PhD Thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
Popular Music Climates. Proceedings from the XXI Biennial Conference of IASPM, Daegu, South Korea, 5th – 9th July 2022, 2023
Published articles by Mariia Mykhalonok
Ricercare, 2021
This article examines linguistic framing of Medellin as the city of the musical genre reggaeton i... more This article examines linguistic framing of Medellin as the city of the musical genre reggaeton in online media discourse, drawing on Fillmore’s frame semantics theory (1977). The most salient frames applied towards Medellin are those of centrality, home, and music, whereby the city’s global significance as a musical hub is emphasized through the terms belonging to the frame of world. The use of components from the frames of crime and drugs suggests that the drug-related past of Medellin is integrated into its new cultural profile. Another part of the new Medellin brand are the city’s residents themselves, who are credited with supporting local reggaetonero/as, and are typically referred to with overtly positive vocabulary from the frames of love, help, and home. Although some texts evoke negative stereotypes about reggaeton, the media mostly present the Medellin reggaeton scene through the frames of success, power, and business.
This dissertation analyses three categories of reggaeton-specific elements that appear
across ma... more This dissertation analyses three categories of reggaeton-specific elements that appear
across mainstream songs performed by artists from diverse geographic and linguistic
backgrounds, representing different artistic generations. I also examine how linguistically
and subculturally diverse audiences perceive, understand, and interpret these elements.
The analysis is based on a wide spectrum of data, including a corpus of 26 reggaeton songs
from Billboard year-end charts (2017–2020); 26 reggaeton concerts in 11 countries
(available on YouTube or attended in person); media texts featuring reggaetoneros/as as
well as those produced by listeners and musicologists (e.g., podcasts, TV series, memes,
and magazine articles); digital activities of reggaeton performers and listeners; and
interviews conducted with reggaeton artists and listeners in Medellin, Colombia.
ATeM Archiv für Textmusikforschung, 2019
The processing of reggaeton songs demands an active engagement from the listener due to high leve... more The processing of reggaeton songs demands an active engagement from the listener due to high level of fragmentation in the lyrics, which stems from variability in word stress and prosodic segmentation. Changes in word stress challenge the listener’s ability to parse the lyrics, and often render the passage semantically and grammatically opaque. Long, deliberate pauses and rhythmic variations within grammatical units can be a hindrance to the perception of certain passages, and hence, to overall comprehension of the text. However, the prosodic disjointedness is compensated by semantic and grammatical links between the parts of separated structures.
Conference Talks by Mariia Mykhalonok
Simposio Internacional "Reggaetón: Sociedad, Lengua, Cultura y Educación", 2024
Desde los inicios del reggaetón, los/las artistas puertorriqueños/as han resistido la hegemonía d... more Desde los inicios del reggaetón, los/las artistas puertorriqueños/as han resistido la hegemonía del ‘español estándar’ y han promovido la ideología lingüística de autenticidad local al integrar en las letras de sus canciones elementos de su variedad regional (Gal & Woolard, 2001; Woolard, 2007). Debido al papel esencial de Puerto Rico en la formación y desarrollo del género, artistas de otros países también adoptaron el léxico puertorriqueño y, en parte, la pronunciación para su artistic performance speech (Naranjo Hayes, 2022). Sin embargo, con el fortalecimiento de varias escenas regionales del reggaetón, los/las reggaetoneros/as locales han ido introduciendo léxico de sus propios dialectos.
Feid es un reggaetonero de Medellín que hoy en día es enormemente popular en toda Latinoamérica y el mundo. Además de una gran cantidad de elementos puertorriqueños, sus letras incorporan elementos de diferentes variedades del español colombiano: el español colombiano estándar, el español antioqueño y el parlache, dialecto social del carácter argótico desarrollado en los barrios populares de Medellín (Castañeda, 2005). Este deseo de sonar simultáneamente como un puertorriqueño y un colombiano/paisa/medellinense demuestra dos motivaciones contradictorias: por un lado, apuntar al modelo lingüístico puertorriqueño que goza de mayor prestigio dentro del género, y, por otro lado, mantener su identidad sociolingüística como un medellinense que proviene de en un barrio de estrato (medio-)bajo (Le Page & Tabouret-Keller, 1985).
La ponencia se basa en el análisis de las letras de 40 canciones que forman parte de tres álbumes de Feid (2022–2023), así como en sus entrevistas y actividades en línea, y en las entrevistas con cantantes y oyentes del reggaetón que llevé a cabo en Medellín en 2022.
