Browsing by Subject "Popular culture"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Contemporary english oral poetry by black poets in Great Britain and South Africa : a comparison between Linton Kwesi Johnson and Mzwakhe Mbuli
    (1994) Kozain, Rustum; Sole, Kelwyn
    The general aims of this dissertation are: to study a form of literature traditionally disregarded by a text-bound academy; to argue that form is an important element in ideological analyses of the poetry under discussion; and, on the basis of this second aim, to argue for a comparative, rigorously critical approach to the poetry of Mzwakhe Mbuli. Previous evaluations of Mbuli's poetry are characterised by acclaim which, the author contends, is only possible because of under-researched criticism, representing a general trend in South African literary culture. Compared to Linton Kwesi Johnson's work, for instance, Mbuli's poetry does not emerge as the innovative and progressive art - in both content and form - it is claimed to be. Mbuli and his critics are thus read as a case study of a general trend. Johnson and Mbuli mainly perform their poetry with musical accompaniment and distribute it as sound-recording. This study's approach then differs from the approaches of general oral literature studies because influential writers on oral literature - specifically Walter J. Ong, Ruth Finnegan and Paul Zumthor - do not address the genre under investigation here. Nevertheless, their writings are explored in order to show why particularly Ong and Finnegan's approaches are inadequate. The author argues that using the orality of the poetry as an organising, theoretical principle is insufficient for the task at hand. On cue from Zumthor, this study suggests an approach through Cultural Studies and conceives of the subject matter as popular culture.
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    Sports, festivals and popular politics : aspects of the social and popular culture in Langa township, 1945-70
    (1994) Molapo, Rachidi Richard; Nasson, Bill; Bickford-Smith, Vivian
    The rapid industrialization which transformed South African Society after the discovery of minerals, had a profound impact on the lives of most South Africans. The process of urbanization escalated during and after the Second World War because of better wages and job opportunities in the urban areas. South African urbanization was characterized by the brutal manner in which the state dealt with the Black people. The White middle and working classes' fear of being engulfed by this Black tide led to the multi-pronged strategies which were devised to contain and co-opt the Africans, hence the creation of townships like Langa. This study looks at how the journey from the rural areas to the cities became part of the 'making of Black working class'. Material conditions in the cities were characterized by social squalor and overcrowding. Ghetto-like conditions created ethnic identities and working class culture, consciousness and community struggles came to reflect capitalist domination in the twentieth century township of Langa. Many residents in the township indulged in leisure pursuits such as dance and music which had their origins in the rural areas and this indicated an important cultural resource which they adhered to so as to cope with the alienating and corrosive compound and hostel life. Some of the residents found pleasure in leisure pursuits whose roots and ethos could be traced to the Victorian period such as cricket, soccer and rugby. All these leisure pursuits however, came largely to be influenced by the realities of township life and the general national and economic exploitation. The working class in Langa was not a homogeneous block as there were intense struggles between the migrants and immigrants over township space and resources. Therefore festivals and sporting activities played an important part in the cultural history of Langa township's effort to create "communities". The last part of the study looked at how the conditions in the city led to the realization by the dominated classes that the solution towards the alleviation of the conditions that they were confronted with was through the formation of structures which aimed at overthrowing institutions of oppression, such as the pass laws.