Dissertations / Theses on the topic 'Popular music – Censorship – South Africa'

The censorship of popular music in South Africa during the 1980s severely affected South African musicians. The apartheid government was directly involved in centralized state censorship by means of the Directorate of Publications, while the South African Broadcasting Corporation exercised government censorship at the level of airplay. Others who assisted state censorship included religious and cultural interest groups. State censorship in turn put pressure on record companies, musicians and others to practice self-censorship. Many musicians who overtly sang about taboo topics or who used controversial language subsequently experienced censorship in different forms, including police harassment. Musicians were also subject to anti-apartheid forms of censorship,such as the United Nations endorsed cultural boycott. Not all instances of censorship were overtly political, but they were always framed by, and took place within, a repressive legal-political system. This thesis found that despite the state's attempt to maintain its hegemony, musicians sought ways of overcoming censorship practices. It is argued that the ensuing struggle cannot be conceived of in simple binary terms. The works of Antonio Gramsci, Michel Foucault and Pierre Bourdieu, in particular, are applied to the South African context in exploring the localized nuances of the cultural struggle over music censorship. It is argued that fragmented resistance to censorship arose out of the very censorship structures that attempted to silence musicians. Textual analysis brought to light that resistance took various forms including songs with provocative lyrics and titles, and more subtle means of bypassing censorship, including the use of symbolism, camouflaged lyrics, satire and crossover performance. Musicians were faced with the challenge of bypassing censors yet nevertheless conveying their message to an audience. The most successful cases negotiated censorial practices while getting an apparent message across to a wide audience. Broader forms of resistance were also explored, including opposition through live performance, counter-hegemonic information on record covers, resistance from exile, alignment with political organizations and legal challenges to state censorship. In addition, some record companies developed strategies of resistance to censorship. The many innovative practices outlined in this thesis demonstrate that even in the context of constraint, resistance is possible. Despite censorship, South African musicians were able to express themselves through approaching their music in an innovative way.

A thesis submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the Degree Master of Music (Performance) in the Faculty of Arts at the University of Zululand, South Africa, 1997.
The central aim of this study is to identify those features in the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens that derive from Indigenous African music and show how they have been transformed to become part of popular idioms. All black South African popular music idioms are heavily reliant upon indigenous sources, not only from the compositional, but from the performing and interactive community points of view. In the case of the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens, the influence of Zulu culture is particularly strong, although features of others traditions represented in Black urban society are also perceptible. The reasons for the Zulu orientation of the groups lie in the predominantly Zulu make up, as well as the large number of Zulus that make up black South African urban population. Of course, such Indigenous features as can be observed in their music have not necessarily been transferred directly from their original sources: the process of acculturation of the dominant characteristics of tribal rural musical practices with appropriate Western popular idioms began early on in this century, resulting in such representative urban forms as Marabi, Khwela and Mbube. More sophisticated forms and modes of expression have incorporated, and been based on these early manifestations, resulting in hybridised musical genres that reflect the broad and diverse base of African popular music in South Africa today. Ladymith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens count among the pioneers of the Mbube, Mbaqanga and the urban popular styles. It is through the medium of Mbube and Mbaqanga that Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotella Queens have established their popular base initially in the townships, then through the record industry, and, latterly, in the spread of shebeen culture into affluent white- dominated venues such as the Get-Ahead shebeen in Rosebank. Johannesburg. Through the music of the group it is possible to examine the development of a particular style traditional/popular acculturation as well as the social and political themes that have found their way into the black popular music of the 1980s and 1990s. This research will thus serve as an analytical guide to the music of Ladysmith Black Mambazo, Yvonne Chaka Chaka, Mahlathini and the Mahotell Queens, particularly regarding the issue of acculturation, it will also serve as a case study in the composer-performer-listener chain which underpins any sociologically-orientated investigation into popular culture and it will be argued that the artefacts of popular culture can only be investigated in this way.

Thesis (MMus)--Stellenbosch University, 2013.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The current study documents the procedures used by the South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) from 1974 to 1996 in the censorship of music. The disquisition argues that the SABC, as a national broadcaster, served as the most prominent censor of musical production and dissemination during that time. In addition, the study attempts to show that the censorship of music by the SABC was inherently connected with apartheid ideology in both moral and political terms but also that the SABC Acceptance Committees for radio broadcasts attempted to align themselves with more general state methods of censorship (although often inconsistent). This relationship, although not directly connected with the state censorship apparatus, functioned as the state's chief censor in the restriction of music. The study reports on a visit to the SABC Radio Library and Sound Archives in February 2012 and provides an analysis and discussion of documents found in the archive as well as how these findings relate to the broader arguments supplied in the thesis.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die huidige studie dokumenteer die prosedures wat deur die Suid-Afrikaanse Uitsaaikorporasie (SAUK) tussen 1974 en 1996 in die sensuur van musiek toegepas is. Die tesis argumenteer dat die SAUK, as nationale uitsaaier, tydens hierdie periode die belangrikste agent van musieksensuur was. Verder poog die studie om te bewys dat die sensuur van musiek deur die SAUK inherent met apartheidsideologie in beide morele en politiese terme verbind was, maar ook dat die SAUK Aanvaardingskommittees vir radio-uitsending probeer het om meer formele sensuurregulasies in stand te hou. Hierdie verhouding tussen die SAUK en die staat, alhoewel dit nie die SAUK direk met staatssensuur koppel nie, het beteken dat die SAUK as die staat se hoofsensor gefunksioneer het in die beperking van musiek. Die studie doen verslag van 'n besoek aan die SAUK Radio Biblioteek en Klankargiewe in Februarie 2012 en voorsien 'n uiteensetting en bespreking van dokumente wat in die agief gevind is, asook hoe hierdie bevindinge veband hou met die breër argument oor sensuur en musiek wat in die tesis ontwikkel word.

