Mosaics of Resistance: Political Identity Expression in Palestinian Youth Subcultures

Abstract

This thesis examines contemporary transnational Palestinian hip-hop as part of a continuum of politically informed and informing cultural expression, emphasizing the increasing heterogeneity of ideals and visions for Palestinian national liberation in response to a series of expulsions, defeats, and treatises. It traces the relationship between politics and the poem-song from the late 18th century to the present, and there is a focus on the noticeable shifts in the geopolitical landscape at pivotal moments throughout the 20th century—the 1948 Nakba, the 1967 Naksa, and most importantly, the 1993 signing of the Oslo Accords—to reveal how the Palestinian situation has become what it is today, and what role the poem-song has played and continues to play in that evolution both within the historic homeland and without. Its focus is on contemporary Palestinian hip-hop and delves into a semiotic analysis of specific songs written and performed by contemporary Palestinian rappers and hip-hop artists from around the world to delineate a possible shared vision of or affiliation with Palestine. What we find in our analysis is a mosaic of opinions, identifications, and preoccupations that sometimes converge with one another and demonstrate a continuity with pre-Oslo resistance culture, while at other times diverge completely into their own new territory.