This paper focuses on the construction of authentic rapper identities among Korean rappers throughout the history of rap in Korea. The first part of this study describes the historical development of linguistic practices and available linguistic resources that were commonly exercised and exploited by Korean rappers over time, while the latter part demonstrates how those practices and resources become components constituting and constructing various rapper identities through Eckert's (2008) framework of “indexical field.” The exploration of the Korean rappers' linguistic practices reported that Korean rappers have developed a number of creative and innovative practices throughout the history of Korean rap and hip-hop. The second part revealed that Korean rappers' innovations and creative practices have become more and more complicated over time for more sophisticated rapper identity construction and projection.
Lee, Hyemin. 2014. Drama of Resistance, Resistance of Drama: Linguistic Practices, Discourses, and Identities in a South Korean Political Podcast Naneun Ggomsuda. The Sociolinguistic Journal of Korea 22(2), 111-134. This paper attempts to demonstrate how speakers' identities are shaped, negotiated, and performed through linguistic practices in a South Korean political podcast called, Naneun Ggomsuda. Focusing on the linkage between linguistic practices and identity performances, I employ two meaningful metaphors embedded in Naneun Ggomsuda, ‘resistant’ and ‘theatrical,’ and explore intersections among these metaphors and linguistic practices, discursive features, and speakers' identities. Within the resistant and theatrical fields of discourse, speakers actively apply speaking strategies to achieve their goals, which include their identity making process strongly interconnected to their resistant and theatrical linguistic practices. Two kinds of identities, resistant identity and theatrical identity, are the focus, and these identities are not only shaped and performed through speakers' linguistic interactions, but also collided and negotiated by both speakers and audiences in and out of the talk show. While many previous studies have focused on Naneun Ggomsuda as an ‘alternative media,’ this paper reveals that Naneun Ggomsuda can actually be a fruitful venue for the academic investigation of linguistic practices and identity making processes. (171)