The Making of Modern Greek Poetry: Hip Hop & the Oral Tradition

Hip-hop, a form of oral poetry and a performative practice, presents literary scholars and cultural critics with particular challenges, especially when emerging in a country like Greece, where poetry and performance have been the two major forms of artistic expression. The class will study the history of hip-hop globally, engage with the study of Modern Greek, primarily oral, rhymed, and folk, poetry–its themes, style and techniques. Students will think critically about the ramifications of hip-hop culture and the historical and political contexts in which hip-hop culture took, and continues to take, shape. Particular attention is paid to questions of race, gender, class, and globalization. The class will consider questions of orality, textuality and performativity: What is the relation of poetry and hip-hop? What traditions influence poetry and what hip-hop? Who writes poetry and who does hip-hop? Students will be asked to engage in creative projects such as, create a piece of Hip Hop art, write Hip Hop journalism, translate poetry from Greek to English, organize a poetry night or poetry slam contest, present a local performer in the form of an open interview in class. It can be taken with an extra-credit tutorial for students reading and performing materials in Greek.