Global Hip Hop: A Translation and Multimodal Perspective

Drawing on translation, paratranslation studies, and multimodality, this paper looks at the different forms that translation takes in a selected number of songs by the Syrian-American Hip Hop artist Omar Offendum. As will be shown, translation in Hip Hop lyrics goes well beyond traditional notions of a transfer from one language to another, to include a variety of textual and metatextual strategies whereby direct translation from one language into another is coupled with comments, paratextual and cultural references. These different translation strategies can thus be examined within a paratranslation and multimodal approach, whereby lyrics, and the translation and paratranslation activities inherent to them, contribute to the overall significance of Hip Hop performances, together with the music and dancing. Most import of all, translation reveals itself as a process intrinsic to the language(s) of these songs, English and Arabic, and a key component in the construction of Arab Hip Hop identity which can shed new light on the debates on globalization and identity.