Language and style of the contemporary poet El Rass: a peculiar artist in the Lebanese musical scenario

Emanuela De Blasio

doi:10.5209/anqe.73651

Abstract

This research focuses on the linguistic analysis of texts taken from the production of the Lebanese rapper El Rass. After an excursus on the underground musical scenario in Lebanon, the work focuses on the language, themes and style of El Rass, the artist who gave birth to a new type of rap. His songs are characterized not only by rhyme, but also by a refined language, by cultural and social references and by a strong link with the Arab cultural tradition. The author favors Arabic, to the detriment of French or English, drawing on both the high register (Standard Arabic) and the low register (Lebanese Arabic) of the language. El Rass stands out, in style and language, from most of the Lebanese rappers and constitutes a particularly interesting case study.

Highlights

Art manifests itself in various forms, it has found in oral productions a much appreciated channel of expression in the Arab world; a striking example of a literary genre spread initially through an oral tradition is represented by poetry, which has always played a fundamental role in Arabic literature and has been considered the greatest artistic expression
As Simpson states[25], poetic or literary texts can be subject to stylistic analysis, and those that are not included in certain canons, such as the song, which represents a historical document and must be studied, such as literature or cinema, because, like other productions of humanity, it tells about society[26]
The musical genre of rap based on orality and often compared to poetry, constitutes an interesting field of investigation at a sociological and at a linguistic level

Summary

Introduction

Art manifests itself in various forms, it has found in oral productions a much appreciated channel of expression in the Arab world; a striking example of a literary genre spread initially through an oral tradition is represented by poetry, which has always played a fundamental role in Arabic literature and has been considered the greatest artistic expression.

Institución

Notes on the corpus

Figures of speech

Conclusion