Thesis (D. Phil.)--University of Stellenbosch, 2004.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The main objective of this study is to describe the nature and function of adolescent songwriting phenomenologically to ascertain the implications for music education. Secondary aims and research questions include ascertaining if and to what extent songwriting in adolescence serves as medium for emotional expression, self-therapy, socio-cultural cohesion and informal learning. Other secondary research aims are establishing the quality of the creative product and determining the implications for music education curricula in keeping with current curriculum development strategies. Adolescents’ engagement in music is considered as a socio-cultural phenomenon. Individuals’ interaction with music is thus considered on Doise’s (1986:10-16) four levels of social explanation: the intra-personal, the interpersonal, the positional level and the ideological level. On the intra-personal level music is viewed as a technology of the self (DeNora, 2000), a medium for selftherapy and mood control and technology of the body. On the inter-personal level music is discussed as a form of self-expression serving as communicative form. On the positional level music’s role in bonding between individuals, namely social cohesion, is expounded. Lastly, on the ideological level, music is considered as part of youth, youth culture and cultural identity. The compositional (songwriting) process is analyzed. Compositional modes, individual and collaborative, are identified and described and the creative process namely composing, is delineated according to creativity, creativity as social formation, creativity as process and the role and nature of informal learning. Adolescents use the process of songwriting to establish and enhance social cohesion, to further communication and expression with peers and to exert creative and intellectual activity in an informal learning environment. The creative product, adolescents’ songs, is analyzed and described. General perspectives and theories about musical analysis are addressed to include a broader, socio-cultural view of analysis to analyze adolescent music. The musical and lyrical features are analyzed within the context of their socio-cultural setting. The SOLO Taxonomy (DeTurk, 1988) is adapted and applied to propose an evaluation procedure for the lyrics. Dunbar-Hall’s (1999) five methods of popular music analysis are applied in combination with Goodwin’s (1992) soundimage model, synaestesia, to expand on the socio-cultural context of popular music analysis. The implications of musicology namely “formal music education” versus popular music styles and the effects of formal and informal learning strategies on songwriting are considered. A new understanding of musical analysis namely “musical poetics” (Krims, 2000) is adopted and the role that locality plays in this analysis is expounded. The role of notation and playing by ear is set out to validate the adolescents’ creative product. The research methodology employed in this research include group discussion, observation, experience sampling method (adapted from Larson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1983) and individual interviews and are described according to methodology, results and analysis of the results. General perspectives on music education curricula are considered in light of the possible contribution songwriting, as an informal learning activity, could bring to music education as composition is currently a high priority in international music education discourse and features prominently in current curricula. Recommendations and conclusions are made.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Die hoofdoelstelling van hierdie studie is om die aard en funksie van liedjieskryf in adolessensie fenomenologies te beskryf om sodoende die implikasies vir musiekopvoedkunde te bepaal. Sekondêre doelstellings en navorsingsvrae sluit in die vasstelling van of en hoe liedjieskryf in adolessensie dien as medium vir emosionele ekspressie, self-terapie, sosio-kulturele binding en informele leer. Ander sekondêre navorsingsvrae sluit in die bepaling van die kwaliteit van die kreatiewe produk en die implikasies vir musiekopvoedkunde kurrikula met inagneming van huidige kurrikulumontwikkeling strategieë. Adolessente se interaksie met musiek word beskryf as ‘n sosio-kulturele fenomeen. Individue se interaksie met musiek word dus ontleed volgens Doise (1986:10-16) se vier vlakke van sosiale verduideliking: die intra-persoonlike, die inter-persoonlike, die posisionele en die ideologiese vlak. Op die intrapersoonlike vlak word musiek beskou as ‘n tegnologie van die self (DeNora, 2000), d.w.s as ‘n medium vir self-terapie en stemmingsbeheer asook as ‘n tegnologie van die liggaam. Op die inter-persoonlike vlak word musiek bespreek as ‘n vorm van self-ekspressie wat dien as kommunikatiewe vorm. Op die posisionele vlak word musiek se rol in die binding tussen individue, d.w.s. sosiale binding, beskryf. Laastens, op die ideologiese vlak, word musiek oorweeg as deel van jeug, jeugkultuur en kulturele identiteit. Die komposisionele (liedjieskryf) proses word geanalisser. Komposisionele metodes, individueel en gemeenskaplik, word geïdentifiseer en beskryf en die kreatiewe proses, naamlik komposisie, word gedelinieer volgens kreatiwiteit, kreatiwiteit as sosiale formasie, kreatiwiteit as proses en die rol en aard van informele leer. Adolessente gebruik die proses van liedjieskryf om sosiale binding te vestig en te bevorder, om kommunikasie en ekspressie met die portuurgroep te bevorder en om kreatiewe en intellektuele aktiwitiet in ‘n informele leeromgewing uit te oefen. Die kreatiewe produk, adolessente liedjies, word geanaliseer en beskryf. Algemene musiekanalitiese perspektiewe en teorieë word aangespreek om ‘n breër, sosio-kulturele uitkyk op analise in te sluit. Die musikale en liriese eienskappe word geanaliseer binne ‘n sosio-kulturele konteks. Die SOLO Taksonomie (DeTurk, 1988) word aangepas en toegepas om ‘n evaluasie prosedure vir die lirieke voor te stel. Dunbar-Hall (1999) se vyf metodes van populêre musiekanalise word toegepas in kombinasie met Goodwin (1992) se klankbeeld model, synaestesia, om uit te brei op die sosio-kulturele konteks van populêre musiekanalise. Die implikasies van musikologie, “formele musiekopvoedkunde” versus populêre musiek en die effek van formele en informele leerstrategieë op liedjieskryf word oorweeg. ‘n Nuwe begrip van musikale analise, naamlik “musikale poëtika” (Krims, 2000) word aangeneem en die rol van lokaliteit in analise word verduidelik. Die rol van notasie en op gehoor speel word aangespreek om adolessente se kreatiewe produk te regverdig. Die navorsingsmetodologie toegepas in hierdie navorsing sluit in groepsbespreking, observasie, ondervinding-steekproef metode (aangepas van Larson & Csikszentmihalyi, 1983) en individuele onderhoude en word beskryf volgens metodologie, resultate en die analise van die resultate. Aangesien komposisie tans hoë prioriteit in internasionale debat geniet en prominent geplaas is in huidige musiekopvoedkunde kurrikula word algemene perspektiewe op musiekopvoedkunde kurrikula oorweeg in die lig van die moontlike bydrae wat liedjieskryf as informele leeraktiwiteit aan musiekopvoedkunde kan bring.

