An exploration of life narratives, of young-adult hip-hop dance-artists from Cyprus

Lefkides, Christos (2014) An exploration of life narratives, of young-adult hip-hop dance-artists from Cyprus. Manchester Metropolitan University. (Unpublished)

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Abstract

Psychological research on the situated artistic lives highlights that such individuals face a plethora of challenges in order to satisfy both their artistic and social needs (Mishler, 1999); whilst also being highly reflective and critical of their lived sociocultural realm (Dyck and Archetti, 2003). Following Mishler’s (1999) findings, the current study was set out to explore: how the semi-structured, McAdam’s life-story model (1993) interacts with the story-telling process and analysis of the narratives of four, mix-gender, young adult, hip hop dance artists from Cyprus. It also examined, how the anti-oppressive and freedom of expression principles, that are integral to the hip-hop artist’s identity (Gainer, 1995) interact with the conservative social realm of Cyprus (Onoufriou, 2009); and whether the narratives of the co-researchers align with the predispositions of the main researcher about Cyprus’ milieu. The analysis showed that the methodological aspects of McAdam’s model (1993) enhanced both the interviewing and the analysis of the artistic narrations. Common themes between the narratives: aligned with the researcher’s views, and highlighted the dualistic effects of their identities. Ranging from establishing strong altruistic values and friendships; To causing isolation and feeling the need to leave from Cyprus to maximize their artistic potential.