Submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in the Department of IsiZulu Namagugu at the University of Zululand, 2007. / Music plays a vital role in African cultures and permeates all the spheres of life. Music is part and parcel of culture in African societies. Music informs culture, and culture also informs music. The study of African music using the comparative approach was fraught with numerous pitfalls and shortcomings. Music was studied in isolation, which led to a misconstrued picture of African music. This study has thus employed the ethnomusicological approach. The ethnomusicological approach ensures that music is analysed taking into consideration the cultural context of music. This study looks at mbaqanga music as culture and in culture. The history of mbaqanga music is, thus, analysed taking into account all the factors that impacted on its evolution. The first chapter serves as a background to this study. It deals with the aims of this research and the definition of terms. It also deals briefly with the research methodology employed in this study. The second chapter focuses on a literature review and analytic models. It also looks at the emergence of ethnomusicology as a discipline. It focuses on music as culture and music in culture, and, moreover, it looks at the types of popular music. The third chapter deals with the historical background of mbaqanga music. Genres such as marabi and kwela music are briefly discussed. The political and socio-cultural context of mbaqanga music is discussed. The role of musicians and the media in the development of mbaqanga music is also discussed. The fourth chapter deals with research methodology in detail. This chapter also focuses on the details related to data collection. The fifth chapter deals with the analysis and interpretation of data. It looks at findings from interviews conducted and the analysis of song texts. The sixth chapter offers recommendations and a summary of the findings.

This study explores the impact of the counter culture on students at two Anglophone universities in the 1960s and 70s. It focuses on the social and historical differences that predisposed English speaking youth to metropolitan based cultures. It explores this in the context of a lack of identity with the dominant culture of apartheid. The study examines the method of transmission, absorption, translation and incorporation of the counterculture and the New Left. The factors that highlighted the differences between South African students and their counterparts abroad are seen not only in their access to technology but also in the nature of their relationship to power both political and educational. The importance of understanding what bred different responses to similar stimuli assists in understanding the process in which the global became local. It is argued here that the attraction of the counterculture lay in the broader cultural scope it gave to expressions of difference and resistance as a response to the rigid and continuous expansion of punitive measures by the apartheid government. The persistence through the 1960s of a liberal framework is examined in the context of a response to these measures as well as a failure to move beyond the racial foregrounding of the political system. The influences of events in the USA, UK and France in 1968 are seen in the context of their importance in South Africa as a catalyst to practical and theoretical change. The significance of individuals as translators of the discourses of the New Left is paralleled in examinations of South African musicians whose lyrics and compositions carried both the ideas of the counter culture as well as expressed responses and issues shared by their audiences. The importance of the coalescing of both the New Left and the counterculture are evident in the early 1970s. Students adopted a Marxist framework within which to analyse South Africa, and the methods of the New Left in France in seeking alliances with workers. This practical approach was an example of the global becoming local and introduced those with access to privileged white education into a reexamination of the role of education in changing society. The counterculture expressed itself in the adoption of both cultural and educational methods of focusing on change as a response both to students relationship to power as well as to the emphasis of the 1960s on a broader more individually expressed ability to embrace change and new values. The study concludes that the framework of the New Left when employed in redefining South African history was central to a process of both economic and cultural change within the country. The absence of a strongly expressed identity suggests the widespread appeal of the central values of the counterculture which emphasized distance and disaffiliation from the dominant culture. The opportunity offered by this position is seen as a response to the political expressions of a racially defined student body against a less obvious but significant change in the definition and role of tertiary education and cultural institutions. / Theses (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu Natal, Durban, 2010.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Engineering and the Built Environment, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Architecture (Prof), 2016 / ‘Africa United in Cultural Diversity’ is what is written in bold on a musical event poster outside Home Affairs, during the 2015 xenophobic riots in Johannesburg. In smaller writing it says ‘Opening the doors of learning and culture from Cape to Cairo ’.This thesis is an exploration of how music can act as a universal medium of engagement in an urban space, where interactions between an African diasporic and the local communities can occur. The thesis discusses the relationship between inclusiveness and civic life through Sociologist Ray Oldenburg’s hypothesis of The Third Place (A place between home and work that is critical to the cohesion of diverse society). I also look at ethnomusicologist Ruth Stone`s work on the development of cultural music traits in Central and Southern Africa. Additional I speak to famed composers and performer of traditional Southern African music Dizu Plaatjies. What emerges from this research is a unifying musical pattern (Keita`s Asymmetric Timeline) that mirrors the qualities of The Third Place in its engagement with the inhabitants of the city and sense of the familiar amongst the general public. My building design process then demonstrates that through the use of these two, a spatial and networked experience of African culture can be created in the city. Informing a place where a dialogue of understanding between an African diasporic and the local communities can begin to occur. This place provides an exciting opportunity for designing the way that production and engagement of vernacular music is used as unifying source in shaping The Third Place as a musical performance venue. / MT2016

