Modernism:
What does 'The Wasteland' mean?
1) how has it been interpreted? (cite examples)
2)what are some of the key features
3) In what way has it been influential
Post-Modernism
1) What common qualities do 'the beats' share? Why 'beats'?
2) How is beat poetry linked to rap?
3) How was Bob Dylan's 'Masters of War' involved in controversy during the Bush administration?
4) On what grounds was 'Howl' accused of being obscene - grounds for the defense?
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
Post-Mod, Question 2
ReplyDeleteWhen looking on the surface of beat poetry, I can immediately see the relationship between that and rap, mostly with how it is constructed. In both there is repetition and rhythm that flows through the whole poem or song.
If we look at the poem "howl" the majority of the lines begin with "who", and some rap songs contain that kind of repetition. By doing this, it forms rhythm and puts emphasis on that repeated and just by doing that it changes the meaning of that one word. So the aesthetics and form of beat poetry was probably very influential to rap music. Krims looks at how rap music deals with identity most of all.
Now looking at the content of beat poetry and the lyrics of rap music, they are mostly about controversial topics; political, social issues etc. Rap is considered to be 'musical poetics' (Krims, 2003), so just through that term there is a correlation to beat poetry and rap.
This concept of identity is especially important when it comes to 'Howl' since 'who' is the most repeated word in the poem. When looking at the word 'who' by itself, there is a question of identity there, as if asking the audience who are you or who are you meant to be?
References:
Krims, A., (2003). Rap Music and the poetics of identity. New perspectives in music history and criticism. Retrieved from http://books.google.co.nz
Ginsberg, A. (1956). Howl and Other Poems. San
Francisco: City Lights Books
Yeah I completely agree with you Miri! (Happy birthday by the way) The beat and the rhyme makes it hard to deny there's some sort of relationship between rap and Beat poetry.
DeleteIn addition to your information with the controversial topics and rhythm, I found that Rap and Beat poetry have similar ties in words and thoughts being "intentionally hyperbolic and exaggerated" (Gibserberg, 1995, para 7)and with boasting, humour of rhyme.
According to Ginserberg (1995) Rap is a very ancient tradition from Africa in a form of "griot" which was boasting and commentary. African-American Folklore "Signifying Monkey" has traces of early rap like style.
Then the role of Griot transformed into a sort of a theatrical entertainment in America for the African Americans until James Weldon Johnson (an early civil rights activist and a lot of other professions like diplomat, journalist, anthropologist, poet, songwriter and so on) brought the rap tradition back in a respectable form in a poet "Seven Negro Sermons".
According to Ginserberg, poets brought the rap tradition to encourage the African -Americans to reclaim their heritage.
(Ginserberg, 1995)
Do you guys think it's close to the Haka? How they're boasting about their ancestors, their prowess?
References:
Ginserberg,A. (1995). On rap. US: Hibbet Radio
I totally agree with you guys, there is no doubt in my mind that the beat poetry rhythm has a connection with rap. When doing the research I came across a journal article where the author uses the term "musical poetics" and the article is about rap music the poetics on identity. The journal article is actually a bit hard to get through is more about musical theory than about the rap music but he uses a term called "Musical Poetics" and that term is something that i find interesting (Krims, 2000 p.22). His term is about the structure of music, but with this I think its safe to say that poetic influences all kind of music, weather it be beat poetry or spoken work poetic, especially rap music.
ReplyDeleteI found a quote by Jack Kerouac who was part of the first generation beat poets and this is what he said "We are beat, man. Beat means beatific, it means you get the beat, it means something. I invented it. We love everything, rock and roll, Zen, apple pie, Eisenhower- we dig it all. We are in the vanguard of the new religion", it was posted in the New York Times in 1952 (Thaisz, 2010 p.18).
