CULTURAL ARCHETYPES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF "POSSIBLE WORLDS" OF MODERN AFRICANAMERICAN RAP (BASED ON KENDRICK LAMAR'S TEXTS)

The research aims at defining the archetypal-symbolic basis of contemporary African-American rap while specifying its imagery in terms of "possible worlds" as the semiotic framework of the existential problem articulation. The transition process, associated with archetypally based "po...

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Bibliographic Details
Published in:Euromentor journal 2019-12, Vol.10 (4), p.80-92
Main Authors: Kravchenko, Nataliia, Snitsar, Valentyna
Format: Article
Language:English
Subjects:
Aesthetic Education
Aesthetics
African Americans
Cultural Context
Culture
Deoxyribonucleic acid
Discourse Analysis
DNA
Essays
Ethnicity
Fairy Tales
Grade 2
Ideology
Individualism
Intertextuality
Lamar, Kendrick
Linguistic Theory
Literary Genres
Literary Styles
Music
Musicians & conductors
Racial Identification
Rap music
Role Models
Self Actualization
Semantics
Semiotics
Sociolinguistics
Subcultures
Values
World Views
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Summary:The research aims at defining the archetypal-symbolic basis of contemporary African-American rap while specifying its imagery in terms of "possible worlds" as the semiotic framework of the existential problem articulation. The transition process, associated with archetypally based "possible worlds", correlates with mythological and fairy tale initiation, enabling the hero to answer existential questions at both the "consumer" and transcendental levels. Narrative universals in the conceptualization of the life path, resulted in the hero's transfiguration, rely both on the themes recurring for rap texts (childhood, prison, drugs), and on archetypal models associated with a mythological and fairytale narrative, where hardship, violation of prohibitions, and requital are necessary conditions for the protagonist transformation. The archetypal symbolism of Kendrick Lamar's lyrics led to the unexpected conclusion that the rapper-performer's alternative world is the world of Christian values. The process of the lyrical hero's transition into alternative world coincides with the splitting of the image of "rebel" into counter roles based on the archetypal models of ""trickster", "shadow" and "prophet".
ISSN:2068-780X
2247-9376