The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place

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dc.contributor.advisorBruinders, Sylviaen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorStacey, Cara Len_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2018-01-25T06:41:13Z
dc.date.available2018-01-25T06:41:13Z
dc.date.issued2017en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis dissertation investigates how the contemporary performers of the Swazi gourd-resonated bow, the makhweyane, create music. Since David Rycroft's study of Swazi bow music in the 1960s and 1970s, little study has been devoted to this musical instrument. The makhweyane is played by a handful of people, each appearing to consider him or herself the last bearer of this tradition. Despite this, however, musical bows have been co-opted as icons of Swazi national identity, and, along with the Incwala (the "first fruits" festival) and Umhlanga ("reed dance") ceremonies, are used as public affirmation of Swazi cultural homogeneity to rally support for the monarchy. The research investigates how musicians create new music for this single-stringed instrument. It also explores, through oral testimony, musical analysis, and practice-based methodologies, the discourse surrounding composition and musical innovation on this rare instrument. Players learn and create through both solitary and participatory exploration and music-making. This research explores how current makhweyane music can be read as oral testimony with regards to the lives of musicians, but also how diverse current praxis serves many functions: as "radio" for lone travelers, as comfort for broken hearts, and as individual acts of citizenry within a broader national environment. This dissertation explores the musical, technical, and social parameters engaged when creating new repertory - the myriad invisible spectres to whom players play and for whom players compose - and the shape that new, resilient makhweyane sounds are taking. It extends David Rycroft's musicological analysis of the 1960s and 1970s to include an investigation into current dialectics between individual notions of creative innovation and musical memory, and the national cultural imaginary. My findings suggest a reframing of 'traditional' musicians from elderly 'culture-bearers' to responsive, innovators and active contemporary musicians, along with their urban-based, younger counterparts. Opening with the King's call for new compositions to be created, this dissertation reads the makhweyane as a prism for Swaziness, for learning and storytelling, for the imagination and remembering, and for creation.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationStacey, C. L. (2017). <i>The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26950en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationStacey, Cara L. <i>"The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music, 2017. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26950en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationStacey, C. 2017. The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Stacey, Cara L AB - This dissertation investigates how the contemporary performers of the Swazi gourd-resonated bow, the makhweyane, create music. Since David Rycroft's study of Swazi bow music in the 1960s and 1970s, little study has been devoted to this musical instrument. The makhweyane is played by a handful of people, each appearing to consider him or herself the last bearer of this tradition. Despite this, however, musical bows have been co-opted as icons of Swazi national identity, and, along with the Incwala (the "first fruits" festival) and Umhlanga ("reed dance") ceremonies, are used as public affirmation of Swazi cultural homogeneity to rally support for the monarchy. The research investigates how musicians create new music for this single-stringed instrument. It also explores, through oral testimony, musical analysis, and practice-based methodologies, the discourse surrounding composition and musical innovation on this rare instrument. Players learn and create through both solitary and participatory exploration and music-making. This research explores how current makhweyane music can be read as oral testimony with regards to the lives of musicians, but also how diverse current praxis serves many functions: as "radio" for lone travelers, as comfort for broken hearts, and as individual acts of citizenry within a broader national environment. This dissertation explores the musical, technical, and social parameters engaged when creating new repertory - the myriad invisible spectres to whom players play and for whom players compose - and the shape that new, resilient makhweyane sounds are taking. It extends David Rycroft's musicological analysis of the 1960s and 1970s to include an investigation into current dialectics between individual notions of creative innovation and musical memory, and the national cultural imaginary. My findings suggest a reframing of 'traditional' musicians from elderly 'culture-bearers' to responsive, innovators and active contemporary musicians, along with their urban-based, younger counterparts. Opening with the King's call for new compositions to be created, this dissertation reads the makhweyane as a prism for Swaziness, for learning and storytelling, for the imagination and remembering, and for creation. DA - 2017 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2017 T1 - The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place TI - The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26950 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/26950
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationStacey CL. The Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and place. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,College of Music, 2017 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/26950en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentCollege of Musicen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.othermusical bowsen_ZA
dc.titleThe Makhweyane bow of Swaziland: music, poetics and placeen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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