Palabras clave: Reggaetón, ideología lingüística, identidad sociolingüística, español antioqueño, parlache
40 Congreso Internacional de la Asociación Española de Lingüística Aplicada (AESLA), 2023
La comunicación se enfoca en el análisis de los rasgos sintácticos y los factores cohesivos de 20... more La comunicación se enfoca en el análisis de los rasgos sintácticos y los factores cohesivos de 20 canciones de reggaeton contemporáneo. Con fines de análisis morfosintáctico, los textos de las canciones fueron transcritos con glosas morfémicas interlineares según el modelo propuesto por Lehmann (2008). El estudio de los mecanismos cohesivos se basa en dos obras seminales en la cohesión: Cohesion in English de Halliday y Hasan (1976) y Cohesion in literary texts de Gutwinski (1976). La sintaxis de reggaeton se caracteriza por el alto nivel de discontinuidad producida por la fragmentación textual, la heterogeneidad sintáctica y la ambigüedad morfosintáctica. Eso complica la comprensión del texto y su percepción como una unidad léxico-gramatical, lo que convierte a los/las oyentes en participantes activos/as en la creación del sentido y construcción del mismo texto. Además, el procesamiento de las canciones implica unas operaciones con elevado consumo de recursos, como un análisis repetido del ambiente textual adyacente y el restablecimiento de los fragmentos de texto desde la memoria. Sin embargo, el procesamiento de los textos de reggaeton se facilita mediante la red de las relaciones gramaticales y lexicales entre los elementos de distintas oraciones que se puede unir bajo el concepto de cohesión. La cohesión textual de reggaeton está basada en la interacción de los medios gramaticales y lexicales, los más significantes son la anáfora gramatical realizada a través de pronombres personales y posesivos, la colocación de los lexemas que pertenecen a los frames de rumba y sensualidad y su repetición. Esos elementos forman las cadenas cohesivas que conectan las oraciones y así promueven la unidad léxico-gramatical del texto. La conjunción mayormente se manifiesta en las relaciones aditivas entre las oraciones y las partes de canciones que no están marcadas explícitamente. Sustitución y elipsis muestran la frecuencia más baja entre los mecanismos cohesivos. Palabras claves: sintaxis, cohesión, reggaeton, anáfora, colocación
Séptima Conferencia de Jóvenes Académicos de la ADLAF, 2023
Hasta la fecha, la mayoría de los estudios lingüísticos sobre el reggaeton se han concentrado en ... more Hasta la fecha, la mayoría de los estudios lingüísticos sobre el reggaeton se han concentrado en el carácter machista de sus letras y la falta de mérito poético. En cambio, mi investigación doctoral muestra la complejidad y diversidad lingüística de las canciones del reggaeton contemporáneo. Mi estudio se basa en el corpus de 27 canciones del reggaeton más populares de 2017–2020 (según Billboard year-end charts), letras las cuales transcribo y anoto a través del software especializado EXMARaLDA. Mi análisis revela que las letras del reggaeton contemporáneo son heterogéneas lingüísticamente porque contienen elementos léxicos de diferentes variedades regionales o/y sociales del español (por ejemplo: tusa, arrebatado, pichear) y en este sentido, reflejan la variación diatópica y diastrática de la lengua española. Al mismo tiempo, muchas canciones examinadas contienen elementos de tal llamado ‘lenguaje del reggaeton’ (e.g. bellaqueo, duro; cf. Salamán 2004; Wood 2009; Martínez Vizcarrondo 2011), referencias intertextuales a otras canciones y otros textos culturales, y varios tipos de fórmulas recurrentes (término mío; por ejemplo: El Negrito Ojos Claros, Oasis team). Por otra parte, mis observaciones de las actividades del público en las plataformas digitales Instagram, Genius y Reddit muestran que los/las oyentes del reggaeton son diverso/as al respecto de sus características lingüísticas y subculturales. Ellos/Ellas poseen conocimientos diferentes sobre las variedades del español y de otras lenguas usadas en el reggaeton, es decir, tienen el capital lingüístico distinto (Bourdieu 1979). Además, cada oyente ha adquirido experiencia única con el discurso del reggaeton – en otras palabras, tiene el capital subcultural distinto (Thornton 1995). Como resultado de su diversidad lingüística y subcultural, los/las oyentes oyen – y, por lo tanto, interpretan – las letras heterogéneas del reggaeton de manera muy diferente. Esto se refleja, entre otros, en sus transcripciones de las canciones disponibles en línea. La transcripción de las letras del reggaeton requiere la combinación de los conocimientos lingüísticos y subculturales, para la cual yo uso el término capital subcultural lingüístico. Según el volumen del capital subcultural lingüístico, los/las oyentes se distribuyen por un continuum con los/las neófitos/as, en un extremo y los/las expertos/as del reggaeton, en otro extremo.
IV Congreso Internacional de Investigación Lingüística, Universidad de Antioquia, 2022
Esta ponencia presentará una parte de mi investigación doctoral que se dedica a la heterogeneidad... more Esta ponencia presentará una parte de mi investigación doctoral que se dedica a la heterogeneidad lingüística del reggaeton contemporáneo. El presente análisis se basa en las transcripciones de 33 canciones del reggaeton más populares de 2017-2020 (según Billboard year-end charts), producidas por los/las oyentes y disponibles en 8 sitios web. Por un lado, las canciones examinadas son heterogéneas lingüísticamente porque contienen elementos léxicos y rasgos fonéticos de diferentes variedades regionales y sociales del español. En este sentido, las letras del reggaeton reflejan la variación diatópica y diastrática de la lengua española. Al mismo tiempo, muchas canciones contienen elementos individuales o pasajes enteros en otras lenguas – en la muestra estas lenguas son inglés, criollo jamaiquino y francés. Por otro lado, mi análisis de la interacción del público en línea muestra que los/las oyentes del reggaeton son diverso/as al respecto de sus características lingüísticas y subculturales. Ellos/Ellas poseen conocimientos diferentes sobre las variedades del español y de otras lenguas usadas en el reggaeton, es decir, tienen el capital lingüístico distinto (Bourdieu 1979). Además, cada oyente ha adquirido experiencia única con el discurso del reggaeton – en otras palabras, tiene el capital subcultural distinto (Thornton 1995). Las transcripciones revelan que tan diferente oye – y, por lo tanto, interpreta – el público heterogéneo las letras heterogéneas del reggaeton. Las diferencias en percepción e interpretación se reflejan tanto en lagunas en las transcripciones como en la variación considerable respecto a los elementos transcritos y su ortografía. Los componentes de las canciones que muestran la mayor variación en transcripciones analizadas son palabras de tal llamado ‘lenguaje del reggaeton’ (e.g. Salamán 2004; Wood 2009; Martínez Vizcarrondo 2011) y las fórmulas recurrentes (término mío). El lenguaje del reggaeton está basado principalmente en el lenguaje coloquial/juvenil de Puerto Rico y, además, incorpora varias invenciones propias de los/las reggaetonero/as. Las fórmulas recurrentes incluyen firmas y eslóganes de los/las reggaetonero/as e información técnica de varios tipos, como, por ejemplo, los créditos, los títulos de álbumes y nombres de disqueras. Para descifrar acústicamente las palabras reggaetoneras y las fórmulas, los/las oyentes necesitan el capital tanto lingüístico como subcultural. Para transcribir estos elementos de manera correcta, se necesita el conocimiento de las convenciones ortográficas que se aplica dentro de la cultura del reggaeton. Por consiguiente, la transcripción de las canciones del reggaeton requiere la combinación de los conocimientos lingüísticos y subculturales, para la cual yo uso el término capital subcultural lingüístico. Según el volumen del capital subcultural lingüístico, los/las oyentes se distribuyen por un continuum con los/las neófitos/as, en un extremo y los/las expertos/as del reggaeton, en otro extremo.