While many have written on Afrikaans protest music during various periods, this dissertation is an attempt to add to the ongoing debate by exploring an area of Afrikaans music that has received scant attention. Pop Afrikaans music is varied, and while it seemingly offers little in terms of political or social content, I argue in this dissertation for the validity and importance of contextualisation, even when lyrical content might appear vapid at first glance. This becomes more pertinent when considering that pop Afrikaans music enjoys a far wider audience than many related musical movements, such as Voëlvry. Further, juxtaposing the social consumption of pop Afrikaans music in Presley's against similar phenomena at Aandklas allows for a deeply revealing picture of the different paths that self-ascribed Afrikaners are taking in the process of creating, changing, and reifying their own identity. Music has always played a complex role in this process, revealing a reciprocal process between performer and consumer to provide content from which people may draw inspiration and validation, in order to ultimately find new narratives assisting in navigating the lived experience of imagined communities.
Dissertation (MSS)--University of Pretoria, 2017.
Anthropology and Archaeology
MSS
Unrestricted

This thesis explores the ways in which Cape Town rap group Prophets of da City articulate their resistance to apartheid and, in particular, the ways in which they attempted to intervene in politicians' attempts to pacify the black electorate during the build- up to South Africa's first democratic elections. Initially, I attempt to clear a space from which one could discuss POC's work as postmodern and postcolonial. I then theorise POC's use of sampling as a postmodern strategy whilst, at the same time, pointing out that rap has its origins in the African- American tradition of Signifyin(g). Through my discussion sampling, I suggest that rap, as postmodern cultural practice, challenges concepts of originality as well as uniqueness. I also discuss POC's work as part of subculture and analyse Spike Lee's Do The Right Thing in order to explore the black artist's struggle for space* within the public sphere. Finally, I contend that both Lee and POC's texts are flawed because they marginalise gender politics. I briefly discuss Queen Latifa's rap music to suggest that the discourses of race and gender are inseparable.

