Page 1 |
Save page Remove page | Previous | 1 of 265 | Next |
|
small (250x250 max)
medium (500x500 max)
large ( > 500x500)
Full Resolution
All (PDF)
|
This page
All
Subset |
DARK MATTER IN B-BOYING CYPHERS:
RACE AND GLOBAL CONNECTION IN HIP HOP
by
Imani Kai Johnson
A Dissertation Presented to the
FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL
UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA
In Partial Fulfillment of the
Requirements for the Degree
DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY
(AMERICAN STUDIES AND ETHNICITY)
December 2009
Copyright 2009 Imani Kai Johnson
Object Description
| Title | Dark matter in b-boying cyphers: race and global connection in hip hop |
| Author | Johnson, Imani Kai |
| Author email | imanikai@yahoo.com; ikjohnso@usc.edu |
| Degree | Doctor of Philosophy |
| Document type | Dissertation |
| Degree program | American Studies & Ethnicity |
| School | College of Letters, Arts and Sciences |
| Date defended/completed | 2009-07-29 |
| Date submitted | 2009 |
| Restricted until | Unrestricted |
| Date published | 2009-09-10 |
| Advisor (committee chair) |
Kondo, Dorinne Moten, Fred |
| Advisor (committee member) |
Gilmore, Ruth Jacobs-Huey, Lanita Jaikumar, Priya |
| Abstract | This multi-sited, inter-disciplinary project analyzes the ubiquitous practice within breaking (or b-boying) culture of cyphering—improvisational and competitive dance circles. Through oral histories, participant observation, and live performance and archival analysis across the U.S. and parts of Europe from 2005 to 2009, this work focuses on the unseen elements of cyphers, sometimes manifesting as cultural knowledge, the import of history, or cypher “energy”. In exchanges between dancers and in relationship to the surrounding spectators, cyphers cultivate a force that becomes their defining characteristic. While described in a number of ways—such as highs, spiritual connection, or energy—the physics concept of dark matter acts as an umbrella for its unseen, multi-dimensional, and material influences. Dark matter is the non-luminous material glue that holds together galaxies and “appears” only by way of its gravitational influence on surrounding visible matter. This project considers the multiple dimensions of competitive collaborations in relation to other collectivities, including diaspora and notions of the global. As cyphers perform multi-racial and transnational connection though movement, they act as resources to consider ideas of the whole that are attuned to internal differentiation and conflicting interests, particularly with respect to race and national difference.; Chapter One examines the brief history, and the layers of meaning apparent in the unseen qualities of a single cypher. Chapter Two explores the changing cultural context of b-boying such that past historicizations of movement become a part of current struggles over cultural meaning. Battles remind us that the whole of b-boying is constituted through difference, akin to “rhizomatic” relations. Chapter Three compares the multiple depictions of the cypher’s dark matter to similar forces within other African diasporic circles, demonstrating the overlapping cultural influences on b-boying movement and practices. Chapter Four examines the racial discourse on breaking in '80s media and in the contemporary moment among breakers in relationship to ideas of the dance’s “universal appeal.” Chapter Five provide thick descriptions of different field experiences, illustrating dimensions unaddressed in earlier analyses. Chapter Six examines b-boying as a social movement, wherein the virtual expansion of cyphering demands we consider global connection in a different manner. |
| Keyword | hip hop; b-boying; breakdancing; breaking; cypher; global connection; globalization; race; dance; performance; dark matter; kinesthetic knowledge; embodiment; diaspora; battling |
| Language | English |
| Part of collection | University of Southern California dissertations and theses |
| Publisher (of the original version) | University of Southern California |
| Place of publication (of the original version) | Los Angeles, California |
| Publisher (of the digital version) | University of Southern California. Libraries |
| Provenance | Electronically uploaded by the author |
| Type | texts |
| Legacy record ID | usctheses-m2598 |
| Rights | Johnson, Imani Kai |
| Repository name | Libraries, University of Southern California |
| Repository address | Los Angeles, California |
| Repository email | http://www.usc.edu/isd/libraries/services/ask_a_librarian/email/ |
| Filename | etd-Johnson-3207 |
| Archival file | uscthesesreloadpub_Volume40/etd-Johnson-3207.pdf |
Description
| Title | Page 1 |
| Full text | DARK MATTER IN B-BOYING CYPHERS: RACE AND GLOBAL CONNECTION IN HIP HOP by Imani Kai Johnson A Dissertation Presented to the FACULTY OF THE GRADUATE SCHOOL UNIVERSITY OF SOUTHERN CALIFORNIA In Partial Fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree DOCTOR OF PHILOSOPHY (AMERICAN STUDIES AND ETHNICITY) December 2009 Copyright 2009 Imani Kai Johnson |
Comments
Post a Comment for Page 1
