Digitopia blues

About this book

"A lyrical analysis of the intersections between poetic speech and music, intertwined with the history of black/white relations in America. Digitopia Blues is about a pair of intertwined stories, that of black Americans struggling in music to find a language of revolutionary power, and that of literate poets wishing to transcend the printed page to embrace the body, music, and public speech. The narrative moves from the story of the blues, jazz, and rock'n'roll, to the domineering world of the printed word, and finally to the power, potential, and dangers that digital communications technologies offer people of colour. Sliding easily from the likes of Billie Holiday and John Coltrane to Walt Whitman and Bob Dylan, Digitopia Blues then leaps to a savvy analysis of today's digital scene, including the implications of hip hop, rap, Napster and rave culture for the future of cultural politics in America..."