Thesis (MPhil)-- Stellenbosch University, 2014.
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: Pornography in South Africa has only been legal for a mere 16 years, but is preceded by a 126-year history of inutile South African government attempts to suppress and curb it at its borders. To date, pornography as a research field has been largely overlooked by South African researchers, who have either mostly opted to choose fields that are socially more acceptable, or assumed that pornography was not present in the country before the 1980s and 1990s. This research, however, prefers to differ. The study investigates a minute part of a broader scope of pornography history in South Africa, by studying what international and domestic pornographic magazines were first seized and thereafter banned in the country between 1939 and 1989. By theoretically implementing an authoritative theoretical framework, the Annales’s functional structural approach, and applying the historical methodology to unearth unobtrusive historical data, the study compiles a narrative of events that ties a 50-year history of the pornographic magazine in South Africa together. The study eventually identifies 1 033 individual volumes, editions and issues of various pornographic magazine genres, including, among others, pulp and pin-up, naturist and nudist, soft-core, hard-core, male and female homosexual, bisexual, bondage, Asian, female impersonation and biker magazines, of which some, of course, are local South African pornographic magazines.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Pornografie is nog net 16 jaar wettig in Suid-Afrika en word voorafgegaan deur ’n geskiedenis van 126 jaar se sensuur wat deur die regering afgekondig is om pornografie buite die land se grense te hou. Tot op hede is pornografie as ’n navorsingsveld deur Suid-Afrikaanse navorsers oorgesien omdat hulle óf studies aanpak wat sosiaal meer aanvaarbaar is, óf aanneem dat daar voor die 1980’s en 1990’s geen pornografie in die land was nie. In dié verband wil hierdie studie met dié aannames verskil. Die navorsing ondersoek ’n klein deeltjie van ’n groter geskiedenis van pornografie in Suid-Afrika deur te kyk na watter buitelandse en binnelandse pornografiese tydskrifte tussen 1939 en 1989 in die land gevind en kort daarna verban is. Teoreties is die outoritêre en die Annales se funksionalisties-strukturalistiese raamwerk ingespan, en die historiese metodologie is gebruik om historiese data na te vors om ’n narratief saam te stel wat 50 jaar se pornografiese tydskrifte in Suid-Afrika saamsnoer. Die studie identifiseer uiteindelik 1 033 uitgawes van verskeie porno-grafiese tydskrifte, wat, onder meer, pulp- en prikkelpop-, nudistiese, sagte, harde, manlike en vroulike homoseksuele, biseksuele, knegskap-, Asiër-, fopdosser- en motorfietstydskrifte insluit; sommige van dié genres is, natuurlik, ook plaaslik in Suid-Afrika gepubliseer.

Masters of Art
Since the arrival of hip-hop in Cape Town and indeed South Africa in the 1980s, a diverse and vibrant range of hip-hop sub-genres has developed in Cape Town. Scholarship, however, have approached hip-hop mainly through a linguistical angle focusing mostly on Cipha hiphop in the Cape Flats. This ethnographic work looks at performances and practices of Spaza hip-hop. It explores the musical genre of Spaza hip-hop in the township of Khayelitsha, discussing ideas advanced by scholarship almost ten years ago and re-assessing issues of language, citizenship and ethnicity from today’s perspective. It looks at Spaza hip-hop not only as a musical genre, as it explores questions of identity, ethnicity, race, and gender. My research discusses how Spaza hip-hop music is consumed today, how it is produced and how it circulates. Across two years of fieldwork, I followed park sessions, open mic sessions and events; I have interviewed artists, producers and audiences. I argue that Spaza hip-hop in 2018 had changed drastically from its first apparition. Not only most of the artists are now older, but also the Spaza hip-hop scene is now invaded by trap hip-hop artists. Across my research I explore issues of gender in hip hop which is generally perceived as a “masculine” music. I illustrate how female artists constantly challenge norms and negotiate a space of their own, paradoxically transforming Spaza hip hop in a space for freedom.

Thesis (MA (Afrikaans and Dutch))--University of Stellenbosch, 2009.
The aim of this study is to examine the rise of Afrikaans rock music and the literary status of Afrikaans rock lyrics, with Fokofpolisiekar as example. An investigation is done into how the specific sociopolitical context within which Afrikaans rock music developed manifests in lyrics and musical style. The implications of Afrikaans rock with regards to the identity of Afrikaner youth in the new millennium are also explored. A case study of the Afrikaans punk rock group Fokofpolisiekar is done by way of demonstration of this interdisciplinary and contextual investigation. Not only the formation and impact of the group are examined, but a considerable section of the thesis is dedicated to the analysis and interpretation of this group’s lyrics, which are viewed and explored from a literary point of view. In this process certain questions regarding the position of lyrics in the Afrikaans literary system comes under scrutiny. The analysis and interpretation of the lyrics of Fokofpolisiekar are therefore aimed towards examining the literary status of this group’s lyrics. It will be proved that the sociopolitical context within which Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics came to be formulated, impacted on the character and themes thereof. The thematic struggle with issues like liberation (redemption) and identity in the lyrics are shown to bear relation to the sociopolitical context of the Afrikaner youth after the Afrikaner’s loss of power in 1994 and the postmodern condition at the turn of the millennium. This postmodern condition is characterized by the continuing fragmentation of identity. The conclusion is made that Afrikaans popular music sets up a space within which new ideas with regards to ‘truths’ of identity can be formulated. In other words, the punk rock music of Fokofpolisiekar offers an opportunity for the re-articulation of Afrikaner identity. By incorporating the polysistem theory (and other relevant theories) in investigating the creation and reception of Fokofpolisiekar’s lyrics, it is shown that the Afrikaans literary system holds a place for Afrikaans lyrics. Although similar, lyrics should not be regarded as synonymous to poetry. Seeing that the creation and reception thereof differs from that of other literary forms, I argue that lyrics are lyrics and should be regarded as such in order for it to come to its full right in literary study.