El 39º Congreso Internacional de la Sociedad Española de Lingüística Aplicada (AESLA), 2022
This paper will demonstrate how linguistically diverse audiences engage in meaning-making of ling... more This paper will demonstrate how linguistically diverse audiences engage in meaning-making of linguistically heterogeneous reggaeton lyrics. It is based on analysis of 34 reggaeton songs from Billboard year-end charts (2017–2020) and activities of reggaeton listeners on digital platforms Genius.com, Instagram, and Reddit. Over the last years, reggaeton songs have been dominating global charts, attracting listeners of various linguistic and cultural backgrounds. However, so far, very little attention has been paid to linguistic features of reggaeton due to the marginalization of this music both in popular opinion and academic context. My research offers an insight into linguistic complexity of reggaeton lyrics and the listeners’ hard work on their acoustic reception and meaning-making. Reggaeton songs reflect the diatopic and diastratic variation of the Spanish language. Contemporary reggaetonero/as come from diverse geographical and social backgrounds and as a result, most songs featuring several artists contain elements from different regional and social varieties of Spanish, i.e. Puerto Rican and Colombian youth slang and colloquial language. Moreover, reggaeton becomes increasingly multilingual, incorporating further languages alongside Spanish, i.a. English, Portuguese, French, Jamaican Creole, and Japanese. Linguistic plurality is also characteristic of reggaeton audience, which can be categorized into native speakers of different Spanish varieties, listeners with some knowledge of Spanish (including Spanish learners and Spanish heritage speakers), and listeners with (virtually) no knowledge of Spanish. Additionally, each listener has a unique experience with other languages used in reggaeton and therefore a unique experience with the songs where they appear. My research reveals that all categories of listeners encounter difficulties with acoustic reception and/or understanding of reggaeton lyrics. However, their ability to decipher the lyrics appears to significantly improve due to repeated reception of songs and interaction with other fans online. Reggaeton enthusiasts who engage in these activities form a separate category of listeners, which I wish to call ‘reggaeton experts’. Reggaeton experts can have any level of general Spanish competence; however, they accumulated an extensive knowledge of reggaeton language, which constitutes their linguistic subcultural capital (Bourdieu 1979; Thornton 1995). Reggaeton experts share their subcultural (and) linguistic knowledge with less experienced listeners on various digital platforms, i.a. Genius.com, Instagram, and Reddit. In these digital spaces, reggaeton aficionados from around the world participate in co-construction of lyrical meaning of their favourite songs (Jungbluth 2016). Through engaging in discussions and collective transcriptions, translations, and annotations, listeners with diverse linguistic and reggaeton-related expertise complete the jigsaw puzzle of song’s meaning with a piece of knowledge unavailable to other contributors. Interestingly, most dedicated listeners discover lyrical interpretations and correspondences in further languages apparently not intended by the authors due to their lack of respective linguistic knowledge. The primacy of individual interpretation over authorial intent is promoted by reggaetonero/as themselves, who engage in explanations of their lyrics rather sporadically and often explicitly give their audiences the freedom of interpretation. Digital activities of heterogeneous audiences reveal a plethora of possible hearings and understandings of reggaeton lyrics and the irrelevance of the dichotomy of ‘correct’ and ‘incorrect’. Keywords: varieties of Spanish, linguistic subcultural capital, collaborative meaning-making, co-construction, reggaeton lyrics
IASPM XXI 2022: Climates of Popular Music, 2022
Reggaeton is a genre of Latin popular music that appeals to listeners of different cultural backg... more Reggaeton is a genre of Latin popular music that appeals to listeners of different cultural backgrounds and music tastes. This appeal is achieved, inter alia, through the visual trademark of reggaeton videos – Caribbean aesthetics. Common settings include scenic beaches, turquoise ocean, and palms, which ground the viewers geographically and allow them to identify the genre of a song from the very first seconds of a video. These images of earthly paradises function as visual means of tropicalization (Aparicio/Chávez-Silverman 1997) of reggaeton music, depicting the Caribbean space and the artists as ‘exotic other’. Depending on their experience with reggaeton music, different groups of audience interpret the videos’ settings differently: while core listeners are often able to decode the underlying symbolic meaning of a place, the newcomers may perceive the same place as a ‘typical’ Caribbean locale offering a seascape from daily routine. Interestingly, although with the internationalization of reggaeton, the typical settings of music videos have been shifting from outdoor locations towards indoor ones, they still preserve the key visual elements of tropicalization. These elements create the ambiance of an exotic-themed party and fulfil the horizon of expectations of global audiences regarding the tropical imagery of reggaeton. Keywords: reggaeton, music video, Caribbean aesthetics, tropicalization, globalization
28th International Congress of FILLM: Linguistic, Literary, and Cultural Diversity in a Global Perspective, 2021
This presentation is part of the round table "Addressing the diversity of the public".
