A lecture from scholar Rayya El Zein, discussing her recent book Filling The Head: Listening to Rap in Arabic (Indiana, 2025) in which El Zein explores how ordinary patterns of motion and emotion provide a space for political engagement when spectacular political movements like protests, strikes, or revolutions feel far away, forced, or otherwise impossible. In contrast to existing narratives that equate rap with popular political resistance against oppressive regimes, she argues instead for affective engagement through istifzaz—provocation or surprise—as well as yearning. Demonstrating that the refusal of artists to confine their lyrical or musical experimentation to an ethos of resistance creates an aesthetic whose lack of singular politics defines it, Filling the Head offers new insights into what it means politically to be moved.
Bio:
Dr. Rayya El Zein (Theater and Performance Studies, CUNY) is a research leader and sustainability professional advocating for healthy teams and community accountability. She brings a human-centered perspective to social impact innovation — science, technology, and research in the public interest. A cultural ethnographer by training, she has worked in academia, philanthropy, tech, education, and art spaces.
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Performance Studies Department
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