He continues to say "The origins of the word beat are obscure, but the meaning is only too clear to most Americans. More than mere weariness, it implies the feeling of having been used, of being raw. It involves a sort of nakedness of mind, and, ultimately, of soul; a feeling of being reduced to the bedrock of consciousness. In short, it means being undramatically pushed up against the wall of oneself. It is a postwar generation having lust for freedom, and the ability to live at a pace that kills (to which the war had adjusted them), led to black markets, bebop, narcotics, sexual promiscuity, hucksterism, and Jean-Paul Sartre" (Thaisz, 2010 p. 18)
this description of beat poetry is exactly how i would feel that someone would describe the world of rap. Especially with the words raw and having list for freedom, and everything about it.
Jen, i totally agree that hakas could have been created from beat poetry. I think that the hakas are so rhythmic that i can see the resemblance between the two. And from the large quote i have above beat poets clearly boasted about something they really cared about and the maoris are very serious about their ancestors and things that it totally makes sense that the haka originated from beat poetry's
references:
Krims, A. (2000). Rap music and the poetics of identity. Retrieved from http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/samples/cam032/99036013.pdf
Thaisz, O. (2010). Poetry of beat generation. Retrieved from http://dspace.k.utb.cz/bitstream/handle/10563/13460/thaisz_2010_bp.pdf?sequence=1
5) What kind of protest song/rap other media have come out in the last decade? Is there a spirit of protest anymore?
ReplyDeleteThere have been numerous amounts of protest songs/rap that have come out in the last decade. I think there will always be parts of society that people wont agree with and with that will result in people creating protest songs in all sorts of different genres of music. I think that protest songs now are far less obvious and maybe less directed, but none the less still written in regards to a specific situation that these song writers are writing to protest against.
One of the first ones I can think of when I think of protest songs in the last decade is Green Day's American Idiot album. The whole album its self is directed against the bush administration but on that album a less noticeable but still obvious protest song is Wake Me Up When September Ends. This song is a "plodding antidote to the albums hyperactive, pogo-tastic tile track" (Hutchinson, 2011). The video is about a girlfriend who is torn apart from her boyfriend because he is a soldier and has to go to war in Iraq. This song also became a "quasi-offical tribute song to the victims of Hurricane Katrina" not necessarily a protest, but a lovely representation to the strength of a song (Hutchinson, 2011).
MoAnother recent example in M.I.A's born free which released in 2010. She is well know as a sonic activist and is not very subtle. Her third album Maya sent shockwaves around the world, it was even banned by YouTube (Hutchinson, 2011). The music video caused a lot of disruption and was claimed to entice violence against redheads but rather it was supposed to reflect the discrimination M.I.A experienced with her family during the Sri Lankan Civil War and the horror of genocide (Hutchinson, 2011)
I think there is plenty of room in society for people to protest and that it seems the spirit will always be there to protest about some sort of political issue that arises.
References:
Hutchinson, K. (2011, Jan 18). The 10 most powerful protest songs of the 21st century. Flavorwire, Retrieved from http://flavorwire.com/143568/the-10-most-powerful-protest-songs-of-the-21st-century/2
I completely agree with you Emma, songs and rap have become a powerful tools of protest. I also agree that the songs are less direct with the issues they are protesting against, as more powerful ones are likely to be banned and never really get out there. The popular songs that criticize the governmnet/country/current affairs have toned down significantly over the years.
DeleteSongs in the 1960s to 1980s spread protest spirit among the young like fire, with songs like Jimi Hendrix's version of "Star-Spangled Banner" which was interpreted as an anti-Vietnam statement, Nash and Young's "Ohio" after four students were killed by members of the Ohio National Guard at an anti-war demonstration at Kent State University, James Brown's “Say It Loud - I'm Black and I'm Proud” (Cnn.com, (2008)) But recently, the fire doesn't seem to catch on as they used to. During the 2008 with Bush administration's Iraq war, Neil Young, Bruce Springsteen expressed their scorn and released an album of the protest, but Cnn.com states “None of yesterday's stars wield the same influence with today's young as they did when they were at their peek.”
