The Intertextuality of Black American Spoken Word and African Griot Tradition

From the Motherland to America

Griots in Africa were considered among the first spoken word poets and used this oral tradition to preserve their society’s cultural artifacts and traditions. This African institution underwent a transformative evolution during the Transatlantic Slave Trade, and in the New World, many displaced African-born people continued the griot tradition, expanding this practice to include their lived experiences and social realities and forming modern spoken word poetry. The Intertextuality of Black American Spoken Word and African Griot Tradition: From the Motherland to America by Tammie Jenkins examines this formation to show how spoken word poetry has used musical sampling to connect with historical events, politics, and African diaspora discourses from emancipation through the present. Using works by Meshell Ndegeocello and Ursula Rucker, Jenkins discovers how they reimagined history, politics, and the arts to create counternarratives that challenged largely accepted social narratives. In doing so, their methods enable Black American spoken word poets to communicate and build reciprocal relationships with their listening audiences today across intersections of race, gender, and class.

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