CULTURAL ARCHETYPES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF “POSSIBLE WORLDS” OF MODERN AFRICAN-AMERICAN RAP (BASED ON KENDRICK LAMAR’S TEXTS)
CULTURAL ARCHETYPES IN THE CONSTRUCTION OF “POSSIBLE WORLDS” OF MODERN AFRICAN-AMERICAN RAP (BASED ON KENDRICK LAMAR’S TEXTS)

Summary/Abstract: The research aims at defining the archetypal-symbolic basis of contemporary African-American rap while specifying its imagery in terms of "possible worlds" as the semiotic framework of the existential problem articulation. The transition process, associated with archetypally based "possible worlds", correlates with mythological and fairy tale initiation, enabling the hero to answer existential questions at both the "consumer" and transcendental levels. Narrative universals in the conceptualization of the life path, resulted in the hero’s transfiguration, rely both on the themes recurring for rap texts (childhood, prison, drugs), and on archetypal models associated with a mythological and fairytale narrative, where hardship, violation of prohibitions, and requital are necessary conditions for the protagonist transformation. The archetypal symbolism of Kendrick Lamar’s lyrics led to the unexpected conclusion that the rapper-performer’s alternative world is the world of Christian values. The process of the lyrical hero’s transition into alternative world coincides with the splitting of the image of "rebel" into counter roles based on the archetypal models of “"trickster", "shadow" and "prophet".

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