I POLITICS, PRODU~TIONAND PROCESS: I Discourses on tradition in contemporary maskanda. I · I I I I by I Kattiryn Olsen I I I Submitted in fulfilment ofthe requirements for the degree of Master ofArts, in the Department of Music, University ofNatal, Durban. May, 2000 I I I CONTENTS. Contents: 1 Acknowledgements: 11 INTRODUCTION. 1- 5 CHAPTER 1 - Theory and Methodology. 6 - 34 CHAPTER 2 - Deconstructing Maskanda.. 35- 44 CHAPTER 3 - Shiyani Ngcobo - Oqobo Ngoqobo (The Real Thing). 45 - 83 CHAPTER 4 - Posturing Zuluness. 84 - 128 CHAPTER 5 - Contradictions and Paradoxes. 129 - 164 CHAPTER 6 - Final Reflections. 165 - 169 BIBLIOGRAPHY. 170 - 176 MUSICAL EXCERPTS ON CD 177 APPENDIX 1 : Press Releases and Internet Articles - M.E.L.T.2000 APPENDIX 2: Press Releases and Internet Articles - Shiyani Ngcobo APPENDIX 3 : Press Releases and Internet Articles - Nantes Festival APPENDIX 4 : Press Releases and Internet Articles - Madala Kunene APPENDIX 5 : Press Releases and Internet Articles - Maskanda APPENDIX 6 : Press Releases and Internet Articles - Phuzekhemisi APPENDIX 7: Press Releases and Internet Articles - ChiefMangosuthu Buthelezi and King Goodwill Zwelethini i ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS. This project would not have been possible without a considerable amount of assistance from a number ofdifferent people. I would like to express my gratitude to Madala Kunene, Shiyani Ngcobo and Phuzekhemisi for allowing me access to their personal life-stories, and for the many opportunities they have afforded me to observe and experience different aspects of maskanda performance. I would also like to acknowledge the assistance ofthe following people: Dr. Angela Impey, my supervisor, for her invaluable guidance and encouragement; Nothando Hadebe, Sazi Dlamini, Bheki Mkwayane, Nathi Kunene, Madoda Kraai and Sihawukele Ngubane for assisting me as interpreters, transcribers and translators; David Marks; Peter Rorvick; Bhodloza Nzimande; Sibusiso 'Bemard' Motaunge , and Sibongiseni Mndima. I would also like to thank my familyfor their interest and support. Finally, I acknowledge the financial assistance ofthe Centre for Science and Development and the School ofGraduate Studies, Natal University. Any opinions expressed and conclusions drawn in this thesis are those ofthe author and are not necessarily to be attributed to these institutions. Except where specifically stated to the contrary, this thesis is entirely my own work. 11 INTRODUCTION. This thesis is concernedwith processes ofmeaning-making in contemporary maskanda. More specifically, it is aboutthe part that is played by 'tradition', in the construction of meaning. It aims to uncover some ofthe ways in which traditionis interpretedand used both in academic discourse and in the general discourses ofeveryday life, and to relatethese perceptions to its use in the making and marketing ofcontemporary maskanda. It seeks an explanationfor how and why 'tradition' is referenced. It is equally fair to say that this thesis is about three musicians, Shiyani Ngcobo, Phuzekhemisi, and MadalaKunene. They feature not simply as the subject matter ofthis enquiry, but also because they offer three very different pathsby which to access the materialneeded to answersome ofthe questions aboutthe 'how' and 'wherefore' ofthe experience ofcontemporarymaskanda. Contemporarymaskanda is a dynamic body ofZulupopular musicwhich takes shapein a numberof performance styles. It is the transformationofa musical stylewhich was developedat the turn ofthe 20th century by migrant workers in responseto the changing dynamics ofZulu society.Like early maskanda,the contemporaryversionofthis style draws on a multitude ofsources. In the broadest sense it is most commonly understood simply as Zulu guitar music, but is also at times performed on concertina and violin. The commercialisation of maskandain the 1950's brought some ofthe most profound changes in the style. What was predominantly a solo musical style is currentlymost often experienced in a band line up, with electric leadguitar, bass, and drums. In group performances, some ofthe delicacy and detail in the style ofplaying which are associatedwith earlymaskandahasbeen lost to the more forceful driving sound associatedwith other many forms ofcommercial music, ranging from mbaqanga to rock. Nevertheless, local maskandi frequently aspire to the notion that their music falls withinthe realm ofa musical practice deeply rooted in the past. 1 Furthermore, it is as 'traditional' music that maskanda is marketed both locally and in the worldmusic category. Notions of,tradition' are therefore calledupon both in the making and marketing of maskanda, and in localand international contexts. Thesenotions become active participants in the processes through which maskanda