42nd Annual Convention, Northeast Modern Language Association (NeMLA)
April 7-10, 2011
New Brunswick, NJ – Hyatt New Brunswick
Host Institution:  Rutgers University

CFP: Rap Music’s Sophisticated Dialogues with Society

In recent years, rap music has gained increased scholarly attention and esteem as a medium for poetic expression, self-reflection, and even social criticism.  Additionally, rap music has been analyzed for its dialogic qualities, especially in linguistic quarrels between individual rap artists.  In this panel, organizers would like to expand on the idea of the rapper’s dialogue to include actual exchanges between rappers and members of the dominant community, whether parents or government officials.  (For example, the German rapper Sido sat down with government officials, and also addresses parents’ role in the social problems of teenagers in “Augen Auf,” while American rapper David Banner addressed the US congress) How does language and word choice differ among the groups, even though the message sometimes turns out to be the same?
How does the quality and nature of the dialogue work to elevate rap lyrics to the script of a viable debate partner, or alternately degrade the lyrics to a debate partner not to be taken seriously?  At what point does the language of the two groups converge when seeking to place the blame for social problems?

Please send an abstract of 250 words or less to the panel’s co-chairs, Lynn Marie Kutch: kutch [at]kutztown.edu, and Philipp Marquardt: Philipp_Marquardt [at] brown.edu.
Deadline:  September 30, 2010

Please include with your abstract:

Name and Affiliation
Email address
Postal address
Telephone number
A/V requirements (if any; $10 handling fee with registration)

The 42nd Annual Convention will feature approximately 360 sessions, as well as pre-conference workshops, dynamic speakers and cultural events.  Details and the complete Call for Papers for the 2011 Convention will be posted in June: www.nemla.org.

Interested participants may submit abstracts to more than one NeMLA session; however panelists can only present one paper (panel or seminar).  Convention participants may present a paper at a panel and also present at a creative session or participate in a roundtable.  Do not accept a slot if you may cancel to present on another session.