Linguistics and Hip Hop
INTRODUCTION
The way in which we choose to communicate plays an integral role into how we understand ourselves and our environment. As our world continues to globalize new phenomenons begin to emerge that heavily affect the way we communicate and subsequently the notion of our identities. In the past, our identities have been linked to our local languages, (Pennycook, 2003, p. 516) however as our world progresses this belief is far too simple and requires much more thought. Globalization has created new paradigms into how we perceive "English and has become locally adapted and institutionalized to create different varieties of English around the world." (Pennycook, 2003, p. 516) Some of these new blends may have little to do with communication but rather a voice of self expression and as a result new found identities are beginning to emerge.
An interesting occurrence that has resulted from globalization is how individuals from various nationalities, socio economic background and religions have connected to the hip-hop culture making it a linguistic phenomenon. (Alim, 2006) In the past many have considered this type of English as "just a reflection of US culture, or music, [and] cannot be included as part of ordinary language use". (Pennycook, 2003, p. 517) Yet as our societies evolve, we are seeing how "the global role of rap in relationship to English produces particular understandings of what it means to partake in multilayered modes of identity." (Pennycook, 2003, p. 529) Researchers, such as Alastair Pennycook (2003) argue, a critical understanding of globalization is necessary to gain a more critical understanding of this relationship between identity and new varieties of English (Pennycook, 2003, p. 517). In this paper I will be looking at how a Canadian, Sikh artist by the name of Humble the Poet, has used the hip hop language to signify new identification with certain cultural affiliation.
A primary reason for choosing the topic of hip hop
The way in which we choose to communicate plays an integral role into how we understand ourselves and our environment. As our world continues to globalize new phenomenons begin to emerge that heavily affect the way we communicate and subsequently the notion of our identities. In the past, our identities have been linked to our local languages, (Pennycook, 2003, p. 516) however as our world progresses this belief is far too simple and requires much more thought. Globalization has created new paradigms into how we perceive "English and has become locally adapted and institutionalized to create different varieties of English around the world." (Pennycook, 2003, p. 516) Some of these new blends may have little to do with communication but rather a voice of self expression and as a result new found identities are beginning to emerge.
An interesting occurrence that has resulted from globalization is how individuals from various nationalities, socio economic background and religions have connected to the hip-hop culture making it a linguistic phenomenon. (Alim, 2006) In the past many have considered this type of English as "just a reflection of US culture, or music, [and] cannot be included as part of ordinary language use". (Pennycook, 2003, p. 517) Yet as our societies evolve, we are seeing how "the global role of rap in relationship to English produces particular understandings of what it means to partake in multilayered modes of identity." (Pennycook, 2003, p. 529) Researchers, such as Alastair Pennycook (2003) argue, a critical understanding of globalization is necessary to gain a more critical understanding of this relationship between identity and new varieties of English (Pennycook, 2003, p. 517). In this paper I will be looking at how a Canadian, Sikh artist by the name of Humble the Poet, has used the hip hop language to signify new identification with certain cultural affiliation.
A primary reason for choosing the topic of hip hop
References: Alim, S. (2006) Roc the Mic Right: The Language of Hip Hop Culture. Routledge, New York. Alim, S., Ibrahim, A. & Pennycook, A. (2009) Global Lingusitic Flows: Hip Hop Cultures, Youth Identites, and the Politics of Language. Routledge, New York. Creese, A. and Blackledge, A. (2010) Translanguaging in the Bilingual Classroom: A Pedagogy for Learning and Teaching? The Modern Language Journal. Vol 94, Issue 1. P, 103-115. Foster, P. and Ohta, A. (2005) Negotiation for Meaning and Peer Assistance in Second Language Classrooms. Applied Linguistics. Oxford University Press. 26/3 pp. 402-430. Last FM: Humble the Poet Biography. (2012) “If You 've Got the Time, We 've Got the Last.fm.” CBS Interactive. Last.fm Ltd. http://www.last.fm/music/Humble+the+Poet/+wiki Hughes, G Pennycook, A. (2003) Global Englishes, Rip Slyme, and performativity. Journal of Sociolingusitics. Issue 7, Vol. 4. p 513- 533. November 2003. Robson, C. (2002) Real World Research: A Resource for Social Scientists and Practitioners-Researchers. Second Edition. Blackwell Publisher, Oxford. Sutcliffe, D. & Wong, A. (1986) The Language of the Black Experience. Basil Blackwell Inc. New York Thomas, G No problem March 10th, 2013