The Changing Faces of the Klopse: Performing the Rainbow Nation During the Cape Town Carnival

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The Changing Faces of the Klopse: Performing the Rainbow Nation During the Cape Town Carnival The changing faces of the klopse: performing the rainbow nation during the Cape Town carnival Presented in partial fulfillment of the degree of Master of Arts in Anthropology Chanell Oliphant Department of Anthropology and Sociology University of the Western Cape May 2013 Supervisor: Professor Heike Becker Table of Contents Abstract ……………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………………. i Declaration ................................................................ ............................................................................... i Acknowledgements ................................................................................................................................. ii Chapter 1: Introduction ........................................................................................................................ 1 1.1 Carnival and the performance of difference in the ‘Rainbow Nation’ ..................................... 4 1.2 Debates surrounding ‘Coloured identity’ .................................................................................. 6 1.3 Going forth ................................................................................................................................... 8 1.3 Chapter Outline: .......................................................................................................................... 9 Chapter 2 Cape Town Carnival in a historical perspective .............................................................. 11 2.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 11 2.2 Overview of research on the klopse carnival........................................................................... 11 2.3 Emancipation of slavery accounts: “the beginning” of creolization process ........................ 13 2.4 Minstrel impact ......................................................................................................................... 14 2.5 The formal formation years ...................................................................................................... 16 2.5.1 The creative carnival success of 1907 .............................................................................. 18 2.6 The War Years; Union Jack Flags and universal solidarity .................................................... 19 2.7 The advent of apartheid ............................................................................................................ 20 2.7.1 Farewell Privates, odds and ends with your bits and pieces: creativity gives way to uniformity .................................................................................................................................... 21 2.7.2 ‘Keeping with the Times’ of the music from strings to brass bands and the creation of a ‘coloured Afrikaans identity’: the introduction of Afrikaans through moppies ................... 23 2.7.3 Repertoire of songs ............................................................................................................ 24 2.7.4 From circular route to one-directional route: spatial effects of apartheid .................... 26 2.7.5 Changes in the names of troupes ...................................................................................... 28 2.8 Early Post-apartheid years ....................................................................................................... 29 2.8.1 Ordentlikheid/ deurmekaar ............................................................................................... 30 2.9 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 31 Chapter 3: “Welcome to Cape Town”: public invocations of the klopse .......................................... 32 3.1Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 32 3.2 The growing heritage discourse ............................................................................................... 33 3.3 District Six museum engagement with carnival ..................................................................... 36 3.4 ‘Ghoema and Glitter’ exhibition ................................................................................................ 39 3.4.1 Good Hope Gallery: a space of meanings .......................................................................... 40 3.5 Performative installation at the Slave Lodge .......................................................................... 44 3.6 ‘Welcome to Cape Town’…. It’s just like Rio: the presentation of a city ............................... 47 3.7 Does ‘zation’ in creolization mean continuous process: discussing the usage of creolization?................................................................ ..................................................................... 49 3.9 Conclusion.................................................................................................................................. 50 Chapter 4: Becoming Las Vegas ......................................................................................................... 51 4.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 51 4.2 Gaining access ............................................................................................................................ 51 4.3 ‘The umbrella’ Las Vegas .......................................................................................................... 54 4.4 Organized chaos ‘discipline’: the makeup of Las Vegas ......................................................... 55 4.4.1 The band ............................................................................................................................. 56 4.4.2 The Choir: ............................................................................................................................ 57 4.4.3Juvenile choir ....................................................................................................................... 58 4.5 In the field .................................................................................................................................. 59 4.6 Reflexivity .................................................................................................................................. 64 4.7 The not so down the road researcher: doing anthropology at home .................................... 65 4.8 Challenges encountered............................................................................................................ 67 4.9 Ethical considerations............................................................................................................... 68 4.10 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................... 70 Chapter 5: Performing the story (s) of ‘the Rainbow Nation’ at the stadium ............................. 71 5.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 71 5.2 At the stadium: first day of competition 3 January 2012 ....................................................... 72 5.3 Vygieskraal stadium .................................................................................................................. 74 5.3.1The history of (the) stadium (s) ......................................................................................... 75 5.4 The competition ........................................................................................................................ 77 5.4.1Grand March Past ................................................................................................................ 77 5.4.2 Best dressed ........................................................................................................................ 78 5.4.3 Singing categories .............................................................................................................. 80 5.4.4 The best band ..................................................................................................................... 81 5.5 The story of Waalendorp .......................................................................................................... 81 5.6 ‘the Rainbow Nation’ discussed ............................................................................................... 83 5.7.1 The exhibition ..................................................................................................................... 83 5.7.2 The different bodies of ‘the Rainbow Nation’ .................................................................. 86 Chapter 6: ‘Ga julle Makkha toe vanaand?’: re-routing/rooting carnival through the body and the senses. .................................................................................................................................................. 93 6.1 Introduction ............................................................................................................................... 93 6.2 ‘A place of desolateness’: moving towards re-rooting/ re-routing ....................................... 95 6.3 Voorsmaakie to tweede nuwe jaar: returning to a circular route ..........................................
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