Subcultural Identities in British Reggae Lyrics
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“It Dread Inna Inglan” – Subcultural Identities in British Reggae Lyrics Diplomarbeit zur Erlangung des akademischen Grades eines Magisters der Philosophie an der Karl-Franzens-Universität Graz vorgelegt von Georg SEEREITER am Institut für Anglistik Begutachterin: Ao. Univ.-Prof. Mag. Dr. phil. Maria Löschnigg Graz, 2019 Ehrenwörtliche Erklärung Ich erkläre ehrenwörtlich, dass ich die vorliegende Arbeit selbstständig und ohne fremde Hilfe ver- fasst, andere als die angegebenen Quellen nicht benutzt und die den Quellen wörtlich oder inhaltlich entnommenen Stellen als solche kenntlich gemacht habe. Die Arbeit wurde bisher in gleicher oder ähnlicher Form keiner anderen inländischen oder ausländischen Prüfungsbehörde vorgelegt und auch noch nicht veröffentlicht. Die vorliegende Fassung entspricht der eingereichten elektronischen Version. Datum: ………………………… Unterschrift: ………………………… Acknowledgements First and foremost, I would like to dedicate these pages to the memory of Dr. Hugo Keiper, who had been the supervisor of this thesis before he, sadly, passed away. He will be remembered as a dedi- cated professor, who was teaching literature with passion, profound knowledge and a refreshing sense of humour. Furthermore, I would like to thank everyone who supported and inspired me during the process of writing, which includes many of my friends, my family and my partner. I am particularly thankful to Dr. Maria Löschnigg, who immediately agreed to supervise my thesis after the unexpected death of Mr. Keiper, and whose constructive feedback was very helpful and motivating for my work. I also want to thank Mr. Andrew Gray, Academic Services Librarian at Goldsmiths University of London, who gave me a very warm welcome and assisted me during my research stay in London. Finally I want to thank the University of Graz Office of International Relations for supporting this stay with the grant for short-time mobility. Table of Contents Introduction........................................................................................................................................1 1 Historical Development...................................................................................................................3 1.1 The Foundations of Reggae: American R&B and the Jamaican Sound System Culture. 3 1.2 Migration to Great Britain......................................................................................................6 1.2.1 The ‘Windrush Generation’................................................................................................6 1.2.2 Early Afro-Caribbean Culture in the UK...........................................................................7 1.2.3 Disillusion and Racial Tensions.........................................................................................8 1.3 The 1960s and the Birth of Ska and Rocksteady................................................................10 1.3.1 Early Jamaican Music Productions..................................................................................10 1.3.2 The Blue Beat Era – Ska in Britain..................................................................................11 1.3.3 Rocksteady, Rude Boys and Skinhead-Reggae................................................................12 1.4 The 1970s – ‘Roots and Culture’..........................................................................................15 1.4.1 Jamaican Roots Reggae and the Rastafari.......................................................................15 1.4.2 Britain’s Vibrant Reggae and Dub Scene.........................................................................18 1.4.3 UK Reggae – Youth Culture of the ‘Rebel Generation’...................................................20 1.4.4 Riots, Punk and Rock Against Racism.............................................................................21 1.5 The 1980s – From Underground to Mainstream................................................................23 1.5.1 The ‘Two-Tone’ Ska Revival...........................................................................................23 1.5.2 Pop and Reggae Crossover..............................................................................................24 1.5.3 Dancehall, Ragga and the Question of Gender and Sexuality.........................................25 1.5.4 Dub Poetry.......................................................................................................................27 1.6 Reggae in the 21st century: Continuities and New Developments.....................................28 2 Analysis of Song Lyrics.................................................................................................................31 2.1 “Handsworth Revolution” – Black Insurrection in Dreadful Times................................31 2.1.1 The Song..........................................................................................................................32 2.1.2 Context and Speech Situation..........................................................................................33 2.1.3 Structure...........................................................................................................................33 2.1.4 Close Reading and Interpretation.....................................................................................34 2.1.5 Summary..........................................................................................................................38 2.2 “Street 66” – Dub Poetry between Mysticism and Militancy............................................39 2.2.1 The Song / Poem..............................................................................................................40 2.2.2 Context and Speech Situation..........................................................................................40 2.2.3 Structure...........................................................................................................................41 2.2.4 Close Reading and Interpretation.....................................................................................41 2.2.5 Summary..........................................................................................................................47 2.3 “Why?” – Reggae Music and Anti-Fascism........................................................................50 2.3.1 The Song..........................................................................................................................51 2.3.2 Context and Speech Situation..........................................................................................52 2.3.3 Structure...........................................................................................................................53 2.3.4 Close Reading and Interpretation.....................................................................................53 2.3.5 Summary..........................................................................................................................60 Conclusion.........................................................................................................................................62 Works Cited......................................................................................................................................65 Films..............................................................................................................................................67 Songs.............................................................................................................................................67 Introduction In the history of modern popular music, Great Britain has been the birthplace of numerous musical developments that have defined a variety of genres, such as rock, punk, heavy metal and electronic dance music. Being the home of the Beatles, the Rolling Stones, Queen and Elton John, the UK has produced a number of bands and artists that are celebrated as icons of the international pop and rock universe. With regard to all these famous stars, however, one easily forgets that Britain has also been the centre of an extremely prolific reggae culture, which might not have been as commercially successful, but nonetheless creative and influential on a musical level. The importance of reggae in the context of British pop-culture seems to be terribly under-acknowledged, which might also be due to the fact that public representations of reggae are often dominated by a range of clichés. On the one hand, reggae tends to be dismissed by critics as Jamaican feel-good music with simple rhythms and lyrics, sung in incomprehensible Rasta-slang, that mainly deal with the benefits of smoking cannabis (or ‘ganja’). On the other hand, reggae is disproportionately represented by the idolized figure of Bob Marley, who was the only real pop-star the genre has ever produced. If we look closer, however, we will realize that reggae has a long and fascinating history that is far more complex than these stereotypical images suggest. It was in the early 1960s, when Jamaican musicians started to play a Caribbean interpretation of American R’n’B, which resulted in a catchy off-beat rhythm that would spark a musical revolution around the world. With the birth of ska music, which was the forerunner of reggae, the small island of Jamaica became one of the most important export nations for new musical trends. After a period of increased immigration from the Caribbean to Britain during the 1950s