Hollins Digital Commons

Challenging Social Inequality and Defining Cultural Identity through the Counter Hegemonic use of Language Within Franco-Maghrebi Hardcore Rap

Goodwin Private Dining Room

This research project explores how hardcore Franco-Maghrebi rap music challenges social inequality, defines the cultural identity of this community and fosters solidarity through its manipulation of the usage and structure of language to challenge French cultural dominance. Hardcore Franco-Maghrebi rap directly responds to French socio-cultural policies designed to assimilate the Franco-Maghrebi community within French society through a process of French linguistic homogenization. Consequently, hardcore Franco-Maghrebi rap addresses how language functions as a social passport for this community to address its marginalization, redefine its economic and social status, and demand its rights as citizens. This research was conducted using discourse analysis, reader-response, and a deconstructionalist critical approach to the lyrics of four major hard core Franco-Maghrebi MC’s, Rocé, Médine, Mokless, and L’Algérino, to analyze the counter-hegemonic function of language within their texts. These artists were chosen not only because they form a part of the Franco-Maghrebi diaspora in France, but also because they have a personal connection with the banlieues and neighborhoods of major French cities where marginalized groups of this diaspora live. Accordingly, their lyrics provide an informed commentary on the social implications of language and its usage by this community.