Popular music and art-interpretive injustice

Abstract

It has been over two decades since Miranda Fricker labeled epistemic injustice, in which an agent is wronged in their capacity as a knower. The philosophical literature has proliferated with variants and related concepts. By considering cases in popular music, we argue that it is worth distinguishing a parallel phenomenon of art-interpretive injustice, in which an agent is wronged in their creative capacity as a possible artist. In section 1, we consider the prosecutorial use of rap lyrics in court as a central case of this injustice. In section 2, we distinguish art-interpretive injustice from other categories already discussed in recent literature. In section 3, we discuss the relationship between genre discourse and identity prejudice. The case for recognizing the category of art-interpretive injustice is that it allows one to recognize a class of harms as being importantly related in ways that one would otherwise overlook. __ Rap on trial as a central case of art-interpretive injustice:In 2013, Alex Medina was put on trial for murder. The crime had occurred three years earlier, when he was 14 years old. Medina was an aspiring rapper, and his lyrics were used as evidence of his involvement in the crime. After playing a recording of Medina rapping, the prosecuting attorney told the jury, "Ladies and gentlemen, you have just heard in the defendant's own words what this case is about -the gang mentality" (Hernandez 2013a). The prosecutor went on to describe the rap