[ANPPOM-Lista] CFP: The European Hiphop Studies Network, Bristol, 6–8 Jun. 2019

[Carlos Palombini]

ELEMENTS BRISTOL, 06-08 June 2019
2nd Meeting of the European HipHop Studies Network
University of Bristol, UK

Call for Papers

Emceeing. DJing. Breaking. Graffiti. Hip-hop is commonly understood to
consist of these four elements. The idea of four elements is one of hip-hop
culture’s core narrative and most pervasive founding myth since its
beginnings in the Bronx in the 1970s. Yet, the idea of four core elements
has been highly contested since the beginning of the culture as there is no
unified definition of how many elements exist, who defined them, and how
they came together. For instance, hip-hop founding father Kool Herc
believes that “that there are far more than those [four elements]: the way
you walk, the way you talk, the way you look, the way you communicate.”
(Chang xi) Likewise, on his album Kristyles, KRS ONE introduces his theory
of nine elements which include beatboxing, fashion, knowledge, and
entrepreneurialism (“Nine Elements”). On the other hand, researchers such
as criminologist Jeffrey Ross also emphasize that “graffiti […] was
established long before hip-hop music emerged in the South Bronx, and many
of its practitioners do not identify with the music or its subculture at
all” (139). While their number is contested, hip-hop’s elements are crucial
in understanding the logics, conventions, and values of this fascinating
culture in the US and in Europe. They reveal its creative tensions as well
as larger notions of authority, authorship, boundary formation, community
as well as inclusion and exclusion.

The second meeting of the European HipHop Studies Network therefore
explores one of hip-hop’s most central ideas, the ideas of elements: Who
defines them? What do they tell us about cultural,  social, and economic
communities and boundaries across Europe? How do these limits vary
according to various contexts and practices across Europe? What are their
consequences for cultural production and consumption? The objective of the
meeting is to trace, interrogate, and expand the notion of elements as
central organizing principles in hip-hop culture and their variations
across Europe.

We invite papers, panels, performances, and contributions from a wide
variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and angles. Scholarly disciplines
include but are not limited to art history, cultural studies, black
studies, ethnography, geography, graffiti studies, literary studies,
musicology, pedagogy, performance studies, philosophy, political science,
sociology, and visual culture studies. Artistic contributions include
performances, themed panels of any format, lecture-recitals, and
philosophies which combine research and praxis (or practice-as-research).

Artistic and scholarly proposals engaging with European hip-hop’s elements
(those based both in Europe and outside of it) should include a title, 250
word abstract of their contribution and short biographical sketch. This
should be submitted to hiphopnetworkeurope em gmail.com no later than 31
January 2019. We especially welcome papers that engage with
less-academically-visible work, and from artists and practitioners from a
wider variety of backgrounds. We hope to see you in Bristol!

Network Organizing Committee

Séverin Guillard (University Paris Est Créteil)
Sergey Ivanov (aka Grand PaP) (DA EXIT NGO, Moscow)
James McNally (University of Bristol)
Sina Nitzsche (Ruhr University Bochum/TU Dortmund University)
Griffith Rollefson (University College Cork)
Venla Sykäri (University of Helsinki)
Justin Williams (University of Bristol)

https://europeanhiphopstudiesnetwork.wordpress.com/network-meetings/2019-meeting

-- 
carlos palombini, ph.d. (dunelm)
professor de musicologia ufmg
professor permanente ppgm-unirio