This dissertation seeks to explore how the exercise of political power and the music industry impacted each other in South Africa under apartheid during the 1980s. It does so by looking firstly at the ways in which the South African government used music to promote apartheid. Secondly, it looks at the role of South African popular musicians in the struggle against apartheid in the country, specifically their role in civil society and the methods they employed to fight apartheid while avoiding censorship. It looks at key musical developments of the decade and explores their political implications, focusing on three popular genres: bubblegum (or disco), crossover and reggae. Thirdly, it explores the role of South African music and musicians in the struggle against apartheid outside South Africa. Finally, it looks at the role of music in the international anti-apartheid movement and the contribution of the international music community to the struggle.
Political Sciences
M.A. (African Politics)

This thesis explores some of the ways in which listening to South African popular music allows individuals to enter into imaginative engagements with others in South Africa, and in so doing, negotiate their place in the social landscape. Taking as its starting point the notion of the "musical imaginary" - the web of connotational meanings arising out of the interaction between music and society, rendering it a particularly suitable medium through which to imagine social actors - it focuses specifically on the role of music in constructions of 'race' and, to a lesser extent, of 'nation'. It examines some of the ways in which dominant discourses exert pressure on what is imagined, as well as highlighting the creativity of listeners who appropriate the musical imaginary for their own ends of identification. It attempts to depict the complexity of musical identification in postapartheid South Africa, in which individuals must negotiate multiple boundaries marking difference, including categories of 'race', ethnicity, gender and class. It also investigates perceptions of the role of music in generating new identities and modes of social interaction, and offers some speculations as to how an analysis of these perceptions may contribute to current theoretical models of change in multicultural societies.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

PhD (African Studies)
Department of African Studies
In the 1980s South Africa was subjected to cultural embargo. However, at the height of the embargo, Paul Simon went against the political climate of the day and mounted a cross-cultural, multinational music project called Graceland. Although South African popular music can facilitate the prosperity of musicians, only few musicians have succeeded in fostering this aspect. Using popular music and pop culture Afrocentrism as frameworks, this study analyses the Graceland project in the context of the South African popular music of the 1980s. The empirical research approach leaning towards the qualitative method was used. Interviews and literature review were the main modes of data gathering. Owing to the sensitivity of the subject, ethical considerations were adhered to. The cultural embargo, as well as other political interventions aiming at pressurising the South African government to abandon its apartheid policies, were well-meaning, but at the same time, the cultural embargo had a negative impact in that the popular culture of the country went unrecognised by global players. It was envisaged that this study would help in understanding the motivations and intentions of the planners of the Graceland project, and how these were to benefit the South African music sector.
NRF

This thesis is an historiographical and sociological study of Indian South African broadcasting and the music industry between 1924 and 1983. A multilevel approach which integrates empirical and cultural materialist critical theoretical methodologies reveals the relationships between the media, industry, economy, politics, and culture. Until the sixties, Indian South Africans were denied the civic rights that were taken for granted by white South Africans. Broadcasting, for them, was to be a concession. On being declared South Africans, broadcast programmes were expanded and designed to pacify and Indianise Indian South Africans, preparing them for their role as a middle-class racially defined group, a homelands group without a homeland. South Africanised popular music, and Indian South African Western semi-classical, popular music, or jazz performance was rejected by the SABC. Ambiguous nationalisms shaped Indian South African aesthetics. Global monopoly controlled the music industry. Similarly, disruptions in the global market enabled local musicians and small business groups to challenge the majors. In the late forties and fifties, this resulted in a number of locally manufactured records featuring local and visiting musicians, and special distribution rights under royalty to an independent South Asian company. The local South African records were largely characterised by their syncretic nature, and generated a South African modernism which had the capacity both to draw and repel audiences and officials alike. A glossary of non-English terms and a discography of Indian South African music have been included.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

A research report submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Sociology)
Can there ever be a space for radical Black performativity, by which I mean, a type of Black performance that is a challenge to, and not just a reiteration of (including in others’ enjoyment of it) the anti-Blackness of the world? This project – film and conceptual essay - investigates the limits and boundaries of this question and it does so through kwaito: a uniquely South African post 1994 musical and cultural phenomenon that is specifically born from the experiences of township life and of Blackness in South Africa. It does so as a way to think about the validity of the proposition put forward by Black Studies (mainly in Afro-pessimism) that violence in the modern world underwrites the Black person’s capacity to think, act, and exist spatially and temporally, this is in opposition, say, to Fred Moten’s Black Optimism, that holds that ‘objects’, that is to say Blacks, can and do resist and they do so through performance. This project then enters the debate in Black Studies through a questioning of the ‘authenticity’ of Black radical performativity and cultural practices and it reads kwaito as a Black cultural performative practice that is a form of fugitivity. This paper looks at some of the more hopeful, humanistic interpretations of Black aesthetics and proposes as a challenge that we rather think about and read kwaito as something close to a deranged apocalyptic response to anti-Blackness, that does not offer answers, and is a movement that operates as a form of fugitivity that unveils the quotidian and banal subjectivity of Black township life in South Africa post 1994.
NG (2020)

