To Pimp A Butterfly: Towards New Literacy Studies & Rap As Oral Literature

Yes, that’s the title of my dissertation. I went to England to learn a bit more about the language I was studying and found that I couldn’t help but compare the new lessons I’d learned to the world back home. The best way to think of back home was by listening to this album. I eventually caught the idea that I was listening to something in the same way I read something. Taking it apart and understanding each piece on its own and how that all interacts with itself and the grander picture. New Historicism maybe. But anyway, I found my favorite part was on language. The evolution of the English language. Not just how we use it today, but how it developed from a primarily oral culture and tradition to one that writes things down. I’m convinced it changes the way we think and does a lot more to our lives than we can be aware of. Just a side note: I also think that the new era of technology has done a similar shift in the way we think; look at memes. It’s a new language for us, this technology, and as we’re evolving it is becoming more pervasive and vital to our functionality. It’d be crazy to think it doesn’t change us. But that’s for another dissertation, perhaps a doctorate, we’ll see. I hope you enjoy this, if you seriously read the whole thing I could freakin kiss you. Thank you to anyone who has any inkling of interest in this months long diegesis of dread and anxiety.