Loops, Lyrics, and Literacy: Songwriting as a Site of Resilience for an Urban Adolescent

Abstract

This case study explores Christopher's (pseudonym) sustained participation in a nonprofit, afterschool community center, as he wrote and recorded music and lyrics in a digital recording studio. It examines the ways in which Christopher, in contrast to his performance in school, was highly participatory and engaged with textual production at the center. In particular, the author explores the purposes and functions that songwriting served for Christopher, and considers the ways in which songwriting functioned for Christopher as a “site for resilience,” or as a space in which he could navigate aspects of his lived experience. Analysis of Christopher's lyrics suggested three major areas of lived experience on which his songs centered: family experiences, peer relations, and issues in his community.

If you listen, I'll tell you how I feel

“…Songwriting gives him a chance to reflect upon and express his opinion as he processes the crime and violence that he witnesses around him, and he is able to critique much of what is taking place in his community. Rather than seeking refuge in a street-life orientation as his brother had before him, Christopher finds a place of safety within the walls of the MRC, and a way to express what is troubling him (Kinney, 2012). These findings are consistent with the research of Hatcher (2004), Jurgenmeier (2012), Morin (2008), and Viega (2013).…”

“…How does songwriting impact those who have psychological issues, and how are these people able to express themselves through songwriting? The research of Kinney (2012), Groke, Bloch, andCastle (2008), McFerran, Baker, Patton, andSawyer (2006), Thompson (2009), andVander Kooij (2009) provides some insight. When Kinney (2012) asks an adolescent male songwriter we'll call Christopher, "What does your writing mean to you?"…”

“Air I Breathe”: Songwriting as Literacy Practices of Remembrance

“…Particularly within and beyond schooling contexts, the urgency of aesthetic experiences of songwriting extends students’ “in-school engagement and achievement” (Weinstein, 2007, p. 270), as youth writing songs draw from issues of personal importance and share with audiences such as family members (Kinney, 2012). In conceptualizing Noriah’s and Koral’s work as literacy practices of remembrance, we thus build with scholars who highlight such multiliteracy practices of youth of color, in varying community and schooling contexts, that affirm complex identities and experiences that are urgent in their lives (de los Rios, 2019; Guzzetti & Gamboa, 2004; Watson, 2016; Williams, 2013).…”

Conceptualizing Scholarship on Adolescent Out‐of‐School Writing Toward More Equitable Teaching and Learning: A Literature Review

“…These purposes include coping with life, facing problems, and writing for self-healing (Kinney, 2012;Worthman, Gardner, & Thole, 2011); expressing and understanding oneself (Johnson, 2017); enacting multilingual and multinational identities (Black, 2009); rewriting social identities (Muhammad, 2012); engaging civically and organizing (Bean & Dunkerly-Bean, 2016;Haddix et al, 2015); communicating with friends and loved ones (Lam, 2009); improving their craft (Padgett & Curwood, 2016); and contesting dominant narratives about themselves (Muhammad, 2015). Out-of-school writing is important for the ways in which it allows students to write for purposes and audiences beyond their teachers.…”