is embedded withmeaning. However, as a repository of meaning, traditionis a volatile concept whichappeals to the imagination rather thanto empirical evidence for authenticity. Thenotion of,tradition' must therefore be seenas complex andproblematic. I argue that traditionis a powerful concept whichconjures up images ofspace,placeand time in an intricate web of meaning. Underthe bannerof'tradition', the past is affordedan authority which is frequently engaged to establish and confirm perceptions ofboth individual and collective identity. It is these notions ofidentity whichare mobilised as part ofa broaderstrategy designed to consolidate andperpetuatethe ideological constructs on which political andeconomic directives depend. Zulu, South African, and African identity is imaged in the discourses in and surrounding contemporary maskanda. Through various, and at timesproblematic, claims on tradition, the public perception of these identities is shapedin wayswhichcreate the boundedrealms ofdifference whichgivesZuluness its exoticflavour in world music, and which consolidates the affiliations necessary to incite ethnicnationalist sentiment. Tradition and the meanings associated withtraditionare referenced in complex and at timescontradictory ways. While the notionoftraditionis spokenabout andperceived in terms ofan idealised past, the positioning ofthis idealised past is variable. Similarly, perceptions of maskanda are fluid, and there is often a disparity between descriptions ofthe characteristics ofthe music and the use of the label, particularly in the public realm. The different perceptions oftradition and maskanda, andthe meanings attachedto theseterms are deeplyentwined withthe ideological stanceofvarious 'players' who are involved in the productionand dissemination ofmusic to which the label'maskanda' has been attached. Through a discussion of the music andperformance stylesofShiyani Ngcobo, Phuzekhemisi and Madala Kunene, thisthesis critically examines the 2 relationship betweenthe meanings attached to and embedded in contemporary maskanda, and ideologically constituted notionsof Zulu identity, history and experience. The questionof change is in many respects fundamental to anydefinition of maskanda and to the concept oftradition. South African society is in the process of transformation, a process which demands the reevaluation ofmanyofthe ways in whichSouth African identities, their past and their culturalexpressions, are represented. Since the disbanding of apartheid, there have beensubstantial shifts in the dynamics ofSouth African society. The 1994Nationalelections, a symbolic event for most South Africans, brought the African NationalCongress, a previously banned organisation, into government office. NelsonMandela, who underthe previous regime had beenimprisoned for 27 years, became the legitimate leaderofthe country. Thosewho had been marginalised and subjected to severe discriminatory legislation on the basisofrace, lookedto the new government to institute substantial changesin their lives. The new constitutional structureintroduced a widely admired BillofRightswhich gavecredenceto visions ofan idealised future. However, whilethe words might be spoken, and the symbols mightbe in place, SouthAfricansocietyremains in a state of uncertainty. The process oftransformation has demanded the reevaluation of established structures, and has challenged allpeopleto confrontquestionsof identity, place, space. Inresponse to thisprocessnew divisions and boundaries are beingformulated, and new relationships developed as individuals situate themselves within the broader structures ofsocietyas a whole. Theshifts in the dynamics ofSouthAfricansociety are, however, not simply the resultofinternal changes. Through the ever-increasing momentum of globalization, change hasbecome part and parcelofcontemporary experience. ''We find ourselves in a momentoftransit where space and timecross to produce complex figures ofdifference andidentity, past and present, inside and outside, inclusion and exclusion" (Bhabba,1994:1). 3 The idea ofexisting in a "moment oftransit" brings with it a sense ofmoving toward something new. This sense has been enhanced by developments in technology which have impacted dramatically on people throughout the world. In what has been descnbed as the 'age ofinformation', many different experiences and ideas circulate across long established national boundaries. The cross­ pollination, which comes as a result ofexposure to wide and diverse varieties of ideas, has led to a critical examination ofhow knowledge is framed and mobilised in the service ofideology. Dirlik identifies post-coloniality as "a response to a genuine need, the need to overcome a crisis ofunderstanding produced by the inabilityofold categories to account for