An Ethnography of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape, South Africa

PARADING RESPECTABILITY: AN ETHNOGRAPHY OF THE CHRISTMAS BANDS MOVEMENT IN THE WESTERN CAPE, SOUTH AFRICA BY SYLVIA R. BRUINDERS DISSERTATION Submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Musicology in the Graduate College of the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 2012 Urbana, Illinois Doctoral Committee: Professor Tom Turino, Chair Associate Professor Donna Buchanan Associate Professor Gabriel Solis Professor Alejandro Lugo ABSTRACT In this dissertation I investigate the Christmas Bands Movement of the Western Cape of South Africa. I document this centuries-old expressive practice of ushering in the joy of Christmas through music by way of a social history of the colored communities. The term colored is a local racialized designation for people of mixed descent–often perceived as of mixed-race by the segregationist and apartheid ideologues. In the complexity of race relations in South Africa these communities have emerged largely within the black/white interstices and remained marginal to the socio-cultural and political landscape. Their ancestral area is the Western Cape where most still live and where several of their expressive practices can be witnessed over the festive season in the summer months from December through March. The Christmas Bands Movement is one of three parading practices that are active during this period. Drawing on Foucault’s notion of “embodied subjectivity” and Butler’s work on gender and performativity, I explore three main themes, two of which are overlapping, throughout this dissertation. First, I investigate how the bands constitute themselves as respectable members of society through disciplinary routines, uniform dress, and military gestures. Second, I show how the band members constitute their subjectivity both individually as a member and collectively as a band; each has a mutual impact on the other. Even though the notion of subjectivity is more concerned with the inner thoughts and experiences and their concern with respectability is an outward manifestation of a social ideal, these two themes overlap as both relate to how the members constitute themselves. Third, I explore how the emergent gender politics, given renewed emphasis in the new South African constitution (1995) has played out in local expressive practices through the women’s insistence on being an integral part of the performance activities of the Christmas Bands Movement. Their acceptance into the Christmas Bands has transformed the historically gendered perception of the bands as male-only expressive forms. Furthermore, I will illustrate how this cultural practice has gained in popularity during the last seventeen years of democratic rule in South Africa, which may suggest that the historical marginality of the communities is still very present. ii To Mr. Hannes September, the St. Joseph’s Christmas Band and all the bandsmen and women of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape, South Africa for their dedication to this community practice. iii ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I am grateful to the following organizations that funded this research at various periods in the process: the University of Illinois Graduate College Doctoral Dissertation Travel Grant, the University of Illinois Music Department Enhancement Fellowship, the University of Cape Town Research Grants and the National Research Fund Thuthuka Grant. This research would not have been possible without the generosity of the research community with which I worked, in particular the St. Joseph’s Christmas Band, the City and Suburban Christmas Bands Union, and the South African United Christmas Bands Board. Members of these organizations gave generously of their time to answer the many questions I had and allowed me to participate fully in these organizations in order to understand and write about their organizations. A special thanks to Mr. Hannes September and Mr. Heuwel, whom I interviewed several times as well as to all the other interviewees. I am immensely grateful to my academic advisor Professor Tom Turino, and the rest of my dissertation committee members Professors Donna Buchanan, Allejandro Lugo, and Gabriel Solis for their insightful comments, suggestions, and encouragement of my work. My deepest gratitude goes to Professor Christine Lucia who mentored me through the final stages of the writing process in South Africa. Thanks also to the editors—Suzel Reily, Christine Lucia and Dianne Thramm—as well as the anonymous reviewers for their perceptive comments on the articles and chapters I published emerging from this research. Many thanks also to the library staff at the University of Cape Town’s Music Library, in particular, Cyrille Smith who assisted me generously with