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.

Certain cultural practices present unspoken questions to women. While women may not be free to state these concerns upfront I argue that they have always had some means of expressing themselves in creative ways about issues that affect them. One issue that is investigated in this dissertation is the question of why women sing. This study, therefore, examines one of the channels, which are songs, that women and rural women in particular employ to deal with their day to day living. To this end I have selected cultural songs as one of the ways of demonstrating how women negotiate their spaces in the culture. The study is based on a community of women from Zwelibomvu near Pinetown, South Africa but goes beyond this as I believe that women in general speak for the majority of other women especially with regard to issues around gender and power inequalities. Songs have been selected as a genre and as a special form of expression that women in particular find easier to use to raise issues that affect them in their daily lives. The three hour DVD rendition that forms part of this study captures a synoptic view of the amount of raw data found in this study. Through the medium of song, and strengthened by the stories that they share, Zwelibomvu rural women are able to get a sense of relief and consolation from the burdens that they have and which they would like to share. Presented as a two part field work process, the first process involves the collection of songs in ceremonies and occasions and observing an d being part of the occasions and ceremonies where the songs that are sung by women are performed. This process culminates in the production of the three hour DVD rendition that forms part of this study and which captures a synoptic view of the amount of r aw data found in this dissertation. The second part mainly involves interviews of categories of respondents in similar settings/districts observed where ceremonies were attended and attempts to provide some insight into why women sing and the question of gender and power in contemporary women’s songs. Finally, the last chapters involve an analysis of songs with regard to themes that emanate from these songs as well as a review on their oral composition. / Thesis (Ph.D)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Durban, 2008.

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.