In the pan... more This presentation is part of the round table "Addressing the diversity of the public".
In the panel, we combine the artistic contexts of film-viewing and concert experience in order to address questions towards the role that diversity plays for them. Both of them provide a setting in which a diverse public comes together in one place to jointly experience a particular performance as an 'interaffective event' that involves all its participants (Müller/Kappelhoff 2018; Greifenstein/Horst et al. 2018). As such, both films and concerts operate at the interface of commonality and individuality, aiming at Unity in Diversity and striving for mutual understanding and a jointly shared horizon. How do they do so, given that «in the 'space between' that reflects the 'inevitability of difference' in understanding between people (Cameroon 2003, 31) [..] the difference of the separated horizons of experience is gradually disclosed»? By means of the German series BABYLON BERLIN (2018) and the globally popular music genre of Reggaeton, we will demonstrate and discuss cinematic and musical forms of addressing diversity, not only with regard to the attending public but also to what is (re)presented. By unfolding a crime story and equally proving a subtler (hi)story of a mentality, BABYLON BERLIN addresses different spectatorships: one that focuses on crime fiction and one taking the perspective of historians. Through multilingualism, social belonging and ambiguities of meaning, it moreover creates a collage of speaking that addresses the diversity of the people that it (re)presents as well as those that view it. Reggaeton, in turn, makes use of a combination of Spanish with English, or Brazilian Portuguese, or French that results in plurilingual lyrics addressing the diversity of its reggaeton community. The sense of belonging to this community is also promoted through the dembow rhythm that ensures "danceability" of this genre. In so doing, reggaeton appeals to common human heritage (Jungbluth 2019; Mykhalonok fothcoming).
Listening to Mainstream Popular Music at the Beginning of the 2020s: Sounds and Practices, University of Innsbruck, 2021
Reggaeton is a Hurban genre that broke onto the mainstream music market in 2005 and has been pres... more Reggaeton is a Hurban genre that broke onto the mainstream music market in 2005 and has been present in international pop charts ever since. Global popularity of reggaeton provokes the question: what makes listeners all over the world enjoy this mostly Spanish-performed music?
I will demonstrate that linguistically and culturally disparate international audiences are engaged in different types of reggaeton acts by numerous verbal, visual, and musical strategies. Due to peculiarities in the linguistic organisation of reggaeton lyrics, the Spanish-speaking public participates in sense-making and text construction when processing the songs and applies their previous knowledge of the discourse when interpreting genre-related references and common narrative structure of songs. Regular code-mixing occurrences between Spanish and English, Brazilian Portuguese, and French, as well as English-language recurrent idiomatic formulas suggest the existence of a global plurilingual reggaeton community, which embraces the audiences of all language backgrounds.
Visually, the listeners’ involvement is promoted through Latin American and Caribbean aesthetics of music videos, that usually present picturesque neighbourhoods and/or tropical earthly paradises with happy dancing people. These imageries rely heavily on positive stereotypes about the region and therefore non-Latino audiences take great delight in watching reggaeton videos. The images of dancing Latino/as, combined with the musical patterns of reggaeton and its defining rhythm dembow, corporally engage the public, regardless of their linguistic and cultural background.
During concerts, reggaetonero/as adapt their performance to the preferences of linguistically disparate audiences by employing different languages while singing and interacting with fans. This enhances the public’s emotional experience and makes them feel included in the performance both emotionally and linguistically.
Keywords: reggaeton, multilingual lyrics, followers’ shared knowledge, Caribbean aesthetics, emotional engagement
AILASA 2020 Online Conference, 2020
This presentation is the third part of the panel "Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Reggaeton and ... more This presentation is the third part of the panel "Cross-Disciplinary Approaches to Reggaeton and Music Heritage" (Lauren G Chalk, Dr. Beatriz Carbajal-Carrera, Mariia Mykhalonok).
Since the explosion of reggaeton onto the global scene in 2005, this mostly Spanish-performed music genre has attracted international audiences of different linguistic backgrounds. However, some linguistic features of reggaeton lyrics, such as the use of Spanish colloquialisms, produce places of indeterminacy (Ingarden 1937/1973) for many listeners. To fill their respective gaps in knowledge, these listeners consult forums to source collaborative explanations from not only native Spanish speakers, but listeners with different levels of Spanish proficiency, including those without knowledge of the language. An analysis of online forums reveals a particular type of audience – ‘reggaeton experts’ – core listeners with a deep knowledge of reggaeton discourse, regardless of their linguistic background. Using online platforms, these experts transmit their knowledge to less experienced listeners. This online interaction between listeners of various levels of engagement with reggaeton discourse and diverse linguistic backgrounds indicates the formation of a global, plurilingual reggaeton community.
