Heteroglossia, Translanguaging & the Lyrical Poetics of '24 Herbs' in Hong Kong

This lecture was co-sponsored by the Office of Global Affairs
Date: Monday, October 24th, 2016, 11:00-12:00 PM
Location: Humanities, Room 1006

Watch: Heteroglossia, Translanguaging & the Lyrical Poetics of '24 Herbs'

Lecture Abstract

In this paper, I analyse the highly heteroglossic lyrical and musical practice of a hip hop group in Hong Kong, 24 Herbs. Through analysing their multi-voiced translanguaging lyrical poetics, I analyse their 'structure of feeling' (Williams, 1961) and their simultaneously trans-local and local identity in their uniquely postcolonial Hong Kong performance modes. For instance, 'Do you know me'  is the name of a new song in 24 Herbs'  album in 2011. 'Do you know me' also subtly indexes a familiar expression in streetwise Cantonese 'vulger speech'  ('chou-hau' )—'Diu neih louh mei'. This multi-voiced translanguaging not only evokes structures of feelings of both glossy cosmopolitan identities and forceful streetwise local Hong Kong identities, but also destablizes the conventional boundaries between Cantonese and English, 'low' and 'high' social languages, all in the arty and artful act of hip hop poetic meaning-making. 24 Herbs'  hip hop heteroglossic translanguaging practice as both pleasure and public pedagogy is discussed. 

About the Speaker: Angel Lin

Angel M. Y. Lin received her PhD from OISE, University of Toronto in 1996. She is well respected for her interdisciplinary research in discourse analysis, bilingual education, language policy in postcolonial contexts, and critical cultural studies. She has published over 90 research articles and 6 research books and serves on the editorial advisory boards of leading research journals such as Applied Linguistics, TESOL Quarterly, and Critical Discourse Studies. She is Professor of English Language and Literacy Education at the Faculty of Education, University of Hong Kong.