Ventriloquist Poetics

Ventriloquist Poetics is a movement of re-embodiment poetry, which seeks to further enact the removal of a poet's voice from constraints of identity. This movement builds off ideas of Post-structuralism, by recognizing that ideas such as self, identity, and (most importantly) artistic voice are social constructs that cannot be claimed by any one individual. Ventriloquist Poetics highlights this idea by physically separating the poet's voice from the poet, and recognizing that nobody's voice is truly their own creation or property.

Styles

• Ventriloquy' - This is the major style of Ventriloquist Poetics, in which the poet performs a poem through a dummy, puppet, muppet, or any other inanimate object. The object that the poet is reading through is commonly referred to as a transplant. The poet can choose to be seen alongside their transplant, or to remain unseen -- backstage, off to the side -- while reading.

• Dub poem - Another common style where the poet is not seen at all and reads with a silenced film of their choice, usually some media containing puppets.