[ecrea] CfP: elements - 2nd Meeting of the European HipHop Studies Network

CfP: ELEMENTS BRISTOL*

6-8 June 2019
2nd Meeting of the European HipHop Studies Network
University of Bristol, UK

*Call for Papers*

Emceeing. DJing. Breaking. Graffiti. Hip-hop is commonly understood to 
consist of these four elements. The idea of four elements is one of 
hip-hop culture’s core narrative and most pervasive founding myth since 
its beginnings in the Bronx in the 1970s. Yet, the idea of four core 
elements has been highly contested since the beginning of the culture as 
there is no unified definition of how many elements exist, who defined 
them, and how they came together. For instance, hip-hop founding father 
Kool Herc believes that "that there are far more than those [four 
elements]: the way you walk, the way you talk, the way you look, the way 
you communicate." (Chang xi) Likewise, on his album Kristyles, KRS ONE 
introduces his theory of nine elements which include beatboxing, 
fashion, knowledge, and entrepreneurialism (“Nine Elements”).

On the other hand, researchers such as criminologist Jeffrey Ross also 
emphasize that “graffiti [...] was established long before hip-hop music 
emerged in the South Bronx, and many of its practitioners do not 
identify with the music or its subculture at all” (139). While their 
number is contested, hip-hop’s elements are crucial in understanding the 
logics, conventions, and values of this fascinating culture in the US 
and in Europe. They reveal its creative tensions as well as larger 
notions of authority, authorship, boundary formation, community as well 
as inclusion and exclusion.

The second meeting of the European HipHop Studies Network therefore 
explores one of hip-hop’s most central ideas, the ideas of elements: Who 
defines them? What do they tell us about cultural, social, and economic 
communities and boundaries across Europe? How do these limits vary 
according to various contexts and practices across Europe? What are 
their consequences for cultural production and consumption? The 
objective of the meeting is to trace, interrogate, and expand the notion 
of elements as central organizing principles in hip-hop culture and 
their variations across Europe.

We invite papers, panels, performances, and contributions from a wide 
variety of backgrounds, perspectives, and angles. Scholarly disciplines 
include but are not limited to art history, cultural studies, black 
studies, ethnography, geography, graffiti studies, literary studies, 
musicology, pedagogy, performance studies, philosophy, political 
science, sociology, and visual culture studies. Artistic contributions 
include performances, themed panels of any format, lecture-recitals, and 
philosophies which combine research and praxis (or practice-as-research).

Artistic and scholarly proposals engaging with European hip-hop’s 
elements (those based both in Europe and outside of it) should include a 
title, 250 word abstract of their contribution and short biographical 
sketch. This should be submitted to (hiphopnetworkeurope /at/ gmail.com) 
<mailto:(hiphopnetworkeurope /at/ gmail.com)> no later than31 January 2019. We 
especially welcome papers that engage with less-academically-visible 
work, and from artists and practitioners from a wider variety of 
backgrounds. We hope to see you in Bristol!

*About the Network
*
The European HipHop Studies Network was founded in Dortmund in March 
2018. It aims at fostering exchange and cooperation between artists, 
practitioners, scholars, educators, policy makers, and the wider public 
in, across, and on Europe. The network is dedicated to promoting 
research on hip-hop culture(s) in, on, and about Europe and to creating 
respect for it in its respective communities as well as among cultural 
and political authorities. Based on hip-hop’s principles of respect, 
openness, and mutual understanding, the network’s idea of “Europe” 
refers to the continent and its people including its transnational and 
postcolonial histories and trajectories. It is inclusive in terms of 
race, ethnicity, gender, class, sexuality, age, geographical origin, and 
ability.

*Network Organizing Committee:*

Séverin Guillard (University Paris Est Créteil)
Sergey Ivanov (aka Grand PaP) (DA EXIT NGO)
James McNally (University of Bristol)
Sina Nitzsche (Ruhr University Bochum/TU Dortmund University)
J. Griffith Rollefson (University College Cork)
Venla Sykäri (University of Helsinki)
Justin Williams (University of Bristol)

*Contact:*

Justin Williams:(justin.williams /at/ bristol.ac.uk) 
<mailto:(justin.williams /at/ bristol.ac.uk)>

Network Website:
https://europeanhiphopstudiesnetwork.wordpress.com/

Network Facebook:
https://www.facebook.com/groups/europeanhiphopstudiesnetwork/
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