Paradox in the Worlds of Art: Socio-economic Stability and Organizational Multiplicity

The worlds of art, and particularly the careers of artists, are often seen as unstructured and disorganized and therefore difficult to analyze. The author uses the case of contemporary poetry to put forward an analytical grid for these apparently labile universes. He identifies two forces that impose a structure on the universe of poetry: socio-economic constraints, and artists competencies and the aesthetic frontline. Poets careers steer a course between these beacons, which the author suggests could be called a tennis tournament, where progressive and structured selection operates.