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A Quick Review of Portions of
Black Noise
Anthropology 113: Ethnographies of Popular Culture
K. Harper, Instructor
Copyright © 1997, 2000 B. Collie Collier
This is included mostly because I'm still looking
for answers to the questions at the end of this paper... and it hit
me that the net is one of the best places to look for answers to one's
questions! ;-)
Our reading assignment was chapters 2 and 3 of Black Noise, by
Tricia Rose. In those chapters the author discusses hip-hop -- its history,
the cultural conditions that created it, and how it is culturally
manifested. She posits three main, recurring elements in hip-hop
culture: flow, layering, and rupture. These elements are demonstrated
and elaborated in her discussions of graffiti, break dancing, and rap
music. She dedicates a chapter to rap music, placing it firmly within the
texts of technology, orality, and black culture. She examines several
elements of rap music (sampling, repetition, and lack of formalized or
"white" music training), attempting to demonstrate the musical gestalt
caused by the combination of each individual element.
Rose's argument is that hip-hop is a culturally created phenomenon,
and that graffiti, break-dancing, and rap music are all expressions
of the hip-hop subculture. Hip-hop is placed and defined by her as
oppositional to mainstream culture, and rap music is also examined as a
counter-hegemonic form. Indeed, by critically examining what is in essence
a mass entertainment created by a poverty-stricken and underprivileged
ethnic group (and thus by definition 'low-brow'), she suggests it is
both worthy of study and truly a form of artistic expression.
I found this reading interesting, mostly because I don't personally
care for rap music but can appreciate its value to its practitioners. I
ended up with some personally puzzling questions (which I've not yet
been able to answer) as I attempted to tie the chapters together with
our previous readings.
For example, the study of post-modernism ("po-mo") seems to imply
that all things are of equal value, as all creations can be seen as
expressions of yet another point of view, and anything can be part of
a pastiche. If so, is my inherent feeling that some "expressions" are
more esthetically appealing than others an indicator of a repressed
desire instilled in me by my patriarchal upbringing to rank things
hierarchically by quality? Does this make my dislike of rap music
politically incorrect? -or perhaps anti-po-mo? Does this mean that
po-mo demands a lack of critical thinking in order to fuzzily accept
all creations as possessing commensurate worth? Do my feelings of pity
for romance readers caught in a never-ending loop of addiction betray
a lack of understanding of po-mo, or show sympathy for people caught in
an unendurable situation by the society they were raised in?
Having a vague feeling that there's something wrong with yourself
for not being comfortable with romance readers does not strike me as
being productive or useful. Why can't we take the time to critically
examine our views, check for double standards, and try to figure out
exactly the source of our discomfort -- even as we study a phenomenon in
order to comprehend it? Yes, we are trying not to create the Other --
but aren't we also trying to find the path to understanding, both of
ourselves and our subject?
I don't feel people should be cut off from the arts, and I don't
think sacralizing art is a good thing -- there's more to art than simple,
oppositional categories like 'high-' or 'low-brow.' However, I can't
really say I feel all art is of equal worth, or that you must only
hold one, democratically mass-produced opinion. Why can't I hold more
than one view at a time; what's wrong with having both a personal and
a professional opinion? Why can't I appreciate the cultural rationale
that created rap music, even as I dislike the actual creation? Does the
study of anthropology demand allegiance to only one opinion or theory
at a time?
Last Updated: Sat Aug 16 1997
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