A research report submitted to the Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts(Arts and Culture Management) 2017 / American film producer, Jason Berman reminds us that music is something the rest of the world wants to listen to; our job is to make sure they pay for it (Matzukis, 2013). When a piece of music is written, a legal right to it comes alive and is vested in the songwriter (author), but if that piece of music is later recorded, a totally different copyright vested in the record company comes alive (Matzukis, 2013). Unfortunately, it appears that the majority of local music role players, particularly composers, producers and performers, are not sufficiently equipped with legal knowledge and common understanding of the music trade’s secrets, its ecosystem or the music industry value chain. The lack of knowledge and exposure is attributed to historically manifested control of the music markets by record companies owned by foreign multinational conglomerates. As a result, a large number of famous and popular local musicians have died penniless. This scenario is painted vividly in an online article titled “Why do our artists die poor?”, which cites Brenda Fassie and Simon Mahlathini Nkabinde as examples of artists who died poor because of bad decisions they made in their career, despite their fame and wealth of music compositions. (www.you.co.za/entertainment/why-do-artists-die-poor/#) In South Africa, the major constraints on the launching of a musical career are access to trade knowledge and the means of production, such as recording facilities (Jordan, 2009).The Southern African Music Rights Organization’s empirical research shows that international music still dominates the South African music market, with 74% of music sold and played on broadcasting and public platforms (Samro, Notes, November 2014, p 13). As a result, the majority of local independent music composers, producers and performers are forced to share the remaining 26% of the music market. This situation worsens when widening the scope to include music role players who are located outside of urbanised provinces such as Gauteng and Western Cape, because most of them lack access to adequate and professional recording studios; lack basic knowledge on ownership of compositions and sound recordings rights; lack the skill to interpret the copyright laws; lack understanding of contractual issues between the artist and record company; lack understanding of the exportation trade; lack the means to submit their audiovisual works for airplay and lack adequate resources to build their brands for competitiveness. Since 2006 the South African music industry has seen an increase in government expenditure on and investment in musical institutions, at national and provincial levels, which are defined in this study as “music hubs”. In 2006, the Eastern Cape Audio Visual Centre (ECAVC) was established in East London (Eastern Cape Province); in 2009/2010, the KZN Music House was established in Durban (KwaZulu-Natal) and in 2008, the Downtown Music Hub was established in Johannesburg (Gauteng Province). The rationale to establish these music hubs is to ease access to the means of production for a large number of local music composers, producers and performers. The purpose of this impact analysis study is evaluate to what extent these music hubs are fulfilling their redress and transformation policy mandate to be beacons of hope for the local music industry. The theoretical grounds of this research study are premised on the concepts of transformation to create access for previously marginalized groups and black economic empowerment for local music role players. This research will unpack how these music hubs, in South Africa, can be used as tools for redress and to transform the music industry into an equitable market for all role players. Although government, at national and provincial level, shows commitment to establishing musical institutions that aim to combat the challenges facing the local music role players as outlined above, it is regrettable that the two music hubs (case studies) in the respective provinces are battling to position themselves as provincial music industry center pieces that create a competitive provincial music ecosystem and network to connect and empower local music industry role players. In 2009, the former minister of arts and culture, Pallo Jordan, in his speech at the launch of the Downtown Music Hub, indicated that the purpose of establishing the music hubs was to lower the barrier by making recording facilities, music manufacturing plants, music distribution channels and music stores more accessible to the most qualifying music role players (Jordan, 2009). This means that if these music hubs are understood as the music development trajectory in South Africa and well implemented, they have the potential to help local music industry role players become more competitive and perform on global music market platforms. / XL2018

Amakwaya refers to the tradition and performance practice of choirs in South Africa that emerged from the mission-schools in the nineteenth century and is manifest today in the annual competitions held by various Teachers' Associations or company-sponsored events like the National Choir Festival. This choral practice, combining Western music styles with African tradition, bears the marks - both social and aesthetic - of colonial and missionary influences, and is closely linked to the emerging black middle class, their process of negotiating identity, and their later quest for a national culture. Many aspects of contemporary amakwaya performance practice, it is argued, including the recent interest of many members of the amakwaya community in opera, can be understood through an analysis of the social dimensions of these choirs. Particular attention is given to the role played by competitions and the sectionalised repertoire. The criticisms made in this regard flow from an understanding of the social meaning and aesthetic thrust of the tradition, from the author's practical involvement with the choirs, and from extensive discussions with choristers and conductors. The first part of the thesis is concerned with identifying the role played by European values such as those of education and progress, in the self-understanding of the emerging missioneducated black South African elite in the second half of the nineteenth century. An initial tendency towards uncritical imitation and attempts at assimilation ended in the experience of rejection by the settler community and isolation. It was followed, in the last quarter of the nineteenth century, by a complex negotiation between traditional and modern values. With political, social and economic mobility restricted in white South Africa, the black middle class turned towards artistic expression such as choral singing in order to define and express a distinctively African concept of civilisation. In this process, amakwaya performance developed into a powerful means whereby class identity and consciousness could be constructed and communicated. The second part looks into the framework of amakwaya, and at the mission schools and colleges they attended and the competitions they organise. As a result of the practice of hymn singing, participation in a choir soon became an important part of the leisure time activities of the early mission converts. This formative phase of amakwaya is illustrated in a case study of one of the most influential schools in Natal, Adams College, near Amanzimtoti, where the first black South African School of Music was established. In order to promote the values important to the missionaries as well as their converts - discipline, progress, and success - competitions were encouraged at the mission stations. These became models for the competitions which today are the main feature of amakwaya practice. The voices of various members of the community are used to present a critical evaluation of the positive and negative aspects of present-day competitions. The last part of the thesis concentrates on amakwaya repertoire, particularly as it is represented at important choral competitions such as the National Choir Festival. This part also attempts to facilitate an understanding of the genesis, structure and aesthetic of the sectionalised repertoire, which consists of neo-traditional songs, Western compositions, and choral works composed by mission-educated musicians. Strict adherence to the sectionalised repertoire is a unique feature of amakwaya performance practice to the present day. / Thesis (Ph.D.-Music)-University of Natal, 2002.

