Monday, January 2, 2012
Does language define our identity?
I am a big rap fan. Over break, I've been listening to Common's new album, The Dreamer, The Believer, a lot. The production is very strong, and the lyrical content is deep and meaningful. I think language used absolutely defines our identity. I immediately associate Common as a very intelligent person. Fair or not, that is how I see him. On the other hand, I cannot take someone like Lil Wayne seriously. He is not able to use language in the same way as Common, and comes across as stupid. This does not just apply to music, however. I believe we all, to certain degrees, will take someone more seriously if they come across as coherent and inelligent. We see them this way based on the way they use language. If someone does not do this, we may not appreciate their ideas fully. Language definately defines our identity.
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I agree with Evan, sadly enough as it is though, our perspective of a person can change by the way they use language. I think it's a terrible judge of character but it's true that we all do it. When R. Kelly came out with the song 'I Believe' during Obama's campaign, I gained so much respect for him. Whether or not he's a good person is not the point; the point is that we can simply be influenced by poetic verse with an intelligent use of colorful language.
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ReplyDeleteI concur with Evan Solomon. He is right when he says that identity is shaped with language. The way one speaks and the language they use both contribute to the image one is perceived with. Someone who always talks with large words and seems knowledgable about a vast amount of things gives off a different persona then someone who speaks little on a topic and when they do they use poor or incorrect vocabulary.
ReplyDeleteI also agree with Evan, last year in my English class we were working on slam poetry and watched Common perform a poem. Now even though this isn't music, I think his poetry is still a form of rap but the way he says things and the langauge he uses in his poem was so powerful and it definetly defines his identity not only as a well known rapper in his career, but also as an intelligent poet, with a bigger mind with vast amount of ideas in his mind. Now this post only really talks about Common but I think it is a strong example of the idea of language defining our identity
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