4487-Intl week
Source: www.ucis.pitt.edu
Topic: Hip Hop
Sort Desciption: hip hop, and they saw rap as something that saved delinquents ... Because hip hop didn’t hit Italy’s music scene until 1989, it hasn’t had as ...
Content Inside: UNIVERSITY OF PITTSBURGH Int’l FALL 2004 In many European countries, the fight to maintain national identity in the face of perceived cultural imperialism has taken place on a rather unique battlefield⎯radio airwaves. Debate about the Americanization of music in Germany, France, and Italy can be heard in Pitt classrooms, where students learn about contemporary life in those countries through Europeans’ adaptation of American rap and hip hop. Learning about the evolution of pop culture in other countries also provides insight into how America is perceived abroad. Germany: Voice of the Underclass “Undergrads really like to get a sense of what people their age are doing in Germany, and they find that they have many misconceptions,” says Sabine von Dirke, associate professor of German who teaches the class Germany Today. Combat Prose: Cultural Adaptation of Hip Hop in Germany, France, and Italy She asserts that Germans who resist so-called Ameri- canization also suffer from mis- conceptions. “Things aren’t as Ameri- can-owned as they think, particularly music,” she says. For example, only one of the “big five” transnational record companies, Time Warner-WEA, is in U.S. hands; another, BMG-RCA, is headquar- tered in Germany. While some Germans insist on seeing the influence of American music or hip hop culture as a negative form of cultural imperialism, others, including von Dirke, believe it is a natural hybrid- ization largely influenced by German culture itself. “Following the massive migration from Southern Europe to Germany in the 1950s, a number of immigrants found themselves on the outskirts of the socioeconomic norm and very low in Germany’s strict caste culture,” says von Dirke. As a result, many members of this “underclass” later identified with the plight of America’s inner-city rappers. “Kids without money identified with African American U.S. hip hop, and they saw rap as something that saved delinquents [and ...