Groove the City 2020 - Constructing and Deconstructing Urban Spaces through Music, 2020
In the late 2000s, the image of Medellin changed from the city of Pablo Escobar to the world capi... more In the late 2000s, the image of Medellin changed from the city of Pablo Escobar to the world capital of Latin urban music – reggaeton. The new concept of the city has been actively promoted in the discourse of reggaeton by verbal and visual means.
Colombian and world media describe Medellin as a unique place which concentrates the most successful and promising representatives of the urban genre, using such lexemes as Meca [Mecca], punto de partida [starting point], acogida [welcome], dominar [dominate], potenciar [encourage]. Interestingly, the narco history of the city is not neglected, but rather integrated in its contemporary positive framing. In reggaeton song “Medellín” (Madonna feat. Maluma), the past and the present of the city are combined through non-ordinary lexical collocation: “We built a cartel just for love”. In biographical TV series “El Ganador”, reggaetonero Nicky Jam credits Medellin with his overcoming drug addiction and succeeding in music career. This personal story resembles the history of the city itself and activates linguistic frames of success and hope.
Visual promotion of Medellin takes place in music videos, where it is represented through breath-taking panoramic views and/or picturesque neighbourhoods with their happy dancing inhabitants. Colombian reggaetoneros are presented as the new power of Medellin through massive jewellery and expensive cars – typical articulations of reggaeton culture, similar to the ones of narco culture (Kail 2015). Thus, the discourse of reggaeton aims at communicating the message that, unlike cartel leaders, artists achieved wealth by fulfilling their music potential in world capital of urban music.
Master thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
La investigación se dedica al análisis de los rasgos sintácticos y los factores
cohesivos de 20 ... more La investigación se dedica al análisis de los rasgos sintácticos y los factores
cohesivos de 20 textos de reggaetón contemporáneo hispanohablante. La sintaxis de
reggaetón se caracteriza por el alto nivel de discontinuidad producida por la
fragmentación textual, la heterogeneidad sintáctica y la ambigüedad morfosintáctica.
Eso complica la comprensión del texto y su percepción como una unidad léxicogramatical, lo que convierte a los/las oyentes en participantes activos/as en la creación
del sentido y construcción del mismo texto. Además, el procesamiento de las canciones
implica unas operaciones con elevado consumo de recursos, como un análisis repetido
del ambiente textual adyacente y el restablecimiento de los fragmentos de texto desde
la memoria.
Sin embargo, el procesamiento de los textos de reggaetón se facilita mediante la
red de las relaciones gramaticales y lexicales entre los elementos de distintas oraciones
que se puede unir bajo el concepto de cohesión. La cohesión textual de reggaetón está
basada en la interacción de los medios gramaticales y lexicales, los más significantes
son la anáfora gramatical realizada a través pronombres personales y posesivos, la
colocación de los lexemas que pertenecen a los frames de rumba y sensualidad y su
repetición. Esos elementos forman las cadenas cohesivas que conectan la mayoría de
las oraciones del texto y así promueven su unidad léxico-gramatical. La conjunción
mayormente se manifiesta en las relaciones aditivas entre las oraciones y las partes de
canciones que no están marcadas explícitamente. Sustitución y elipsis muestran la
frecuencia más baja entre los mecanismos cohesivos.
Podcast by Mariia Mykhalonok
Representing Reggaeton Podcast, 2019
This episode of ‘Representing Reggaeton’ explores the playful language devices used in Colombian ... more This episode of ‘Representing Reggaeton’ explores the playful language devices used in Colombian reggaeton performances. Lauren G Chalk and I talk about how Colombian artists purposefully change accent stress and fluctuate between personal pronouns to invite active participation from listeners who already anticipate these disruptions.
Bachelor thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
Кваліфікаційна робота присвячена дослідженню засобів створення синтаксичної виразності в поетични... more Кваліфікаційна робота присвячена дослідженню засобів створення синтаксичної виразності в поетичних творах І. Жиленко. У роботі з’ясовано специфіку синтаксичної організації художніх і віршових текстів та простежено її кореляцію із загальномовними синтаксичними структурами. Проаналізовано поняття індивідуального синтаксису письменника у зв’язку з його ідіостилем. Виокремлено прийоми реалізації загальнолінгвістичної категорії експресивності на синтаксичному рівні художньої мови. Встановлено і описано комплекс синтаксичних засобів експресивності в поезії І. Жиленко. Схарактеризовано зі стилістичного, формально-граматичного, семантикосинтаксичного та комунікативного аспектів низку неповних, сегментованих та ускладнених синтаксичних конструкцій.
Ключові слова: художній текст, ідіостиль, експресивний синтаксис, неповні речення, сегментовані конструкції, ускладнені речення.
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PhD Thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
Published articles by Mariia Mykhalonok
across mainstream songs performed by artists from diverse geographic and linguistic
backgrounds, representing different artistic generations. I also examine how linguistically
and subculturally diverse audiences perceive, understand, and interpret these elements.
The analysis is based on a wide spectrum of data, including a corpus of 26 reggaeton songs
from Billboard year-end charts (2017–2020); 26 reggaeton concerts in 11 countries
(available on YouTube or attended in person); media texts featuring reggaetoneros/as as
well as those produced by listeners and musicologists (e.g., podcasts, TV series, memes,
and magazine articles); digital activities of reggaeton performers and listeners; and
interviews conducted with reggaeton artists and listeners in Medellin, Colombia.
