The question presented, concerning the South African apartheid and the music that was involved with the movements, debates whether the music came from the people’s desire to over come apartheid or if the music was a catalyst to the movement. As explained in the movie, the people used music for different aspects of the music, fundamentally a different song for every part of the movement. The music was a way in which the people could express themselves in a way that was noticed by their over rulers and which included all people taking part in the revolution.
Apartheid essentially aimed at keeping non-white communities from thriving in any way, through racial segregation. Amandla! Focuses on the apartheid that took place in South Africa, primarily from 1948 to 1994 (1). This segregation was headed by the National Party government, which was run by a group of Afrikaner nationalists. The National Party government segregated non-whites into contained, separate neighborhoods, which were generally in very poor condition with strict laws. These laws prohibited non-white South Africans to come in contact with white South Africans through separate facilities. One law required non-whites to carry passbooks to restrict their presence in white areas.
As Amadla! focuses on, non-whites who were affected by the apartheid laws created a large amount of songs of various categories during the National Party’s rule. These songs were used during marches and protests, such as the burning of the passbooks, as a more peaceful revolt against segregation laws. The songs each expressed their views and thoughts of the National Party, for example the lyrics in Ndodemnyama that specifically called against Hendrik Verwoerd (2), the South African Prime Minist...
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...xpress the people’s feelings against segregation in a peaceful, unharmful way. Based on this and how each piece of music covered different parts of the long fight against apartheid, I believe this music emerged as a result of the resistance rather than creating a catalyst for it. The people had a goal to take away the National Party’s power and they initially showed such through expressing their ideas verbally, with speeches and protests by leaders, such as Vuyilsile Mimi. From this, non-white South Africans began creating music to express their ideas more clearly and in a more noticeable, non-violent approach.
Works Cited
(1)"Apartheid." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 Apr. 2014. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.
(2)"Apartheid." History.com. A&E Television Networks, n.d. Web. 04 Feb. 2014.
(3)"Woodstock." Wikipedia. Wikimedia Foundation, 02 May 2014. Web. 05 Feb. 2014.
Music’s role on society has changed drastically through the course of its history as it has become ever so increasingly expansive. Many of the previous musical movements were only for the wealthy as entertainment
There is one universal language: the language of music. Music has a special quality and ability to bridge both social and cultural divides. A proposed theory by Dr. Gray, Founder and Director of National Musical Arts’ BioMusic Program; describes music has been around longer than human-beings have. Music is the one thing human beings from various backgrounds can relate to. Every living creature would agree. Music is heard everywhere not just among humans, but in nature as well, through the twitting of birds, winds blowing, the soft sound of raindrops against a windowpane, the ocean waves moving back and forth and the hum of the ocean rushing in a sea shell. There is no escaping it; music lives in and surrounds us steadily. While there are countless songs which confer social or cultural consciousness, this paper will analyze and address the dynamics of M.I.A.’s “Paper Planes”, video. Stylistically, the paper will examine the artist point of view, the unique use of lyrical analysis and sound description in relation to its historical, social, political and/or cultural context. This essay will also trace the lyrical analysis and sound description of song and discuss how the elements (visually, sonically, and lyrically) interplay with the theme of immigration and/or violence.
“Together the matrices of race and music occupied similar position and shared the same spaces in the works of some of the most lasting texts of Enlightenment thought..., by the end of the eighteenth century, music could embody differences and exhibit race…. Just as nature gave birth and form to race, so music exhibited remarkable affinities to nature” (Radano and Bohlman 2000: 14). Radano and Bohlman pointed out that nature is a source of differences that give rise to the different racial identities. As music embodies the physical differences of human, racial differences are not only confined to the differences in physical appearances, but also the differences in many musical features, including language, tonality and vocal expression. Nonetheless, music is the common ground of different racial identities. “In the racial imagination, music also occupies a position that bridges or overlaps with racial differences. Music fills in the spaces between racial distinctiveness….” (Radano and Bohlman 2000:8) Even though music serves as a medium through which different racial identities are voiced and celebrated individually, it establishes the common ground and glues the differences
A major situation in which the music was used was massive protests on public property called sit-ins. Sit-ins were protesting strategies by African Americans during the Civil Rights Era where they would sit in on diners, bathrooms and “public” locations that they weren’t allowed and wouldn’t leave until they were given equality or service. During these protests, African Americans would sing songs of freedom and good times ahead and would adapt these songs from past songs of slavery and inequality were revived and reused from before (Stewart). Many white Americans would discriminate those doing this to try to diminish their morale on the right, but as a response the African Americans would continue to sit and sing s...
Music is an art and a wonderful gift to human race. It soothes, stimulates and makes us feel happy. It affects our moods in many different ways from lullaby to war cry for changes in the society. Music is actually distinct to different people. Above all, it has a transformational importance that is captured in its art and nature. Music draws our emotions and it has an impact of bridging different cultures across the continents. Slave songs were very vital channels through which all kind of information was conveyed both positive and negative.
Bob Marley expresses his belief that music is a message and route to freedom in the song “Trench town.”
