Inquiry Question

Rupi Kaur utilizes language in numerous ways for an array of purposes, whether it is to convey an idea in a particular way through her literary works, or to influence her reader in a specific manner.

In terms of shaping the ideas of her text, Kaur uses language in the form of her poetry and art as a medium to express her own stance and emotions toward a particular topic. A subtle, yet crucial example of the above point is demonstrated in the style in which Kaur writes all of her poetic works, namely, her deliberate omission of capital letters and all punctuation symbols excluding the period and apostrophe. While Kaur justifies this choice in language as an act of paying homage to her mother tongue of Gurmukhi, while at the time creating a sense of coherence and flow in her poetry, it transcends beyond these two reasons. In the words of renowned English novelist, Thomas Hardy, "Poetry is emotion put into measure. The emotion must come by nature, but the measure can be acquired by art" (Hardy 127). Simply put, by placing a lesser emphasis on the majority of grammar rules enclosed within the English language, Kaur allows the reader to deeply hone their focus both on their own emotions and toward interpreting her writing, cycling back to the original purpose of poetry as a form of art; to evoke emotions and ideas in the reader, completely oblivious to its grammar or format in which the poetic work is written. By redirecting the primary focus of the reader from the poem's grammar and other standard conventions, it nurtures not only their reading experience but also the way in which they are introduced to a certain idea.

On the other hand, in the area of influencing other individuals, Kaur again utilizes the above-stated choice of language. As a result of her abstract and avant-garde-like style of poetic writing, it has allowed Kaur to amass an extensive Instagram follower base of 4.5 million avid supporters. Relating this piece of information back to the topic of influencing others, is that, during Kaur's swift rise to prominence in the international spotlight, she would inadvertently stir about a wave of online poets referred to now as "Instapoets." With this sudden surge of inspired social media poets, would come the advent of a new style of shared online poetry now known as "Instapoetry." Although this new generation and style of poetry was not solely brought about by Rupi Kaur, it is without a doubt that she was a driving force in allowing Instapoetry to reach its now globally-acclaimed status, with an academic article published by RollingStone deeming Kaur as the "Queen of the ‘Instapoets’" (Carlin).