Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases or whole passages from other sources and reframing them, a literary equivalent of collage, by changing spacing and line breaks or by adding or deleting text to impart new meaning. Its techniques include erasure, cut-up methods and remixing, drawing on sources from newspapers and speeches to technical manuals, and it shares roots with Dada's readymade philosophy and with visual appropriation art.
Facts
Place of Origin20th century; the Dadaism movement's readymade philosophy is described as a predecessor to the practice. 1 Notable ExampleBern Porter's Found Poems (1972), published by Something Else Press, gathered hundreds of found poems drawn from newspapers, advertisements and other everyday printed matter. 1 Defining TraitBuilt from words, phrases or whole passages taken from other sources and reframed by changes in spacing, lines or wording; common practices include free-form excerpting and remixing, erasure, cento and cut-up. 1 FAQs
What is the difference between treated and untreated found poetry?
Treated found poems are heavily changed; untreated ones stay virtually unchanged from the source.
A treated found poem has been changed in a profound and systematic manner from its source. An untreated found poem is virtually unchanged from the order, syntax and meaning of the text it was taken from.
Sources
1. Found Poetry (Wikipedia)
Wikimedia Foundation (Wikipedia)s.v. Found Poetry, lede
Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them.
s.v. Found Poetry, Concepts
Types of common forms and practices of found poetry include free form excerpting and remixing, erasure, cento and cut-up.
s.v. Found Poetry, Examples
In 1972, Bern Porter published Found Poems via Something Else Press. It features hundreds of found poems selected from newspapers, ads and everyday printed matter.
s.v. Found Poetry, Comparisons and predecessors
Marquive Stenzel describes the Dadaism movement with its readymade philosophy as a predecessor for the practice that later became found poetry.
In Group: Constrained and Experimental Poetry, Lead section
Found poetry is a type of poetry created by taking words, phrases, and sometimes whole passages from other sources and reframing them (a literary equivalent of a collage) by making changes in spacing and lines, or by adding or deleting text, thus imparting new meaning.
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