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  • THURSDAY JULY 28 2005 9:00 AM

Chaucer: To be bigger than Eminem?

Submitted by mat8drb

Edited by SomeOneUK

Rap has often been used (poorly) by educators and schools to convince the "youth of today" to not drink, not do drugs, and stay off those pesky railway lines. Now, a rap artist has been recruited to Cambridge University to make the works of Chaucer "more accessible" to schoolchildren.

The Canadian hip-hop star Baba Brinkman has just completed a two-month tour of British schools with a rap act based on the writings of the 14th- century author. Baba was recruited to the classroom by a researcher from Cambridge University's Faculty of English after he attracted rave reviews for his Chaucer show at the Edinburgh Fringe Festival.

"It was absolutely wonderful," Sarah James, a research associate, said. "It was a lot of fun and that's exactly what the original Canterbury Tales are all about." She managed to persuade Baba to return to Britain. The rapper, who studied Chaucer (1342-1400) in the US, completed his tour this month with a performance at St Matthew's primary school in Cambridge.


This follows efforts in the UK to make Shakespeare "more accessible" to children by producing short, 30 minute performances and introducing children as young as four to some of the characters.

For good measure, here's Baba's version of The Pardoner's Tale. Google for the original, lines 419-425. Doesn't seem too bad...

When he said his piece,
The rest agreed
And the three friends hit the streets.
And went to seek their destiny and provoke a confrontation,
In a drunken rage hoping Death would come and face them,
Their intoxication made them sure of their purpose,
And fed the infernal furnace of their courage,
A kernel nourished by these three murderous wretches in denial,
Less than a mile into their quest to put Death on trial

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Comments
Anton

Anton

Australia
September 2003

JUL 28, 2005 09:22 AM

Retarded.

TReBlah

TReBlah

I'm lost
March 2005

JUL 28, 2005 09:22 AM

i have mixed feelings about this...

on one hand, i'm glad kids will find "the classics" more accessible...but on the other, altering their form automatically makes it "not the actual classic" so i don't know...

/frustrated english BA

sick

sick

Minneapolis, MN
June 2003

JUL 28, 2005 09:23 AM

The Pardoner's Tale, lines 419-425

And up they stirte al dronken in this rage,
And forth they goon towardes that village,
Of which the taverner hadde spoke biforn.
And many a grisly ooth thanne han they sworn,
And Cristes blessed body they torente -
Deeth shal be deed, if that they may hym hente!

Whan they han goon nat fully half a mile,



Well, Baba's gives the gist of it, anyway.

Edit: forgot to include line 425.

[Edited on Jul 28, 2005 by Sick]

DannyDMc

DannyDMc

Fargo, ND
July 2003

JUL 28, 2005 09:26 AM

I think this is a good idea; nothing wrong with translating a classic to make the story more appealing to a modern audiance. To often, I think, classics become set in stone and there by lose the effect and power to move which make them classics in the first place.

_DictionaryGirl_

_DictionaryGirl_

NEWSWIRE

San Diego, CA

JUL 28, 2005 09:32 AM

Oh dear god. WHY CAN'T KIDS JUST REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAD?!

Not that I've ever read Chaucer... but still. blackeyed

Anton

Anton

Australia
September 2003

JUL 28, 2005 09:38 AM

DanMcCollum said:
I think this is a good idea; nothing wrong with translating a classic to make the story more appealing to a modern audiance. To often, I think, classics become set in stone and there by lose the effect and power to move which make them classics in the first place.


Yeah, actually there is something wrong with translating a classic to make the story more appealing to modern audiences. The power and beauty of so many old, brilliant literary works lies in the way they used the language.

Not so good: 'Dude, have you got something to say or something? Like, what the fuck?'
Better: 'The bow is bent and drawn - make from the shaft!'

FrankMask

FrankMask

Saint Paul, MN
June 2003

JUL 28, 2005 10:22 AM

Hell, I think it's a great idea. Anything to get kids reading. And I like the idea of lyric poetry.

The_Happy_Pig

The_Happy_Pig

United Kingdom
December 2004

JUL 28, 2005 10:29 AM

This kind of thing does interest me, but I'm sure it's pitched over the head of the kids. I find these things entertaining, but only if you know what they are talking about. It's a little like the reduced shakespear company, who knock out a great version of Romeo and Juliet in 3 minutes. They're really cool to see, but only if you know the play first.

Lacey

Lacey

SUICIDEGIRL

Colorado, USA

JUL 28, 2005 10:30 AM

rolling over in his grave...

Curiosity

Curiosity

Chicago, IL
January 2004

JUL 28, 2005 10:58 AM

This is gonna translate into a bunch of students who think they know Chaucer but actually don't, just like they think they know Romeo & Juliet from the Baz Luhrman version. I thought it was great, but still....that doesn't make me an expert on Shakespeare, and I probably wouldn't have even liked it if I didn't know the original source.
Maybe if they taught this stuff side by side?

Curi.

stellartrane

stellartrane

Austin, TX
February 2003

JUL 28, 2005 11:16 AM

I would listen to some Hair Band Chaucer. That shit would be super tight Yo! Maybe even some Danzig Chaucer. Ahhh Ya.

[Edited on Jul 28, 2005 11:17AM]

Innocence

Innocence

United Kingdom
November 2003

JUL 28, 2005 11:19 AM

I really enjoyed doing Chaucer at A level...Not sure i'd enjoy the 'updated' version of his stuff!! It completely removes the history from his work and you get no knowledge of the social situation of the time, which is just as important as appreciating the actual stories.

[Edited on Jul 28, 2005 7:19PM]

MisterSatan

MisterSatan

Portland, OR
August 2002

JUL 28, 2005 11:20 AM

_DictionaryGirl_ said:
Oh dear god. WHY CAN'T KIDS JUST REEEEEEEEEEEEAAAAAAAD?!

Not that I've ever read Chaucer... but still. blackeyed


Maybe you should read Chaucer. The Canterbury Tales are pretty good.

Admiral_Pants

Admiral_Pants

Austin, TX
May 2004

JUL 28, 2005 12:50 PM

We all know how great Canadian rappers are.

jackalnoir

jackalnoir

Raleigh, NC
January 2005

JUL 28, 2005 01:03 PM

I remember in school probably around 8th grade when we were listening to Romeo & Juliet in class, the recordings. We had two versions, the classical theatrical reading, and a "contemporary" reading in today's modern and cosmopolitain language. After a vote we listened to the contemporary one, and it sucked all kinds of ass.

The way to make classical literature accessible to children is to actually take the time to teach history, grammar, and poetry. We shouldn't have to dumb anything down, it is up to the teachers and especially the parents to teach the children.

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