This paper explores how a poc rapper / entertainer 'talks back' in his social performances. The focus is on racist comments and themes and how particular language resources are considered a key to Finnishness. I will show how he ends up reversing the hierarchical roles between 'us' and 'them' and how, ultimately, this contributes to the construction and negotiation of (non)belonging in Finnish society and culture.
This paper explores the discursive construction of 'talking back' (hooks 1989) in the context of Finnish society, social media and hip hop culture. The protagonist is Hassan Maikal, a Finnish rapper, vlogger, entertainer, with a Somali background. In this paper, I will explore how he takes issue in his social media performances with racist themes and discourses -- and talks back. Moreover, I will consider how particular language resources are considered a key to Finnishness, both by the racist commentators on social media and Hassan Maikal himself.
Theoretically and methodologically,the paper draws on sociolinguistic and discourse analytic work on rap and belonging (e.g. Leppänen & Westinen 2017) and transformative and critical popular cultural practices on social media (Vigouroux 2015; Häkkinen & Leppänen 2014). As data, I draw on a case study, i.e. one illustrative YouTube video where 'hate speech' is discussed and reacted to.
I will show how Hassan Maikal ends up reversing the hierarchical roles between 'us' and 'them' and how, ultimately, this contributes to the construction and negotiation of (non)belonging (Yuval-Davis 2007) in Finnish society and culture. Given the recent diversification of Finland and Finnishness, questions of ethnicities and (non)belonging are societally crucial and topical. This paper explores 'talking back' as resonating with the mobilities and challenges related to migration and sociocultural changes taking place in contemporary Finnish society. I aim to show how 'talking back' on social media can be constructed in (super)diversifying Finland and how one can challenge Finnishness and belonging in a variety of ways.References:Häkkinen, A. and Leppänen, S. 2014. YouTube Meme Warriors. Mashup Videos as Satire and Interventional Political Critique. eVarieng 15, Available at http://www.helsinki.fi/varieng/series/volumes/15/hooks, bell. 1989 / 2015. Talking back: Thinking feminist, thinking black. South End Press.Leppänen, Sirpa & Elina Westinen (2017). Migrant rap in the periphery: Performing politics of belonging. AILA Review 30: Meaning Making in the Periphery, 1–26.Vigouroux, Cécile. 2015. Genre, heteroglossic performances, and new identity: Stand-up comedy in modern French society. Language in Society 44, 243–272.Yuval-Davis, N. 2007. Belonging and the politics of belonging. Patterns of Prejudice 40(3), 197–214.
