Faculty Introduction for “Hip Hop in the Chinese Cultural Context”

Kelly Marshall submitted this paper as his final research project in Perspective on Humanities: Sino-Western Literary Exchanges. The assignment asked students to select and explore a specific case of literary, or more broadly, cultural exchange between China and the West. Kelly accomplished this task rather beautifully. His essay tells the story of how a local Sichuanese rap group, The Higher Brothers, adapted with obvious success the music and themes of American hip hop to the circumstances of their own lives as well as the social and political environment of a rising China. It is an exemplary piece of work not only due to its use of an impressive range of source materials, all well selected and integrated, but mainly because I admire Kelly’s ability to manage a comparison that requires him to constantly shuttle back and forth between source and adaptation while constantly keeping his focus on the work of the Chinese artists. It is a challenging move we all face as academic writers, particularly those ambitious enough to cross a major divide such as that separating the cultures of China and the West. Bravo!

Read “Hip Hop in the Chinese Cultural Context” here.

Lin Chen, Lecturer in the Writing Program