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Verbal Riddim: The Politics and Aesthetics of Afro-Caribbean Dub Poetry Chrisitian Habekost. Cross/Cultures 10. Amsterdam and Atlanta: Rodopi, 1993. 262 pages.
Perhaps the best part of this book is the two pages of Contents which reflect the manuscript's origins in the disciplined analytical approach expected of a German university dissertation. There are twelve chapters, a discography, and bibliographies of primary and secondary materials. After an introductory chapter defining dub poetry, the book is divided into two parts, three chapters of "Background" and eight chapters of "Analysis: The Changing Conditions of Dub Poetry's Political Discourse."
The contents of each chapter are further described in subdivisions. Chapter Two, concerning the history and development of dub poetry, has sections on "Linton Kwesi Johnson--The Pioneer," "Oku Onuora--The Originator," "The Jamaican Scene--Mutabaruka," "The British Scene--Benjamin Zephaniah," "The Scene in Canada," "The 'Other' Caribbean: Rapso from Trinidad," and "New Developments: 'Where Have All the Dub Poets Gone?'" Chapter Four, "Riddim and Performance: The Audio-Visual Parameters," sounds even more impressive: "The Concept of Riddim" and "The Media of Per-FORM-ance," which is further subdivided into "A Cappella Recital," "Recording the Performance," "Concert Performance," "Printing the Performance," "Dramatizing the Performance," "Video Performance."
Part II, "Analysis," consists mostly of "Close Readings of Paradigmatic Poems." Oku Onuora's "Pressure Drop" and Michael Smith's "Me Cyaan Believe It" are used in Chapter Five as expressing "The Ghetto Experience." Chapter Six, "The Political Enemy," discusses Desmond Johnson's "Cuss Poem" and Lillian Allen's "I Fight Back." Chapter Nine concerns "Political Purposes Versus Entertainment" and is subdivided into "Mutabaruka: 'Revolutionary Words" and "Cabaret Dub Poetry."
Sound too good to be true? You are right. This is a terrible book. It repeats a few obvious ideas over and over, is often unintelligible unless you already know what is being discussed, is advocacy scholarship at its most simple-minded,...