Nep-hop for peace? Political visions and divisions in the booming Nepalese hip-hop scene
(2021) In International Journal of Cultural Studies 24(3). p.454-469- Abstract
- This article explores the burgeoning Nepalese hip-hop scene – commonly known as nep-hop – as a discursive intervention in the post-war politics of Nepal. Its core argument is that nep-hop oftentimes demonstrates an ethos of peacebuilding through popular culture. Indeed, many songs explicitly criticize violence, war, and the political leaders who recently brought the nation to a civil war. Yet, this political critique appears to often fall on deaf ears, due to the fact that nep-hop is commonly decoded as a radically ‘alien’ and ‘vulgar’ genre by audiences in mainstream Nepalese society. Importantly, however, this should not be read as a rejection of the ideological content of nep-hop, but rather as a negative evaluation of the aesthetic... (More)
- This article explores the burgeoning Nepalese hip-hop scene – commonly known as nep-hop – as a discursive intervention in the post-war politics of Nepal. Its core argument is that nep-hop oftentimes demonstrates an ethos of peacebuilding through popular culture. Indeed, many songs explicitly criticize violence, war, and the political leaders who recently brought the nation to a civil war. Yet, this political critique appears to often fall on deaf ears, due to the fact that nep-hop is commonly decoded as a radically ‘alien’ and ‘vulgar’ genre by audiences in mainstream Nepalese society. Importantly, however, this should not be read as a rejection of the ideological content of nep-hop, but rather as a negative evaluation of the aesthetic form of the genre, which bars many Nepalese citizens from engaging with its political messages in a meaningful manner. (Less)
Please use this url to cite or link to this publication:
https://lup.lub.lu.se/record/4bfec5c8-df59-4f35-802d-a577f415d592
- author
- Lundqvist, Martin LU
- publishing date
- 2021-05
- type
- Contribution to journal
- publication status
- published
- subject
- keywords
- audience studies, Nepal, nep-hop, peacebuilding, popular culture
- in
- International Journal of Cultural Studies
- volume
- 24
- issue
- 3
- pages
- 454 - 469
- publisher
- SAGE Publications
- external identifiers
-
- scopus:85097551585
- ISSN
- 1367-8779
- DOI
- 10.1177/1367877920978658
- language
- English
- LU publication?
- no
- id
- 4bfec5c8-df59-4f35-802d-a577f415d592
- date added to LUP
- 2022-09-02 11:15:14
- date last changed
- 2022-09-07 15:32:14
@article{4bfec5c8-df59-4f35-802d-a577f415d592,
abstract = {{This article explores the burgeoning Nepalese hip-hop scene – commonly known as nep-hop – as a discursive intervention in the post-war politics of Nepal. Its core argument is that nep-hop oftentimes demonstrates an ethos of peacebuilding through popular culture. Indeed, many songs explicitly criticize violence, war, and the political leaders who recently brought the nation to a civil war. Yet, this political critique appears to often fall on deaf ears, due to the fact that nep-hop is commonly decoded as a radically ‘alien’ and ‘vulgar’ genre by audiences in mainstream Nepalese society. Importantly, however, this should not be read as a rejection of the ideological content of nep-hop, but rather as a negative evaluation of the aesthetic form of the genre, which bars many Nepalese citizens from engaging with its political messages in a meaningful manner.}},
author = {{Lundqvist, Martin}},
issn = {{1367-8779}},
keywords = {{audience studies; Nepal; nep-hop; peacebuilding; popular culture}},
language = {{eng}},
number = {{3}},
pages = {{454--469}},
publisher = {{SAGE Publications}},
series = {{International Journal of Cultural Studies}},
title = {{Nep-hop for peace? Political visions and divisions in the booming Nepalese hip-hop scene}},
url = {{http://dx.doi.org/10.1177/1367877920978658}},
doi = {{10.1177/1367877920978658}},
volume = {{24}},
year = {{2021}},
}