This dissertation studies South African popular 'Gospel' music in the context of the new order of the post-apartheid era. The four main focal points of the study are genre, production, mediation and consumption. The end of apartheid was a historic and significant socio-political phenomenon in South Africa. Its implications were not only socio-political; they also affected many other aspects of the country, including arts and culture. Music was not exempt. The genre of local 'Gospel' is premised on the Christian faith, so that by producing and mediating 'Gospel' music, the music industry is at the same time producing and mediating the 'Gospel', or Christian culture. Consequently, by consuming 'Gospel' music the audience also consumes this 'Gospel' culture. Local 'Gospel' first emerged with foreign influences brought into South Africa by the missionaries, but gradually developed into the broad and complex genre that we know today. This is, in part, a result of 'other' influences, styles and elements having been incorporated into it. Many production companies are responsible for the production of local 'Gospel' music. These can be broadly categorized into two: major companies, and indies (which are small, private production companies). These two production routes have different implications for the artists and their music. Similarly, there are many different ways in which this music is mediated, or 'channelled', to its audience. These include television, radio, print media (newspapers, magazines, posters, fliers, etc.), internet, and live performances, all of which have their own specificities that determine their effectiveness in mediating local 'Gospel'. As is the case with any music, the audience for local 'Gospel' consumes its music in different ways and for different purposes. Though the artists/musicians assign certain meanings to their musical works, the audience does not always identify precisely with those musical meanings. Different people at different places and times, with different experiences and social conditions, encounter and interpret the music in different ways. South African popular 'Gospel' music is a broad and complex genre that has developed and grown over the years. The birth of democracy has had an indelible impact on it, and on its processes of production, mediation and consumption.
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

M.A. University of the Witwatersrand, Faculty of Humanities (Journalism and Media Studies), 2012
This research investigates the representation of kwaito in the Sunday Times between 1994 and 2001, a period of transition for South Africa and the South African media. Kwaito, a music phenomenon that began in the streets of townships, was an important social development. Initially, it offered a range of ways in which post-apartheid black youth could represent themselves and their lives, both good and bad. The Sunday Times, on the other hand, was a white establishment newspaper that needed to change to represent a wider community and provide a space for the inclusion of previously neglected areas of South Africa cultural life. My analysis of all the articles on kwaito published in the newspaper demonstrates that the paper increasingly covered kwaito musicians and events, but tended to confine this coverage to the gossip pages of the City Metro, an insert aimed at black readers. On the other hand, commentators in feature and commentary articles in the main body, who had the power as “cultural consecrators” to investigate the meaning of kwaito as a phenomenon, tended to dismiss it as debased form of expression by lost youngsters. This bears out the argument by Hebdige that youth subcultures tend to be accommodated and contained by the media through a process of converting them into mass-produced objects or through neutering them ideologically.

In South Africa, both the paradigm for music education and the music syllabus need to change: music teachers need to correct and compensate for the consequences of the Apartheid system of the past, and they need to meet the challenges of the outcomes based model of Curriculum 2005, which has been accepted by the National Education Department as the plan which will be followed in the future. This dissertation attempts to contribute to the implementation of Curriculum 2005 by making a case study of a successful student band, Amethyst, all of whose members were almost entirely self taught in music. After identifying what the members of Amethyst learned and how they learned it, the work finds ways of applying the findings from the case study to the teaching of music in the Further Education and Training phase of Curriculum 2005. The case study is contextualised by a consideration of the salient characteristics of outcomes-based education as embodied in Curriculum 2005 and by including discussion of similarities between the way learning took place in Amethyst and the informal learning of music that takes place in African and Indian communities within South Africa. These similarities in learning methods are ones that fit well with the perspectives propagated by outcomes-based education. Practical suggestions for the classroom take cognizance of the intercultural ideals of Curriculum 2005, and these suggestions are presented within a framework based on the critical cross-field outcomes and specific outcomes identified in this curriculum. The matters of evaluation and assessment, as well as the content of learning programs are also addressed. This dissertation is based on qualitative research methods, including interviews with the band members, their parents, some students who were well acquainted with the band, and two educationists with specialised knowledge concerning the new OBE system. The case study also includes an exploration of the reasons for the boys choosing to teach themselves even though music was available as a subject in their school , an exploration which confirmed that the current music education system has become outdated.
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1998.

