July 28, 2005

Worde Up. Trying to make the Canterbury Tales more accesible to schoolchildren, Baba Brinkman has translated them into Hip-Hop. I'm reminded of the South Park episode with the inspirational group "Butt Out." I'd love the see the kid's reactions.
posted by Weezel 18 years ago
  • For schoolchildren?!? But the Wife of Bath's Tale is full of pr0n!!!
  • See his website.
  • Reminds me of a late-1980s morning show spoof called "The Rapping Bible". (Run DMC "Grill Skill" type music) Talkin 'bout Sodom, and Gomorra / Everybody partied like no tomorra / God looked down, said "Not my fault!!" / Don't look back or you'll TURN TO SALT! Genesis! Genesis! / Beginning of that, beginning of this! / Genesis! Genesis!
  • Recalling back to my schooldays, you don't need rap to get schoolchildren's attention. The Miller's Tale, with all its bawdy queint-grabbing and humorously contrived erse-kissing is already damn good entertainment, providing that the unfamiliar vocabulary is explained.
  • See his website Bandwidth Limit Exceeded
  • Bandwidth Limit Exceeded BBC /.'d no doubt...
  • Then conversely we have someone middle-englishing wikipedia.
  • The whole thing is just damn patronising. Bleuch.
  • Baba Brinkman? Has he any wool? sorry, couldn't resist
  • Bowdlerize it all to get the kids' attention? WRONG. JUST SICK AND WRONG. I'd like to say that I object based on aesthetic principles, but really, I just like the dirty bits. And if there's anything I know about kids, it's that kids are FASCINATED by the dirty bits. Repulsed, horrified, entertained, hypnotized -- whatever. FASCINATED, I tell you. More likely than not, kids will see lameass rapping for exactly what it is. Don't even bother.
  • Did a workshop with him at a conference. Kinda cool. In a super dorky way.
  • When I was in high school, 2 friends of mine used to perform the first 18 lines of Chaucer's General Prologue as a rap. Hence my absolute conviction that human beatbox and Middle English are a red-hot combination. But as for this Canadian guy... "I don't want to replace Chaucer's version, which is wonderful, but..." Dude, no fear.
  • [Hitherto undiscovered fragment of Canterbury Tales] A man ther was of Canada also, Who thought my rymes boryng were and slo. His wyf (he wyt not) thought the same of hym, And long had swyved wyth a man hight Jim[...] To mak his vers the harder did he stryve, The harder and mo lewdly they gan swyve. And there an ende. Therfor, scolar, looke First to thy lady, second to thy booke. And seke not the fylthy wordes expounge, For thilke savour best on ladyes tounge.
  • [manuscript stuck together at this point]
  • )!
  • I applaud any attempt to bring tales of fucking and fart jokes to the world's children.
  • Damn that shytte was doppe! ))!
  • I find it both appalling that Cambridge supports this "His visits to classes of 15 and 16-year-olds are part of a Cambridge University project to encourage children to love literature." and that the man has completed a masters thesis on Chaucer himself and doesn't consider this a sin.