C o m p a r a t i v e S t u d i e s i n r h y t h m "[Because] If you ain't got rhythm, you ain't got time. And if you ain't got time, what do you have? Nothing."

CSLC$503(Section(22076((Thursday(254:50(VKC(154((

Professor(HILL(((edwinhil@usc.edu((

Course(Description(

In(this(course,(we(believe(that(rhythm(moves(the(body,(which(means(it(functions(as(a(crucial(force(in(the((re)production(of(culture,(power,(resistance,(and(play.(We(therefore(agree(to(move(intellectually55and((why(not?)(physically55together(under(the(powerfully(repeated(notion(that(a(range(of(biological,(social,(political,(economic,(and(cultural(rhythms(and(beatings(are(constitutive(of(our(collective(and(individual(bodies.(The(course(discussion(will(try(to(catch(a(feel(for(this(beating(in(the(black(Atlantic,(where(rhythm(and(percussion(have(long(served(as(musical,(poetic,(and(critical(tools(for(practices(of(diaspora,(creolization,(community(formation,(survival,(and(resistance.(((Since(rhythm(moves(the(body,(and('the(people,'(how(does(it(manifest(in(dynamics(of(agency,(freedom,(solidarity,(or(totalitarianism?(How(have(rhythm(and(drums(been(thought(and(felt(to(trigger(spiritual(and(affective(movement?((Or(to(communicate?(We(must(also(ask:(How(might(notions(of(rhythm(including(repetition,(pattern,(polyrhythm,(pulse,(groove(and(feel55as(well(as(the(break55how(might(they(help(us(critique(and(resist(dominant(modes(of(knowledge(formation(and(pedagogy?(What(alternate(methodologies(of(historical(analysis(and(comparative(study(do(they(suggest?(In(addition:(how(do(rhythm(and(beating(function(in(the(embodiment(of(subjectivity?(What(embodiments(of(non5subjectivity(might(they(make(available(to(us?(In(short,(what((where?(when?)(is(this(joy(in(repetition?((Our(corpus(of(texts(come(primarily(from(20th(and(21st(century(writers(from(African(and(Caribbean(diasporas.(We(will(read(novels(and(short(stories(by(Edwidge(Danticat,(Earl(Lovelace,(Joseph(Zobel,(and(Claude(McKay,(poetry(by(Langston(Hughes,(Aimé(Césaire,(Léopold(Sédar(Senghor,(and(Ishmael(Reed,(and(theoretical(texts(by(Amiri(Baraka,(Fernando(Ortíz,(Antonio(Benítez5Rojo,(John(Mowitt,(and(others.(Through(their(references(to(recordings,(genres,(and(musicians,(these(texts(offer(us(a(musical(playlist(that(will(be(an(integral(part(of(the(course,(spanning(from(the(blues,(the(biguine,(and(the(calypso(to(experimental(jazz,(classic(rock,(reggaeton,(without(forgetting(of(course(hip(hop(hip(hop(hip(hop.(In(these(texts(and(performances(we(ask(how(rhythms,(beating,(and(percussing(provide(modes(of(gasping(and(feeling(our(place,(together,(in(this(world,(and(beyond.((