(An excerpt from the introduction)

The use of spoken word as an artistic medium comes in many varieties. Some may define it as a genre in itself, but in reality it has no red thread to lean on. No unified school of ideas has emerged; on the contrary there seems to be countless varieties out there. Undeniably, the term itself has become an anchor onto which we connect certain kinds of cultural expressions, at least in the fields of music criticism and cultural studies. But as a genre it remains enigmatic and void of context, and offers us only a statement of its basic ingredients.