Performing Art

Is poetry a performing art?

Let's consider the way it is not, because that might be easier. You can read poetry silently on the page, the same way as any other genre of literature. We know theater is a performing art, but that we also have genres like the "closet drama," or play not really meant to be performed. We can perform these kinds of plays, but they aren't well suited to that use. A lot of poetry is like that, not particularly well suited to performance. Some poetry is just too complex to be understood by hearing it, for example. In many cases, the poetry might be fine in other respects, but just not meant for the voice in any particular way. In some cases, we don't even care about the poet's "ear."  It is a non-pertinent factor.

A second argument is that performance of poetry tends to make it kitschy, or is so badly done in most cases that it is better off not being done at all. Whole traditions like slam poetry tend to feature very bad poetry, etc... This is not accidental, but has to do with what happens when we shift our focus too much toward performance.

On the other side, we might say that the use of verse is what distinguishes poetry from prose in the first place, and that verse is the organization of sound, and so must be heard. Performance is simply a part of how poetry is received. The fact that poetry has also developed in other dimensions and shifted away from performative modes at particular points is simply one factor that has to be considered, but that performative core remains significant.