Conference Talks by Mariia Mykhalonok
Feid es un reggaetonero de Medellín que hoy en día es enormemente popular en toda Latinoamérica y el mundo. Además de una gran cantidad de elementos puertorriqueños, sus letras incorporan elementos de diferentes variedades del español colombiano: el español colombiano estándar, el español antioqueño y el parlache, dialecto social del carácter argótico desarrollado en los barrios populares de Medellín (Castañeda, 2005). Este deseo de sonar simultáneamente como un puertorriqueño y un colombiano/paisa/medellinense demuestra dos motivaciones contradictorias: por un lado, apuntar al modelo lingüístico puertorriqueño que goza de mayor prestigio dentro del género, y, por otro lado, mantener su identidad sociolingüística como un medellinense que proviene de en un barrio de estrato (medio-)bajo (Le Page & Tabouret-Keller, 1985).
La ponencia se basa en el análisis de las letras de 40 canciones que forman parte de tres álbumes de Feid (2022–2023), así como en sus entrevistas y actividades en línea, y en las entrevistas con cantantes y oyentes del reggaetón que llevé a cabo en Medellín en 2022.
Palabras clave: Reggaetón, ideología lingüística, identidad sociolingüística, español antioqueño, parlache
In the panel, we combine the artistic contexts of film-viewing and concert experience in order to address questions towards the role that diversity plays for them. Both of them provide a setting in which a diverse public comes together in one place to jointly experience a particular performance as an 'interaffective event' that involves all its participants (Müller/Kappelhoff 2018; Greifenstein/Horst et al. 2018). As such, both films and concerts operate at the interface of commonality and individuality, aiming at Unity in Diversity and striving for mutual understanding and a jointly shared horizon. How do they do so, given that «in the 'space between' that reflects the 'inevitability of difference' in understanding between people (Cameroon 2003, 31) [..] the difference of the separated horizons of experience is gradually disclosed»? By means of the German series BABYLON BERLIN (2018) and the globally popular music genre of Reggaeton, we will demonstrate and discuss cinematic and musical forms of addressing diversity, not only with regard to the attending public but also to what is (re)presented. By unfolding a crime story and equally proving a subtler (hi)story of a mentality, BABYLON BERLIN addresses different spectatorships: one that focuses on crime fiction and one taking the perspective of historians. Through multilingualism, social belonging and ambiguities of meaning, it moreover creates a collage of speaking that addresses the diversity of the people that it (re)presents as well as those that view it. Reggaeton, in turn, makes use of a combination of Spanish with English, or Brazilian Portuguese, or French that results in plurilingual lyrics addressing the diversity of its reggaeton community. The sense of belonging to this community is also promoted through the dembow rhythm that ensures "danceability" of this genre. In so doing, reggaeton appeals to common human heritage (Jungbluth 2019; Mykhalonok fothcoming).
I will demonstrate that linguistically and culturally disparate international audiences are engaged in different types of reggaeton acts by numerous verbal, visual, and musical strategies. Due to peculiarities in the linguistic organisation of reggaeton lyrics, the Spanish-speaking public participates in sense-making and text construction when processing the songs and applies their previous knowledge of the discourse when interpreting genre-related references and common narrative structure of songs. Regular code-mixing occurrences between Spanish and English, Brazilian Portuguese, and French, as well as English-language recurrent idiomatic formulas suggest the existence of a global plurilingual reggaeton community, which embraces the audiences of all language backgrounds.
Visually, the listeners’ involvement is promoted through Latin American and Caribbean aesthetics of music videos, that usually present picturesque neighbourhoods and/or tropical earthly paradises with happy dancing people. These imageries rely heavily on positive stereotypes about the region and therefore non-Latino audiences take great delight in watching reggaeton videos. The images of dancing Latino/as, combined with the musical patterns of reggaeton and its defining rhythm dembow, corporally engage the public, regardless of their linguistic and cultural background.
During concerts, reggaetonero/as adapt their performance to the preferences of linguistically disparate audiences by employing different languages while singing and interacting with fans. This enhances the public’s emotional experience and makes them feel included in the performance both emotionally and linguistically.
Keywords: reggaeton, multilingual lyrics, followers’ shared knowledge, Caribbean aesthetics, emotional engagement
Since the explosion of reggaeton onto the global scene in 2005, this mostly Spanish-performed music genre has attracted international audiences of different linguistic backgrounds. However, some linguistic features of reggaeton lyrics, such as the use of Spanish colloquialisms, produce places of indeterminacy (Ingarden 1937/1973) for many listeners. To fill their respective gaps in knowledge, these listeners consult forums to source collaborative explanations from not only native Spanish speakers, but listeners with different levels of Spanish proficiency, including those without knowledge of the language. An analysis of online forums reveals a particular type of audience – ‘reggaeton experts’ – core listeners with a deep knowledge of reggaeton discourse, regardless of their linguistic background. Using online platforms, these experts transmit their knowledge to less experienced listeners. This online interaction between listeners of various levels of engagement with reggaeton discourse and diverse linguistic backgrounds indicates the formation of a global, plurilingual reggaeton community.
Colombian and world media describe Medellin as a unique place which concentrates the most successful and promising representatives of the urban genre, using such lexemes as Meca [Mecca], punto de partida [starting point], acogida [welcome], dominar [dominate], potenciar [encourage]. Interestingly, the narco history of the city is not neglected, but rather integrated in its contemporary positive framing. In reggaeton song “Medellín” (Madonna feat. Maluma), the past and the present of the city are combined through non-ordinary lexical collocation: “We built a cartel just for love”. In biographical TV series “El Ganador”, reggaetonero Nicky Jam credits Medellin with his overcoming drug addiction and succeeding in music career. This personal story resembles the history of the city itself and activates linguistic frames of success and hope.