I believe this is due to the nature of songs/raps. These days songs can reach millions across the world and if they make the song too ‘obscene’ like Howl was, it is unlikely it will pass the licence and it will be banned before people around the world can hear it. Thus there are more artists who put their protest spirits as an allegory rather than using direct wording. I’m sure there are lots of raps and songs out there that has obscene words and images but I don’t think it reaches a wider audience.
I found an interesting piece about Pink's “Dear Mr President”, that it was and will never be released as a single in United States. She stated that it was “too important to be perceived as a publicity stunt.” (last.fm.com (n.d)) But I can't help think wouldn't it have the best affect in the country that can actually make a change? Did Pink simply get caught up by red tapes by the corporations to release that song in United States?
Recently some songs that have achieved fame as being protest songs are:
“Who are you fighting for?” - UB40
“Worldwide Suicide” - Pearl Jam
“Peace, Saalam , Shalom” - Emma's Revolution
“Waiting on the World to Change” John Mayer
“Black man in the white house: Sizzla
Despite the lack of stir compared to the 1960-1980 days, there are still protest spirit in music industry and it doesn't seem like it will change any time soon.
Reference:
CNN.com. (2008) The spirits of music: Is the protest over? [Press release] Retrieved June 13, 2013 from http://edition.cnn.com/2008/WORLD/europe/03/07/protest.songs/
Dear Mr President (n.d) Retreieved June 12, 2013 from http://www.last.fm/music/P!nk/_/Dear+Mr.+President
Piana, L. B. (2010). The best protest songs of the decade. Retrieved June 11, 2013 from http://www.peoplesworld.org/the-best-protest-songs-of-the-decade/
I agree with both of you, i also talked about protest in rap and how it can be looked at:
ReplyDeleteTo me as long as there is any social, economical, or political issues there will always be a media stand on it and usually that comes in the form of a protest in one way or another. In the article "Truth, Propaganda and Media Manipulation", "The mainstream media is the most obvious in its inherent bias and manipulation" (Global Research, 2012). I think especially in this day and age where technology is getting more advanced, that makes the media more advanced and influences the people to have a bigger voice. Back in the 1970s, there was protest and propaganda against the war on television, but the amount of access people have to voice and publicize their opinions now is nothing compared to how it was back then.
For example in Macklemore's song "Bush Song" there is a clear and strong opposition towards the USA's former president. While in the point of view of Bush he says, "I'm evil/ but y'all didn't know that though", so the it has become very clear of the dislike or hate against him. Even though that was almost ten years ago, the Bush topic is still being talked about and even in the song it has a warning saying, "So thank you very much, and please remember/ If you don't vote, I'll see you back in November".
There are other protests going on today and other forms of media are being taken full advantage of. With the issues of SOPA and PIPA on the internet, which its main purposes was to stop piracy over the internet but in turn was going to censor the internet entirely. As Amy Goodman says, these bills would "stifle innovation and investment, hallmarks of the free, open internet" (2012) and that sparked a huge outrage and encouraged users of these sites to stand up against it. This was marked as the largest online protest in history, joining the forces of major websites like Tumblr, Twitter, Google, Youtube, Wikipedia and other sites.
There are issues that are still in protest and being talked about. Such as gay marriage in the states and how it is slowly becoming legal across the nation but there are still a lot people who are strongly against it. With this debate alone, you can clearly see how divided a nation can be on a subject. And the problem is, is that this problem has been around for decades and it hasn't cooled down in the least, in fact it may have even gotten stronger and its making people restless.
So weather it is a political issue or social issue, there will always be outspoken opinions that will most likely start an uproar. i think that protest in the media, either through song, film, tv, or internet, it has grown because people have more access to it. People are always checking up on the newest scandal and tweeting their opinion. I feel that people feel entitled, more than ever, to their opinions and will go out of their way to have them heard.
References:
Goodman, A. (2012, January). The Sopa blackout protest makes history. The Guardian. Published June 13, 2013, from http://www.guardian.co.uk/commentisfree/cifamerica/2012/jan/18/sopa-blackout-protest-makes-history
Truth, Propaganda and Media Manipulation. (2012, March 31). Global Research. Retrieved June 13, 2013