This thesis focuses on the articulation in music of human worldviews, and the social contexts in which they emerge. It suggests that people project various forms of social reality through symbolic systems which operate dynamically to maintain and recreate cultural patterns. The symbolic system investigated in support of this suggestion is that constituted by Venda guitar songs. In the performance of these songs, social reality emerges in a combination of symbolic forms: verbal, musical and somatic. The combination of these symbolic forms serves as a medium for individual self-awareness basic to the establishment of social reality and identity, and the drive for social power and legitimacy. A study of these symbolic forms and their performance indicates that musicians invoke the potential of communal music to increase social support for certain principles on which survival strategies in a turbulently changing society might be based. The discourse of Venda guitar songs incorporates modes of popular expression and consciousness, and thus attempts to invoke states of intensified emotion to promote these survival strategies. Performance occasions emerge as a focus for community orientation and the exploration of social networks. They promote stabilizing social and economic interaction, and serve as a basis for moral and cooperative action. Social reality also emerges in musical style, which is treated as the audible articulation of human thought and emotion. Stylistic choices are treated as integral to the conceptualization of contemporary existence. A study of these choices reveals varying degrees of cultural resistance and assimilation, ranging from musical styles which are essentially rooted in traditional social patterns, to styles which integrate traditional and adopted musical elements as articulations of changing self-perceptions, social aspirations, and quests for new social identity.

For many people music is an important aspect of their daily life. Music preference is a complex subject tied to social identity, personality, leisure activities, religion, family and friends, and so forth. Music is also a form of expression, which is communicated to the public over various mediums and formats. The themes depicted in music media (music in the form of television, radio, and internet sources, both auditory and visually presented) are vast owing to the array of different artists and their individual worldviews that they put on offer for the public. The lyrical content and/or imagery put forward by musicians depicts an array of different themes, which are contextualised by individuals in their personal conception of their favourite music. The meaning that listeners/viewers attach to their music is equally related to their own background and life experience, including their belief system (religion). There has been a controversial increase in the sexualisation and explicitness of music media; however, there is a gap in the intersection between music, sex, and religiosity as a field of study. Understanding the influence of music media requires an understanding of the people who are experiencing this content. Taking a cybernetic approach and the position of the listener who determines the meaning of an utterance, as put forward by cyberneticist Heinz von Foerster, this study is a reflexive contextual enquiry into how people are experiencing and interpreting their music media and whether this media challenges their view on religion (if they consider themselves aligned to a religion). To address this broad research question, a two-part study was conducted. The first part consisted of a quantitative study of 459 students from the University of Johannesburg to obtain a snapshot of a young adult demographic in terms of their music media, sexuality, and religiosity choices. Thereafter, using the results from this first part of the study, a qualitative interview-based study was conducted. Together the quantitative and qualitative studies provide a basis for answering the main research question. The results show that the young adults in the study are thinking beings, not just manipulated by mainstream music media; rather, they decide what is right for them often motivated by their views on religion. Methodologies used in religious studies have been subject to criticism. One specific aspect is the lack of acknowledgment of epistemology within research designs. In addressing this critique, a second- order cybernetic study was conducted. By introducing a cybernetic approach to qualitative religious study, a new approach is thus also presented which is called A Reflexive Recursive Learning Approach to Religious Studies. / Religious Studies and Arabic / D. Litt. et Phil. (Religious Studies)