Around the mid twentieth century, Africa saw an increase in independence movements and decolonization efforts. Even up to the 1960s, some European powers still had a colony in Africa, such as France. In 1954, the National Liberation Front (FLN) in Algeria started a guerrilla campaign to gain independence from France. Much later in the decade, South Africa, who gained their independence from Great Briton in 1930, struggled with a racial system called Apartheid. This was used to suppress the native black population, and through racial segregation, the minority white population came into power. This paper will focus on these two events in African history and how the international community comprehended the reality of the two situations. In the case of the Algerian War of Independence, the different strategies that both the FLN and France used will be analyzed by the impact they had on the United Nations and the international community. Secondly, the use of song and culture in South Africa by the native population will be examined, and in particular the effects the Mayibuye Cultural Ensemble and the Amandla Cultural Ensemble had on international audiences and how useful it was in revealing the state of the population under Apartheid rule. Primarily, the films The Battle of Algiers and Amandla! will be used to provide a context, and thus the films will be portrayed through an international viewpoint.
Monson, I. (2010).Freedom sounds : civil rights call out to jazz and Africa. New York Oxford: Oxford University Press.
Cultural expression frequently serves as a lens to the conditions, historical and contemporary, of a society. Film, music, and literature often serve as an extension of oral traditions and can provide us not only with a glimpse into history but can also share with us the cultural impact of the past and give us a greater understanding of the present. In the countries of Brazil and Jamaica with similar histories of oppression, from slavery, to genocide, to crushing poverty and systemic racism, it is not surprising to see a similarity in the heightened consciousness in their music. Through analysis of the histories of Brazil and Jamaica, from slavery to the institutionalized systems of oppression, one can understand how such seemingly different musical traditions frequently share a common theme, resistance.
“How Musical is Man?” was published in 1974. This book was written by John Blacking, a musician turned social anthropologist. His goal in writing this ethnography, and several other papers during this same time period, was to compare the experience of music-making that takes place within different cultures and societies throughout the world. In this book, he discusses and describes the musicology of the Venda people in South Africa. Though he does go to Africa to research and learn about the Venda people and their music, he specifically states that his book is “not a scholarly study of human musicality” (ix), but rather it is a summary (written from his point of view), which is both expressive and entertaining, of several different issues and ideas that he has seemingly been contemplating for some time.
Music played a very important role in the lives of people is diaspora communities. It served as a reminder for the immigrants of their homeland, which allowed them to proudly express their national and cultural identities. Diaspora refers to an international network of communities linked together by the identification of a common ancestral homeland and culture. People in these communities are no longer living in their homelands, with no guarantee of a return either. (Bakan, 19). Music played a large role in African diaspora communities. This was first started by the slave trades many years ago when slave traders traveled to the coast of West Africa to capture Africans and brought them back to the United States to be slaves on plantations. Slaves were more prone to loose a sense of their own culture because every new aspect of their lives was forced upon them, therefore they were undoubtedly forced to abandon their n...
There are several different ways in which music can generate empathy. One way that music is used to create empathy is through the reconciliation between black and white people in South Africa. Cynthia Cohen claims that “music is well-suited to the work of building peace, because it can facilitate communication, understanding, and empathy across differences of all kinds” (Gray, 2008, 76), and for reconciliation in South Africa, this rings true. People presented their cultural music to the other side and they listened to gain a better understanding of that person’s perspective. During the time of reconciliation, it was important to show all views about apartheid, because “a poor understanding of what happened before us always leads to a. Poor
...He thinks he does, but in reality he doesn’t. Professor Gatuirira is trying to create a lie, but he doesn’t know he is. Music can create art “for many human voices” when it is true. The art the professor is trying to create is false. It is a cross over from American culture to African culture. He has “yet found the tune” because it is all white wash. Nothing that the professor studies to create his national anthem is relevant to his current situation. Even though he thinks it is right to create a national anthem, there is a flipside to this. That reality that the professor fails to see includes factions and class struggle. Africa is plagued by gender and sexism. It makes it difficulty for women to find jobs. The exploitation of middle and lower class by the upper class is selfishness. The selfishness leads to high corruption because everyone is trying to get rich. Nothing of what the professor wants the people to sing is true.
South Africa really began to suffer when apartheid was written into the law. Apartheid was first introduced in the 1948 election that the Afrikaner National Party won. The plan was to take the already existing segregation and expand it (Wright, 60). Apartheid was a system that segregated South Africa’s population racially and considered non-whites inferior (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”). Apartheid was designed to make it legal for Europeans to dominate economics and politics (“History of South Africa in the apartheid era”).
Music has played a role in society since the dawn of man. Said to be the beginning of communication in early civilization, music and dance have influenced how we think, act and treat members of our own society. Song and dance is used in rites of passage ceremonies such as births, weddings and funerals throughout the world. Jamaican and Yoruba cultures have made many contributions to our society. The uses of this music as a vehicle for political issues, values, and beliefs have been used by many musicians from different cultures. I intend to discuss the Contribution of these two contemporary cultures music and their effect on society.