This ethnographic study concerns itself with the role that local rap performance plays in either reinforcing or challenging perceptions of 'race' amongst the participants of hip-hop culture in Durban, South Africa, and what this implies for the prospects of reconciliation. Using Cohen's (1989) theory of community and Grossberg's (1996) theory of affective alliances, I explore the ways in which music may create and maintain differences and commonalities between groups of people. It is my hypothesis that genre conventions and connotations, and the discourses that circulate about rap music (for example, rap music as a form of expression particular to the 'black Atlantic' diaspora and conditioned by a racially segregated society [Rose 1994]), allow hip-hop to either reinforce or challenge participants' perceptions of 'race'. I examine how musical and lyrical utterances thrust into a semantic historical and socio-political context limit how rap performance can mean and how, as a dialogic speech genre, rap can uphold, subvert or negotiate its genre associations, including, through the use of double-voiced discourse, dominant ideas concerning 'race' and cultural identity. Acknowledging the idiom as of a form of black cultural expression (Rose 1994), interviewees mention narratives of hip-hop's historical origins, rap artists' use of Five Percenter and Black Nationalist ideologies, and poverty, as factors that either reinforce or challenge notions of 'race'. The simultaneous transgression of and/or adherence to, racialized space and spatialized 'race' (Forman 2002) by different 'races', as well as the presence or absence of multilingualism, are viewed as indicators of the level of commitment to the notion of a democratic place for all 'race' and language groups in post-apartheid South Africa. It is the aim of this thesis to add to the body of knowledge concerning the nature of our post-apartheid identities, what influences them and in what way. And in a broader context, to explore the role of music in societies in transition and the role it might play in facilitating an ability to 'imagine culture beyond the colour line' (Gilroy 2000).
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

During the mid-1930s, a tradition of music-making which drew its repertoire almost exclusively from the music of Indian films began among Indian South African ensembles in and around the city of Durban. This dissertation examines the ways in which the re-created music of Indian films served as a popular expressive medium for the majority of Indian South Africans in and around the city of Durban between 1930 and 1970. Unlike ethnomusicological and popular music studies that focus on musics which are generally both composed and performed by the same group of people, this study deals with a repertoire that was by and large imported directly from another geo- 'graphic, political, and social context: India. The study is based on the premise that the performance of music can serve as a valuable historical text, and it posits that the musical structures and performance practices of the ensembles under study encode vital information about shared socio-political experiences and the Indian South African identities that emerged during the period under discussion.
Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1999.

This dissertation investigates the working experiences of musicians who play original music as a form of employment. The study describes the venues and locations of music performance, including music clubs, concerts and festivals. This is done from the point of view of a concert-goer who is aware of the labour processes occurring at these shows, as well as the infrastructure and support necessary to make such events occur. The music investigated is original popular music which does not afford the artists any other forms of sponsorship apart from the earnings received from performances. The musicians interviewed are thus people who play music as their sole form of income, or aspire to be this position. The experiences of these musicians, as gleaned from loosely structured interviews utilising open ended questions, allow the study to make some generalisations about what it takes to play music as a fulltime form of employment. This is the focus of the study, particularly the fact that music is not only a skill and talent to be developed, but also that music is a unique job which has it's own stresses, strains and rewards. Problems experienced by the musicians, as described by the musicians themselves, cast a clearer understanding of the way in which this form of work is run. The actual mechanics of music performance, such as the prohibitive costs of equipment, and the dealings with club-owners, are discussed. Technology is evaluated in terms of its impact on music performance as a career. Some record companies were also approached in an attempt to understand the constraints and problems faced by these commercial enterprises. The perceptions that these companies have of local original music artists is contrasted with the perceptions that the artists seemed to have of the companies. This makes for interesting comparative material, and allows the study to identify some obstacles between artist and industry. The study concludes with a description of the local music industry and a discussion of some of the reasons why it has developed in this way, as well as a look at some suggestions for change.
Thesis (M.Soc.Sc.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1994.

Is local lekker? This study looks at the perceptions the youth in Durban hold towards local music. Through a study of the Grade 11 learners at Bonela Secondary, Gelofte Skool, Hillcrest High School, Thomas More College and Sastri College this research looks at how much support is offered for local music. It considers how much local music the respondents listen to, how much they purchase and how many local concerts they attend. This study also considers the mediathat the respondents are exposed to,in order to· discover if any correlation occurs between the media that they are exposed to and their perception of local music. The impact of globalization and cultural imperialism on the consumption of local music are also considered. In addition, the study looks at whether variables such as gender, school, "race" or the home language of the respondents impact on their support for local music. Both qualitative and quantitative data was collected. The respondents were required to respond to a questionnaire which elicited responses concerning their perceptions of local music, their support for local music and the media that they are exposed to. From the questionnaires a group of respondents of differing views, genders and home languages was selected to participate in a focus group interview. Results show that the respondents support very little in the way of local music, with regard to listening to local music, purchasing local music and supporting local concerts. They are exposed to a great deal of foreign material and do not have much exposure to local products.
Thesis (M.Mus.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2005.

