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Mzansi Fo Sho: South African Popular Music & Politics - MUS00134C

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  • Department: Music
  • Module co-ordinator: Dr. Jonathan Eato
  • Credit value: 20 credits
  • Credit level: C
  • Academic year of delivery: 2023-24

Module summary

This project will discuss a range of South African popular music – from 1920s marabi to contemporary township kwaito – in the light of contemporaneous politics and society. It will draw on various concepts from post-colonial theory, ethnomusicology, and literary theory to enable various readings of South African popular music.

Module will run

Occurrence Teaching period
A Semester 2 2023-24

Module aims

Music has long played a central role in the lives of people living at the tip of the African continent. The San and the Khoikhoi are thought to have been the first people to inhabit the area now known as the Republic of South Africa, and it is no coincidence that in 2004 the !Xun Traditional Council published a book / CD project which they called ‘Kulimatji nge. We tell our old stories through music.’

The liner notes tell us that Pensa Limunga’s music stories ‘are not only descriptive celebrations of hunting or fireside entertainment. He tells fine narratives that comment sharply on social behaviour and gender in his community. His tale of ‘The two sisters’, for instance, is a humorous rendering of how a man attempted to abuse two women and got what he deserved. Such morality stories are frequently told in order to teach community values and make people reflect on the telling of the tale.’

And it is not only indigenous musics that have been involved with political and social comment. English colonists introduced minstrel shows to South Africa in the 1850s and as Veit Erlmann puts it:

acting out white fantasies about blacks was ideally suited as a rationalization of the anxieties of white settlers in South Africa attempting to come to terms with the strength of precolonial social formations and independent African political power. (African Stars, 1991, p. 30)

Erlmann tells us that by 1880 there was at least one black minstrel troupe operating in Durban and minstrels (now almost exclusively based in the Cape) still play a significant role in the musical life of Cape Town. Each 2nd January or Tweede Nuwe Jaar (lit. second new year) the troupes and their bands march through the streets. Politics and social comment remain a prominent characteristic of the music of the minstrel troupes, and the closely associated Cape Malay Choirs, most notably in the moppie (comic song).

This project will discuss a range of South African popular music – from 1920s marabi to contemporary township kwaito – in the light of contemporaneous politics and society. It will draw on various concepts from post-colonial theory, ethnomusicology, and literary theory to enable various readings of South African popular music.

Module learning outcomes

By the end of the taught part of the project all students should be able to:

  • demonstrate a general knowledge of a range of South African popular music;
  • demonstrate a general understanding of social and political issues relevant to the music;
  • demonstrate a more detailed knowledge of selected musicians’ work;
  • engage with selected topics covered in the module;
  • demonstrate knowledge of recent critical developments relevant to South African popular music.

On completion of the module, in their independent work, students should demonstrate learning outcomes A1-6 + A7, A9 and A12 from https://www.york.ac.uk/music/undergraduate/modules/learning-outcomes/

Assessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 100

Special assessment rules

None

Additional assessment information

c.4000 word essay on topic to be agreed with module tutor in supervision

Reassessment

Task Length % of module mark
Essay/coursework
Essay		 N/A 100

Module feedback

Report form with marks to student no later than 20 working days from submission of assessment.

Indicative reading

Recordings

Guidance will be given, but it is important to note that as almost all the music considered on this project will not be notated it is vital that you listen deeply and widely. It is important to have an overview the various types of popular music in South Africa to enable you to situate the music we are discussing in a wider musical context. Areas to focus on could be:

  • Cape Malay Choirs (e.g. The Tulips)
  • Isicathamiya (e.g. Ladysmith Black Mambazo)
  • Kaapse Klopse (e.g. The Shoprite Pennsylvanians)
  • Kwaito (e.g. Bongo Maffin, Chiskop, Arthur Mafokate, Mzekezeke, and Zola)
  • South African Jazz (e.g. Tete Mbambisa, Zim Ngqawana, Kyle Shepherd, Melanie Scholtz, Marcus Wyatt)
  • Mbaqanga (e.g. Mathlathini and the Mahotella Queens, Izintombi Zesi Manje Manje, Makgona Tshole Band)
  • Popular Music (e.g Freshlyground, Mango Groove, The Manhattan Brothers, Miriam Makeba, Thandiswa Mazwai, Simphiwe Dana, Hugh Masekela)
  • Rap (e.g. Die Antword)
  • Rock (e.g. Bernoldus Niemand a.k.a. James Phillips, Fokofpolisiekar)
  • Traditional (e.g. Dizu Plaatjies and Amampondo, Madosini)

 

Reading

  • Agawu, K. 2003. Representing African Music: Postcolonial Notes, Queries, Positions (New York)
  • Ansell, G. 2004. Soweto Blues: Jazz, Popular Music, and Politics in South Africa (New York)
  • Ballantine, C. 2013. Marabi Nights: Jazz, race and society in early apartheid South Africa, University of KwaZulu-Natal Press, Durban. 2nd Edition.
  • Bayart, J.-F. 1996. The Illusion of Cultural Identity (London)
  • Coplan, D. B. 2007. In Township Tonight! Three Centuries of South African Black City Music and Theatre (Auckland Park)
  • Erlmann, V. 1991. African stars: studies in Black South African performance (Chicago)
  • Mandela, N. R. Long Walk to Freedom: The Autobiography of Nelson Mandela. (London)
  • Martin, D.-C. 1999. Coon Carnival: New Year in Cape Town; past to present (Cape Town)
  • Masekela, H. and Cheers, D. M. 2004. Still Grazing: the musical journey of Hugh Masekela (New York)
  • McClary, S. and Walser, R. 1994. 'Theorizing the Body in African-American Music', Black Music Research Journal, 14, pp. 75-84
  • Meintjes, L. 2003. Sound of Africa! Making Music Zulu in a South African Studio (Durham, North Carolina)
  • Olwage, G. (ed.) 2008. Composing Apartheid: Music For And Against Apartheid (Johannesburg)
  • Stubbs, A. (ed.) 1978. I Write What I Like: Steve Biko; a selection of his writings (Johannesburg)
  • Watson, W. 2007. Brick by Brick: An Informal Guide to the History of South Africa. (Claremont)


The information on this page is indicative of the module that is currently on offer. The University is constantly exploring ways to enhance and improve its degree programmes and therefore reserves the right to make variations to the content and method of delivery of modules, and to discontinue modules, if such action is reasonably considered to be necessary by the University. Where appropriate, the University will notify and consult with affected students in advance about any changes that are required in line with the University's policy on the Approval of Modifications to Existing Taught Programmes of Study.