A Digital Revolution? Insiders, Outsiders, and the “Disruptive Potential” of Instapoetry

Abstract

Whilst frequently dismissed as “cliché, banal, derivative, portentous, repetitive, and manipulative” (Hodgkinson), offering little other than “fidget-spinner” distractions to appease the masses (Roberts), Instapoetry is a slippery, intricate mode. The simplicity of its aesthetic belies its complex political manoeuvrings, marked by an imperative towards a progressive ideology that contests the sexism and racism of dominant culture. Indeed, despite its “byte-sized” accessibility (Bresge), Instapoetry is deceptive, evoking discourses of ‘outsiderness’ that locate the genre within an often-problematic logic of rebellion. Examining black feminist Instapoets such as Aja Monet, Yrsa Daley-Ward, and Nayyirah Waheed, as well as ‘superstars’ of the genre, including Rupi Kaur, Atticus, and Nikita Gill, this paper argues that there is a persistent disjuncture between the extra-textual commentary surrounding Instapoetry, particularly by way of interviews and artistic statements, and the content of works which repeatedly reinscribe conservative, patriarchal, and heteronormative worldviews. Whilst the pithy convenience of new media poetries has undoubtedly helped magnify oppressed voices and perspectives, it has also, more cynically, fostered an insistence on universality that erases complexity and difference in the (largely aesthetic) interests of harmony, and the appeasement of both dominant and minority cultures.