« NOUS ON VIENT DE MARSEILLE, COMME DIDIER RAOULT », RAP PANDÉMIQUE ET REFONTE DE L’IMAGINAIRE LINGUISTIQUE MARSEILLAIS
"WE COME FROM MARSEILLE, LIKE DIDIER RAOULT", PANDEMIC RAP AND THE REMAKING OF THE LINGUISTIC IMAGINARY OF MARSEILLES

Summary/Abstract: If according to Stendhal the novel was a mirror carried along a road, rap may be its modern equivalent. This article proposes to take a look at this musical genre and at the discourse that it carries in order to gauge the emergence as well as the sustainability of a brand new linguistic imaginary related to the pandemic in the city of Marseille. To do so, we will take an interest in one of its most popular and prolific rap artists of the moment, Jul. Marseille indeed relies on a strong sense of regional identity as well as on a particular history when it comes to how the pandemic has been dealt with and discussed in the public sphere. What is at stake here is therefore to note and study segments built around this new linguistic imaginary provided by the virus in order to get an understanding of how this new lexicon has become the discursive norm, but also to get a sense of how these linguistic patterns are deliberately used in order to fit to rap’s traditions, oscillating between stylistic concerns and identity-related statements.

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