Though we have just started reading Beowulf, we have already seen some of the techniques used by the scop that must have originated in the original sung (recited) version of the poem: alliteration, kennings, repetition, musical accompaniment, etc. The British literary tradition is not the only literature that started as songs and vocal poetry. Many of the world’s cultures still practice vibrant oral traditions to entertain and inform. Performance poetry, such as the kind seen on Def Poetry Jam, carries on this tradition in America today. And rap music born in the 1980s taps into historical African traditions to express American culture in a thoroughly original way, which is still advancing and morphing into the 21st century.
Consider your favorite art expressed through the voice: the music you listen to. How does your favorite artist express our culture?
Which artist do you believe will be considered representative 50 years from now? (That will be 2060.) Choose an artist and a song and convince me that he/she will be remembered as a true artist, just as the Beowulf scop is remembered. Use specific examples fro the song to support your opinion; discuss genre, subject, themes, purpose and techniques to support your choice. Write at least 200 words or one text box on the blog’s comment page. If you do not finish today (9/18), I will still count it as "on time" if you post by 9/21.
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