siirast

Siirast is a term used in contemporary poetry and media arts to denote a hybrid form in which poetry is presented together with visual, sonic, or interactive elements. The term describes both the practice of creating such works and the works themselves, which foreground the materiality of text and media as a single expressive field.

The etymology of siirast is uncertain. The word has appeared in English-language discussions of digital poetry since the early 21st century and is sometimes linked informally to the Turkish word siir, meaning poetry, though there is no consensus on its linguistic origins or whether it reflects a specific cultural lineage.

Forms and techniques commonly associated with siirast include kinetic typography, where text moves on a screen in sync with sound or narration; hybrid poems that incorporate images, video, or data visualization; generative or algorithmic text that evolves in response to user interaction; and performance or installation pieces in which audience participation alters the textual display. These practices emphasize intermediality, the spatial-temporal presentation of text, and the collaborative potential between reader, viewer, and machine.

History and reception: Siirast developed within the broader fields of digital poetry, multimedia art, and performance poetics, gaining attention with web-based poetry, video poetry, and gallery installations in the 2000s and 2010s. Critics view siirast as a descriptive category rather than a rigid genre, highlighting its role in challenging traditional print-centered poetics and expanding notions of authorship and reception.

See also: digital poetry, multimedia art, intermediality, kinetic typography, interactive poetry.