make any money from their poetry or (2)traditionalists who are horrified by free verse and think everyone should be reading the classics instead of trying to write their own poetry.

Arts that are truly dead? I don't know. Everything that I can think of, there is someone out there somewhere keeping it alive. If there are even a handful of people doing it it's not dead. A lack of frequent write-ups in prestigious and popular publications does not equal death.

Kal said...

Latin, alchemy and reality TV chef contestant

Glenn Whidden said...

Dead art forms? Let's see, I don't think anyone is carving canopic jars anymore. Work songs, such as sea shanties, field hollers, and the songs of gandy dancers, are preserved in cultural amber. We don't see a lot of dumbshows performed. And it is probably for the best that no one is writing choral music for castrati anymore.

Mimi said...

Alchemy was going to be my answer too.