ABSTRACT
This chapter suggests a shift beyond the nearly exclusive focus on a "trauma aesthetic" derived from post-Holocaust art and witness theory and defined by tropes of the unrepresentable, the unspeakable, the ineffable, and the trauma trace. It also suggests a reorientation from trauma-based witness poetry models to consideration of human rights testimony priorities. In spite of cultural preoccupation with narrative testimonial forms (fiction, memoir, film), human rights witness poetry is a medium that potentially moves beyond the CNN effect of atrocity representation that too often devolves into sentimental or sensational sound-bite fragments minus context, understanding, and critical reflection. The chapter suggests that contemporary witness poetries are not altogether exempt from the paradoxes of the spectacular commodification of human rights, defined by a transnational configuration of "spectator zones and sufferer zones". The concerns and claims need to be modified when considering the rise of slam, spoken word, and hip-hop poetries, which mainly materialize in nonacademic popular venues.