Visual promotion of Medellin takes place in music videos, where it is represented through breath-taking panoramic views and/or picturesque neighbourhoods with their happy dancing inhabitants. Colombian reggaetoneros are presented as the new power of Medellin through massive jewellery and expensive cars – typical articulations of reggaeton culture, similar to the ones of narco culture (Kail 2015). Thus, the discourse of reggaeton aims at communicating the message that, unlike cartel leaders, artists achieved wealth by fulfilling their music potential in world capital of urban music.
Master thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
cohesivos de 20 textos de reggaetón contemporáneo hispanohablante. La sintaxis de
reggaetón se caracteriza por el alto nivel de discontinuidad producida por la
fragmentación textual, la heterogeneidad sintáctica y la ambigüedad morfosintáctica.
Eso complica la comprensión del texto y su percepción como una unidad léxicogramatical, lo que convierte a los/las oyentes en participantes activos/as en la creación
del sentido y construcción del mismo texto. Además, el procesamiento de las canciones
implica unas operaciones con elevado consumo de recursos, como un análisis repetido
del ambiente textual adyacente y el restablecimiento de los fragmentos de texto desde
la memoria.
Sin embargo, el procesamiento de los textos de reggaetón se facilita mediante la
red de las relaciones gramaticales y lexicales entre los elementos de distintas oraciones
que se puede unir bajo el concepto de cohesión. La cohesión textual de reggaetón está
basada en la interacción de los medios gramaticales y lexicales, los más significantes
son la anáfora gramatical realizada a través pronombres personales y posesivos, la
colocación de los lexemas que pertenecen a los frames de rumba y sensualidad y su
repetición. Esos elementos forman las cadenas cohesivas que conectan la mayoría de
las oraciones del texto y así promueven su unidad léxico-gramatical. La conjunción
mayormente se manifiesta en las relaciones aditivas entre las oraciones y las partes de
canciones que no están marcadas explícitamente. Sustitución y elipsis muestran la
frecuencia más baja entre los mecanismos cohesivos.
Podcast by Mariia Mykhalonok
Bachelor thesis by Mariia Mykhalonok
Ключові слова: художній текст, ідіостиль, експресивний синтаксис, неповні речення, сегментовані конструкції, ускладнені речення.
across mainstream songs performed by artists from diverse geographic and linguistic
backgrounds, representing different artistic generations. I also examine how linguistically
and subculturally diverse audiences perceive, understand, and interpret these elements.
The analysis is based on a wide spectrum of data, including a corpus of 26 reggaeton songs
from Billboard year-end charts (2017–2020); 26 reggaeton concerts in 11 countries
(available on YouTube or attended in person); media texts featuring reggaetoneros/as as
well as those produced by listeners and musicologists (e.g., podcasts, TV series, memes,
and magazine articles); digital activities of reggaeton performers and listeners; and
interviews conducted with reggaeton artists and listeners in Medellin, Colombia.
Feid es un reggaetonero de Medellín que hoy en día es enormemente popular en toda Latinoamérica y el mundo. Además de una gran cantidad de elementos puertorriqueños, sus letras incorporan elementos de diferentes variedades del español colombiano: el español colombiano estándar, el español antioqueño y el parlache, dialecto social del carácter argótico desarrollado en los barrios populares de Medellín (Castañeda, 2005). Este deseo de sonar simultáneamente como un puertorriqueño y un colombiano/paisa/medellinense demuestra dos motivaciones contradictorias: por un lado, apuntar al modelo lingüístico puertorriqueño que goza de mayor prestigio dentro del género, y, por otro lado, mantener su identidad sociolingüística como un medellinense que proviene de en un barrio de estrato (medio-)bajo (Le Page & Tabouret-Keller, 1985).
La ponencia se basa en el análisis de las letras de 40 canciones que forman parte de tres álbumes de Feid (2022–2023), así como en sus entrevistas y actividades en línea, y en las entrevistas con cantantes y oyentes del reggaetón que llevé a cabo en Medellín en 2022.
Palabras clave: Reggaetón, ideología lingüística, identidad sociolingüística, español antioqueño, parlache
In the panel, we combine the artistic contexts of film-viewing and concert experience in order to address questions towards the role that diversity plays for them. Both of them provide a setting in which a diverse public comes together in one place to jointly experience a particular performance as an 'interaffective event' that involves all its participants (Müller/Kappelhoff 2018; Greifenstein/Horst et al. 2018). As such, both films and concerts operate at the interface of commonality and individuality, aiming at Unity in Diversity and striving for mutual understanding and a jointly shared horizon. How do they do so, given that «in the 'space between' that reflects the 'inevitability of difference' in understanding between people (Cameroon 2003, 31) [..] the difference of the separated horizons of experience is gradually disclosed»? By means of the German series BABYLON BERLIN (2018) and the globally popular music genre of Reggaeton, we will demonstrate and discuss cinematic and musical forms of addressing diversity, not only with regard to the attending public but also to what is (re)presented. By unfolding a crime story and equally proving a subtler (hi)story of a mentality, BABYLON BERLIN addresses different spectatorships: one that focuses on crime fiction and one taking the perspective of historians. Through multilingualism, social belonging and ambiguities of meaning, it moreover creates a collage of speaking that addresses the diversity of the people that it (re)presents as well as those that view it. Reggaeton, in turn, makes use of a combination of Spanish with English, or Brazilian Portuguese, or French that results in plurilingual lyrics addressing the diversity of its reggaeton community. The sense of belonging to this community is also promoted through the dembow rhythm that ensures "danceability" of this genre. In so doing, reggaeton appeals to common human heritage (Jungbluth 2019; Mykhalonok fothcoming).
