Dust of the Zulu : Ngoma aesthetics after Apartheid / Louise Meintjes ; with photographs by TJ Lemon.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Meintjes, Louise, 1960- author.

Contributor:

Lemon, T. J., photographer.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Ngoma (Drum) music--Social aspects--South Africa.

Ngoma (Drum) music.

Zulu (African people)--Music--Social aspects--South Africa.

Zulu (African people).

Physical Description:

1 online resource (353 pages) : illustrations, photographs

Place of Publication:

Durham : Duke University Press, 2017.

Summary:

In Dust of the Zulu Louise Meintjes traces the political and aesthetic significance of ngoma, a competitive form of dance and music that emerged out of the legacies of colonialism and apartheid in South Africa. Contextualizing ngoma within South Africa's history of violence, migrant labor, the HIV epidemic, and the world music market, Meintjes follows a community ngoma team and its professional subgroup during the twenty years after apartheid's end. She intricately ties aesthetics to politics, embodiment to the voice, and masculine anger to eloquence and virtuosity, relating the visceral experience of ngoma performances as they embody the expanse of South African history. Meintjes also shows how ngoma helps build community, cultivate responsible manhood, and provide its participants with a means to reconcile South Africa's past with its postapartheid future. Dust of the Zulu includes over one hundred photographs of ngoma performances, the majority taken by award-winning photojournalist TJ Lemon.

Contents:

The politics of participation in Ngoma song and dance

Turning to be kissed: praise, flirtation, and the work of men

The unwavering voice: affect, eloquence, and the moral anger of men

Feet of the centipede: military aesthetics and the politics of reconciliation

To quell the dancer's dust: singing violence during South Africa's transition

The crossing: world music and Ngoma at home

Dancing around disease: silence, ambiguity, and brotherhood

The digital homestead: having a voice and the sound of marginalization

Brokering the body: culture, heritage, and the pleasure of participation

Closing: Ngoma's masculinity, South Africa's struggle.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9780822373636

0822373637

OCLC:

1143635157