This article aims to highlight the relationship between literature and society through a close analysis of the essay Signifying rappers (1990) in which Costello and Wallace offer an accurate inquiry on rap music values, themes, production, and reception. By focusing on Wallace’s idea on the homogeneity of rap music and fiction, the essay provides with a theoretical discussion of three aspects, namely: the aesthetic characteristics of the lyric; the role of the rap song within (and for) the social context of reception; the relation among postmodernism, mimesis, and rap. Finally, through a critical contextualization of such three issues, it will be possible to consider Wallace’s deep interest for the society itself, in which the recognition of a community depends on a narrative act.
Comunità e narrazione. Il rap spiegato da David Foster Wallace
SCARLATO C
2021-01-01
Abstract
This article aims to highlight the relationship between literature and society through a close analysis of the essay Signifying rappers (1990) in which Costello and Wallace offer an accurate inquiry on rap music values, themes, production, and reception. By focusing on Wallace’s idea on the homogeneity of rap music and fiction, the essay provides with a theoretical discussion of three aspects, namely: the aesthetic characteristics of the lyric; the role of the rap song within (and for) the social context of reception; the relation among postmodernism, mimesis, and rap. Finally, through a critical contextualization of such three issues, it will be possible to consider Wallace’s deep interest for the society itself, in which the recognition of a community depends on a narrative act.I documenti in IRIS sono protetti da copyright e tutti i diritti sono riservati, salvo diversa indicazione.
