This study investigates the content of izigiyo (specified personified solo dance songs) texts that Zulu women perform at social occasions in KwaQwabe, a rural area near KwaDukuza (Stanger) in Northern KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa. Though this study focuses on izigiyo, the KwaQwabe have different oral performances that are performed at specific social occasions. In the KwaQwabe area there lives people who practise subsistence farming. The common crops that they (especially women) grow are maize, beans, groundnuts and imifino (herbs). The cattle and goats that the KwaQwabe men keep are mostly slaughtered for the amadlozi rituals. The study proposes that izigiyo as oral texts are largely responses to issues of heritage, culture, women abuse and domestic violence that lead to pent-up emotions, envy, witchery, gossip, and malpractices that can destroy a community-oriented life-style (Turner, 1998) that features in most African communities. The study hypothesises that Zulu women of KwaQwabe need to be treated with dignity and inhlonipho (respect) within the parameters of the Zulu tradition (Msimang, 1975). The study explores issues surrounding the izigiyo performance in order to establish whether Zulu women have always been silent (Bukenya, 2001) when it comes to issues that affect their lives, pertaining to issues that impinge negatively on their lives (Gunner and Gwala, 1991). The intended receivers of the messages (Ndoleriire, 2000) are always implied in the izigiyo texts and aim at serving as social regulators (Gumede, 2000). The language of izigiyo is in most cases metaphorical so as to avoid confrontation. In the midst of the izigiyo expression men and women relay their perceptions, experiences, and feelings about the way of life in their families and communities at large. This study, however, limits itself to the izigiyo texts that are enacted by Zulu women and does not include men’s. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2009.

This dissertation focuses on the migrant performance genre isicathamiya, a genre which was popular amongst migrant workers in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng in the nineteen thirties and forties. It explores contemporary isicathamiya and asks whether there have been paradigmatic shifts in its content in post-apartheid South African society. By way of introduction, the origins and development as well as some of the themes and features of isicathamiya are highlighted. Hereafter scholarly accounts of migrant performance genres are discussed in conjunction with the cultural re-orientation of migrants in urban centers. The introduction is intended to contextualise the genre by alluding to the politics and aesthetics of isicathamiya performances. Leading on from the introduction, the first chapter of this body of research is a reflection upon the characteristics of oral literature; from the point of view of a literary scholar, I also discuss the problems of interpretation I experienced in this study of mediated isicathamiya lyrics. I propose that isicathamiya performances and texts are elements of oral literature and begin to define them as such. My intention in chapter two is to explore how local performances have influenced global culture. I ask if oral literature from South Africa has contributed to the global market. I ask what Ladysmith Black Mambazo, the internationally acclaimed isicathamiya choir, has invested in "First World culture" and suggest that there is in existence a transcultural flow of energy between the "so-called centre" and "so-called periphery". In chapter three I suggest that the local and global are in a state of dialogue. I hope to establish a dialogue between local isicathamiya choirs and Ladysmith Black Mambazo. In essence, Ladysmith Black Mambazo has exported a musical form that has its foundations in KwaZulu-Natal and Gauteng. This chapter takes readers back to the source of the genre. I take into consideration Veit Erimann's scholarly studies of isicathamiya in Nightsong: Performance, Power and Practice in South Africa. Focus falls upon the paradigm of rural/ urban migration in isicathamiya song and the importance of "home" in sustaining migrants in the city. The notion of "homeliness" as a trope in isicathamiya performances is discussed. By extension, in chapter four, I ask whether the notion of "home" emphasized by Veit Erlmann is of significance in contemporary isicathamiya performance. Consequently, I adopt a comparative approach and set out to identify the changes and continuities in contemporary isicathamiya performances in response to transformations within postapartheid society. I ask why isicathamiya is significant in post-apartheid South African society. What is its importance for personal and collective identity? What is being articulated within contemporary performances? Does isicathamiya provide a cultural space, a forum in which public debate (regarding leaders, policies and concerns) can be staged? Most importantly, is the thematic paradigm between the rural and urban world still visible in contemporary isicathamiya? Is contemporary isicathamiya still grounded on the notion of "homeliness", or have new thematic paradigms emerged in contemporary isicathamiya performances? I propose that South Africa in the present, is itself the site of multiple cultures and fragmented histories. The country and its people are searching for a new unitary meaning in the post-apartheid era. My argument is that isicathamiya texts are elements of postcolonial and post-apartheid literature. I suggest that language, through isicathamiya performance, can show a way back into reinterpreting the past and stitching together a different present. Isicathamiya texts give hints of journeys and point to identities, shared histories and cultural landscapes. Isicathamiya makes possible the sharing of knowledge and knowledge systems, and is an opportunity to hear un-erased histories and un-silenced voices. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2001.

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.

Text in English / The research raises concern for the practical and theoretical problems confronting pre-primary to secondary schools regarding the implementation of indigenous African music in the present curriculum. This research investigates the status of indigenous African music in the South African school’s curriculum for the purposes of its inclusion with special reference to isiZulu. The study utilised qualitative interview, observation method and existing documents for the collection of data. Participants were asked to highlight the importance of including indigenous African music in the present curriculum as a core subject, and secondly, what can be done to promote indigenous African music to South African communities? This study records the importance of isiZulu belief systems, customs and performance tradition. It looks at indigenous isiZulu music both past and present, what it offers to the community of South Africans. The research reveals that isiZulu music can be used to recall enjoyable commemorations, express peace, and happiness and motivates team spirit as it can organise activities geared towards community development if included in the school curriculum. It also nurtures social integration, which can enhance understanding in learning. Some songs are composed to instil socio-cultural values in establishing social relationships amongst the individuals and societies, also consolidate social bonds and create patriotic feelings. Music also contributes to the child’s development and psychological abilities. The study further revealed that the battle for the soul of African Languages is not yet over. Rather than the languages becoming increasingly appreciated and embraced by the owners, there is evidently a decline (Salawu, 2001). This worrisome decline is marked by the advancement of technology and craves modernity; they see everything (culture, indigenous African music and language) as primitive. It is apparent that the originality and excellence in African culture and languages are quickly vanishing, as there remains only a small indication of that genuine tradition. The study therefore, helps Black South Africans generally to relate to their folk-lore and to maintain their cultural principles, values and rebuild their sense of national identity and will also work to broaden the curriculum in schools from Foundation Phase to the FET Phase. / Linguistics and Modern Languages / D. Phil. (Languages, Linguistics and Literature)