her time on technical matters, as well as Julie Strauss and Shaheema Luckan. Thanks to my office assistants Thokozani Mhlambi, Glen Holtzman, Cara Stacey, and Candice Martin who assisted with keeping order in the mounting chaos and transcribed a few interviews. Pat and Gloria Fahrenfort transcribed many more interviews, Alistair Andrews kept me hooked up to the latest in technology, and Shadé Jansen assisted with a musical transcription. Lastly, thanks to my colleagues, friends and family members, especially my parents, for their love, encouragement, and support throughout this journey. iv TABLE OF CONTENTS CHAPTER 1: INTRODUCTION……………………………………………………………1 CHAPTER 2: THE CHRISTMAS BANDS MOVEMENT………………………………..39 CHAPTER 3: MUSICAL TRANSMISSION IN THE CHRISTMAS BANDS…………….91 CHAPTER 4: CHRISTMAS BANDS COMPETITIONS…………………………………139 CHAPTER 5: HIDDEN SUBJECTIVITIES: WOMEN’S INVOLVEMENT IN THE CHRISTMAS BANDS……………………………………………………177 CHAPTER 6: SUMMARY AND CONCLUSION………………………………………..212 REFERENCES……………………………………………………………………………..222 v Chapter 1 Introduction1 Christmas Eve 2003 has finally arrived. The St. Joseph’s Christmas Band gathers at the clubhouse in Second Avenue Fairways, at around 11 p.m. to prepare themselves for their all- night visitation to the working class area of Steenberg where several members live. The clubhouse is the home of the founding ‘father,’ Mr. Hannes September, and is located in a middle class area in the southern suburbs of Cape Town. Members of the band are neatly dressed in a uniform consisting of white trousers, shirt and shoes, yellow tie, black blazer with badge, and a black and yellow band tied around a white hat with a dark feather placed dashingly on the right- hand side. After traveling to Steenberg by bus, they disembark, and gather in their marching files—three abreast. They accompany their parade with a Christian march tune, “Onward Christian Soldiers,” played up-tempo on wind and stringed instruments. They enact a military- style parade to a member’s house where they perform two Christmas carols outside for the awaiting family and neighbors. They receive a huge tafel (a table of local foods and delectable deserts) finally, after having performed in a similar manner at several members’ houses. The hours pass by surprisingly quickly. The most beautiful time of the morning is around 3 a.m. and 4 a.m. It is incredibly quiet and the air is fresh. As the band passes the sleeping houses, lights are turned on as some of the occupants peep through the windows to watch and cheer them excitedly; others wave at them sleepily. Cape Town’s ghoema musical complex Every year from September through March members of colored community musical organizations in the Western Cape of South Africa come together to rehearse their repertory for the festive season, participate in street marches, and cultural competitions.2 As Christmas and New Year coincide with the summer vacation in the southern hemisphere, this is a particularly festive time in South Africa and especially in Cape Town, the oldest city, affectionately referred to as the ‘mother city.’ Three interrelated disciplines, the Christmas Bands, Malay Choirs, and Klopse (carnival troupes) add to the festive atmosphere in the city. I will refer to the three together as the ghoema musical complex as all three are characterized by a particular syncopated 1 Parts of this chapter have been published in Bruinders 2005. 2 The word ‘colored’ (an imposed racialized designation for people of mixed descent) is problematized below. 1 rhythm, which has become emblematic of Cape Town and referred to as the ghoema rhythm (see chapter two). This musical complex emerged out of the Creole (colored) community, for whom inclusion into the nation state has historically been marked by ambivalence. This rhythmic syncopation with its displaced beat serves as a poignant metaphor for a community that still bears the scars of apartheid dislocation. Thus an investigation into the musical complex or parts of it, as this dissertation aims, offers possibilities of looking beyond the rhythmical-musical complex to the ‘syncopation’ of the whole social order to which it belongs. While the members of the Christmas Bands are predominantly Christians, the Malay Choirs are predominantly Muslims who, like most of the South African Creole community, trace part of their ancestry to Southeast Asian slaves brought to the Cape during the rule of the Dutch East India Company between 1652 and 1806. The Klopse, associated with carnivalesque celebrations, have been influenced by U.S. blackface minstrelsy (see Cockrell 1987 and Erlmann 1991, 1996, 1999) and were referred to by the English as ‘coons.’ They consist of members of both religious groups and have for years been regarded in a derogatory manner, particularly by

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