Music, Dance, and Identity: Deconstructing Popular Afrikaans Music in Pretoria, South Africa by Cornelius A. Holtzhausen A dissertation submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for a degree M.Soc.Sci: Social Anthropology in the Department Anthropology and Archaeology University of Pretoria Faculty of Humanities Supervisors: Dr. Fraser McNeill & Mr. Jimmy Pieterse © University of Pretoria Table of Contents Introduction ................................................................................................................................ 1 Chapter Outline ...................................................................................................................... 3 Chapter 1 - Methods, Theories and Tools .................................................................................. 7 Dual-sited Ethnography.......................................................................................................... 7 Musical Biographies ............................................................................................................... 9 Music Theory and Identity ................................................................................................... 10 Space and Place .................................................................................................................... 15 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 17 Chapter 2 - History, Music, and Industry ................................................................................ 19 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 19 A Historical Context of the Afrikaner .................................................................................. 19 In the Time of Voëlvry ......................................................................................................... 27 Afrikaans Music in the Post-Apartheid Era ......................................................................... 37 Industry, Influence, and Genres in South Africa .................................................................. 41 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 46 Chapter 3 - Sokkie, Seclusion, and Sexuality in Presley's ....................................................... 49 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 49 Meaningful Music ................................................................................................................ 53 Politics of Dancing in Presley's ............................................................................................ 56 Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 63 Chapter 4 - Anathema Afrikaners in Aandklas ........................................................................ 67 Introduction .......................................................................................................................... 67 The Good, the Bad, and the Zef ........................................................................................... 70 Rock and the Culture Industry ............................................................................................. 78 Implied-Space, Denied Place ............................................................................................... 80 © University of Pretoria Conclusion ............................................................................................................................ 84 Chapter 5 - Conclusion ............................................................................................................ 87 Bibliography ............................................................................................................................ 98 © University of Pretoria Acknowledgments I would first like to thank both my dissertation supervisors, Dr Fraser McNeil and Mr. Jimmy Pieterse from the Department of Anthropology and Archaeology at the University of Pretoria. Their door always stood open for me, their patience, critique, and guidance was invaluable in the process of creating this thesis. I will always be in your debt, and I hope I returned all the books I lent from your collections. Further, I would like to thank my friends and family who had to contend with my endless rattling over the details and nuances of my thinking and writing. Thanks also to my father for his support in all things. In particular, I would like to thank those who read and commented on the various chapters I chose to push under their noses, their input will always form part of this paper. You know who you are. Lastly, to my mother. I wish you could read this, you will be dearly missed. © University of Pretoria Abstract While many have written on Afrikaans protest music during various periods, this dissertation is an attempt to add to the ongoing debate by exploring an area of Afrikaans music that has received scant attention. Pop Afrikaans music is varied, and while it seemingly offers little in terms of political or social content, I argue in this dissertation for the validity and importance of contextualisation, even when lyrical content might appear vapid at first glance. This becomes more pertinent when considering that pop Afrikaans music enjoys a far wider audience than many related musical movements, such as Voëlvry. Further, juxtaposing the social consumption of pop Afrikaans music in Presley's against similar phenomena at Aandklas allows for a deeply revealing picture of the different paths that self-ascribed Afrikaners are taking in the process of creating, changing, and reifying their own identity. Music has always played a complex role in this process, revealing a reciprocal process between performer and consumer to provide content from which people may draw inspiration and validation, in order to ultimately find new narratives assisting in navigating the lived experience of imagined communities. © University of Pretoria Introduction This dissertation provides an ethnography of music in the city, focusing on people who self- identify as Afrikaners1. Exploring popular music and the manner in which my target group interacts and engage with these songs within their respective spaces. My focus is on the consumption of popular music, be it a live performance or background music, at certain locations throughout Pretoria that frequently play Afrikaans music and cater to Afrikaans speaking patrons. By focusing on the audience rather than specific musicians or producers, and through the collection of Musical Biographies2, I hope to offer a new perspective on the topic of Afrikaner music and identity. This topic has received wide and piercing attention from various fields and authors, with the Afrikaner identity playing the role of the displaced and angst-ridden soul. The concept of Afrikaner ‘identity’ is situated in a field of contesting meanings ... New patterns and relationships are yet to be established ... South Africa constitutes a ‘virtual battleground’ for the various actors who are trying to define Afrikanerskap... The democratic political dispensation has given rise to the ‘decolonization of colonial contact zones’ ... and ‘New South Africa-speak’ ... All are testing the depth of Afrikaners’ identification with cultural issues they once held dear. (Kennelly, 2005, p. 1) Kennelly was not alone in speaking of a contestation or the so-called precarious position many believed Afrikaners to occupy in Post-Apartheid South Africa. There have been numerous responses from self-ascribed Afrikaner people to these perceptions. Some have looked to other countries in the decade following the end of Apartheid, making the decision to immigrate in search of a sense of security. Australia, Canada and New Zealand were 1I am fully aware of the complex and abstract nature of identity. I am aware that it would be erroneous of me to attempt to define what it means to be an Afrikaner, or place people under a label they themselves do not identify with. Many people speak Afrikaans, but do not prescribe to the Afrikaner identity. With this in mind, I would like to simplify the reading and writing of this document by stating that when I speak of Afrikaner people it is with the idea that they themselves subscribe to the idea of being an Afrikaner, and I do not label them according to my own prejudices or imagination. 2 Musical biographies are a chronological representation of the types of music that people have listened to during different periods of their lives. The goal of which is to facilitate a deeper more contextual understanding of my participants and their lived experiences. More details later on. 1 | P a g e © University of Pretoria popular destinations for this 'white flight'3. Others, such as the inhabitants of Orania in the Northern Cape and Kleinfontein in Gauteng, have chosen to respond by way of self- segregation and consider themselves the keepers of Afrikaner culture (Van Wyk, 2014). In Chapter 2, I discuss the way that some writers have chosen to make sense of these events 4 through music. In the 1980's, the ‘Voëlvry’ movement made an impact in society and academic circles. A decade ago, Fokofpolisiekar5 faced similar media and academic attention.