I will demonstrate that linguistically and culturally disparate international audiences are engaged in different types of reggaeton acts by numerous verbal, visual, and musical strategies. Due to peculiarities in the linguistic organisation of reggaeton lyrics, the Spanish-speaking public participates in sense-making and text construction when processing the songs and applies their previous knowledge of the discourse when interpreting genre-related references and common narrative structure of songs. Regular code-mixing occurrences between Spanish and English, Brazilian Portuguese, and French, as well as English-language recurrent idiomatic formulas suggest the existence of a global plurilingual reggaeton community, which embraces the audiences of all language backgrounds.
Visually, the listeners’ involvement is promoted through Latin American and Caribbean aesthetics of music videos, that usually present picturesque neighbourhoods and/or tropical earthly paradises with happy dancing people. These imageries rely heavily on positive stereotypes about the region and therefore non-Latino audiences take great delight in watching reggaeton videos. The images of dancing Latino/as, combined with the musical patterns of reggaeton and its defining rhythm dembow, corporally engage the public, regardless of their linguistic and cultural background.
During concerts, reggaetonero/as adapt their performance to the preferences of linguistically disparate audiences by employing different languages while singing and interacting with fans. This enhances the public’s emotional experience and makes them feel included in the performance both emotionally and linguistically.
Keywords: reggaeton, multilingual lyrics, followers’ shared knowledge, Caribbean aesthetics, emotional engagement
Since the explosion of reggaeton onto the global scene in 2005, this mostly Spanish-performed music genre has attracted international audiences of different linguistic backgrounds. However, some linguistic features of reggaeton lyrics, such as the use of Spanish colloquialisms, produce places of indeterminacy (Ingarden 1937/1973) for many listeners. To fill their respective gaps in knowledge, these listeners consult forums to source collaborative explanations from not only native Spanish speakers, but listeners with different levels of Spanish proficiency, including those without knowledge of the language. An analysis of online forums reveals a particular type of audience – ‘reggaeton experts’ – core listeners with a deep knowledge of reggaeton discourse, regardless of their linguistic background. Using online platforms, these experts transmit their knowledge to less experienced listeners. This online interaction between listeners of various levels of engagement with reggaeton discourse and diverse linguistic backgrounds indicates the formation of a global, plurilingual reggaeton community.
Colombian and world media describe Medellin as a unique place which concentrates the most successful and promising representatives of the urban genre, using such lexemes as Meca [Mecca], punto de partida [starting point], acogida [welcome], dominar [dominate], potenciar [encourage]. Interestingly, the narco history of the city is not neglected, but rather integrated in its contemporary positive framing. In reggaeton song “Medellín” (Madonna feat. Maluma), the past and the present of the city are combined through non-ordinary lexical collocation: “We built a cartel just for love”. In biographical TV series “El Ganador”, reggaetonero Nicky Jam credits Medellin with his overcoming drug addiction and succeeding in music career. This personal story resembles the history of the city itself and activates linguistic frames of success and hope.
Visual promotion of Medellin takes place in music videos, where it is represented through breath-taking panoramic views and/or picturesque neighbourhoods with their happy dancing inhabitants. Colombian reggaetoneros are presented as the new power of Medellin through massive jewellery and expensive cars – typical articulations of reggaeton culture, similar to the ones of narco culture (Kail 2015). Thus, the discourse of reggaeton aims at communicating the message that, unlike cartel leaders, artists achieved wealth by fulfilling their music potential in world capital of urban music.
cohesivos de 20 textos de reggaetón contemporáneo hispanohablante. La sintaxis de
reggaetón se caracteriza por el alto nivel de discontinuidad producida por la
fragmentación textual, la heterogeneidad sintáctica y la ambigüedad morfosintáctica.
Eso complica la comprensión del texto y su percepción como una unidad léxicogramatical, lo que convierte a los/las oyentes en participantes activos/as en la creación
del sentido y construcción del mismo texto. Además, el procesamiento de las canciones
implica unas operaciones con elevado consumo de recursos, como un análisis repetido
del ambiente textual adyacente y el restablecimiento de los fragmentos de texto desde
la memoria.
Sin embargo, el procesamiento de los textos de reggaetón se facilita mediante la
red de las relaciones gramaticales y lexicales entre los elementos de distintas oraciones
que se puede unir bajo el concepto de cohesión. La cohesión textual de reggaetón está
basada en la interacción de los medios gramaticales y lexicales, los más significantes
son la anáfora gramatical realizada a través pronombres personales y posesivos, la
colocación de los lexemas que pertenecen a los frames de rumba y sensualidad y su
repetición. Esos elementos forman las cadenas cohesivas que conectan la mayoría de
las oraciones del texto y así promueven su unidad léxico-gramatical. La conjunción
mayormente se manifiesta en las relaciones aditivas entre las oraciones y las partes de
canciones que no están marcadas explícitamente. Sustitución y elipsis muestran la
frecuencia más baja entre los mecanismos cohesivos.
Ключові слова: художній текст, ідіостиль, експресивний синтаксис, неповні речення, сегментовані конструкції, ускладнені речення.