Although music has seemingly always formed an integral part of human culture, technological advances in contemporary society have increased both its accessibility and portability, allowing for unprecedented production and consumption of a medium that allows individuals to enact and display various social identities during day-to-day life. Furthermore, recent research has demonstrated that youth consume more music that any other age group. Thus music may be considered as a primary cultural influence in the lives of youth. While the bulk of the research conducted in understanding the form and function of this influence has been located in the disciplines of sociology and musicology, Psychologists in Europe and America have become increasingly interested in understanding the role of music in constructing and maintaining identity during this critical period of development. As a contribution to this field of application outside of these contexts and located within a qualitative framework, this study explored the role of Rap/Hip Hop music, as one of the most popular global and local genres of music, in the meaning and maintenance of identity in a cohort of South African youth. The resultant thematic framework illustrated the complex tensions negotiated by youth through assuming Hip Hop culture membership in South Africa. Importantly, the study showed that the nature of Hip Hop culture; its emphasis on self-expression, individuation and critical social awareness dovetails with many of the traditional psychological developmental theories of youth identity. Hip Hop consumption also implied appropriating identity markers from a wide range of social influences, posing challenges to the application of traditional social identity theory in accounting for in and out groupings. This was most pronounced in the way that ‘remixing’, as a governing musical principle in Hip Hop seems to resonate as key mode of identity and identification amongst its South African consumers. Thus, it seems fitting that South African youth currently in the midst of cultural, economic and political transitions would embrace an eclectic rather than rigidly bounded genre of music with such enthusiasm. In some ways then Hip Hop in South Africa, appears to provide youth with the means to remix past and present, old and new, global and local, self and other.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts (Journalism and Media Studies), 2016
This research report is an exploratory study into two regional commercial music stations (YFM and 947) and their use of Twitter as a tool to relate to, interact with and enable participation from their audiences. Of particular interest was why they are using it, what they are doing with it and how this affects the on-air content pre, during and post broadcast, if at all it does. [Abbreviated Abstract. Open document to view full version]
GR2017

In this article I examine as mediations of urban experience poems written by Koos du Plessis. a contemporary Afrikaans poet. together with their musical rendition by Johannes Kerkorrel. a singer and musician from the Afrikaans altemative music scene and former member of Die Gereformeerde Blues Band. The poetry was initially published with musical arrangements in the volume Kinders van die Wind : En Ander Lirieke (1981) . In order to use this material in an article produced as part of an English study . I have translated the poetry into English . The translation (in linguistic and performative terms) of these poems has the dual effect of rendering them more appropriately for this study, and making them accessible to a wider audience. I am concemed with the way poems written by a poet from an earlier decade (the 1980s) interpret and mediate an urban identity and. further. with the fact that performance not only gives them a new lease of life. but also transforms them into works which have meaning and appeal for a more contemporary, broader audience. The fundamental issues addressed in this poetry , namely a response to and a negotiation of urban (South African) experience. continue to speak compellingly today.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Durban, 2002.

The use of methylenedioxymethamphetamine (MDMA) or Ecstasy is a phenomenon that has established itself in the widespread Rave culture. Ecstasy use causes not only physical, social and psychological problems in the development of the adolescent but may also influence his concentration and learning abilities. To prevent these problems educators should be well informed regarding current drug use trends and also be capable of assisting adolescents. Research regarding the nature of Ecstasy use and the characteristics of its users is lacking nationally. The increase in use amongst school going adolescents and young adults and the fact that there are side effects and unknown long term effects has made it imperative that educators learn as much as possible about this drug. The purpose of this research is therefore to furnish the educator with accurate information that will enable him to obtain a reference point from which assistance can be offered to the young Ecstasy user.
Psychology of Education
M.Ed.(Guidance and Counselling)

In recent years there has been an increasing interest in the study of African popular arts and performance genres. In this study, I will focus on isicathamiya, a South African musical performance genre, and in particular the attempt of its practitioners to create new identities and a new sense of self through their own interpretation of the genre. This study will concentrate on the 'isicathamiya youth' in the semi-rural community of Emkhambathini (located about 30 kilometres east of Pietermaritzburg) and their strategies of self-definition in the New South Africa. Isicathamiya has strong roots in migrant labour and this has been the main focal point around which many researchers have concentrated. However, recent years have seen a movement of isicathamiya concentrated within rural and semi-rural communities such as Emkhambathini. The performers in these areas have a unique interpretation of the genre and use it to communicate their thoughts and identities to a diverse audience made up of young and old. In this study I will be looking at the 'isicathamiya youth' within three broad categories, the re-invention of tradition, the re-interpretation of the genre, and issues of masculinities. Each of these categories accounts for the three chapters within this study and serves to give a broad yet in-depth study of the 'new wave' of isicathamiya performers. The first chapter, entitled 'Traditional Re-invention', will deal with issues relating to the project of traditional 'redefinition' which the 'isicathamiya youth' are pursuing in Emkhambathini. I will show that tradition is not a stagnant concept, but is in fact ever-changing over time and place, a concept that does not carry one definition over an entire community. Through various song texts and frames of analysis I will attempt fto show how tradition is being used to further the construction of positive identities within Emkhambathini and give youth a place in Zulu tradition and in a multi-layered modernity. The second chapter will deal with how the 'isicathamiya youth' raise and stretch the boundaries of the genre in relation to a number of concepts. These concepts include topics of performance, women and popular memory and serve to give a broader view as to what the 'isicathamiya youth' are trying to achieve, namely a new positive self identity that seeks to empower the youth in the New South Africa. The last chapter will look at issues of masculinity and how the youth use different strategies to regain the masculine identities of their fathers and grandfathers and maintain patriarchal authority. Issues looked at within this chapter will include men's role within society and their perceptions of women.
Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2005.