IIPC Debate #45
Michael Drewett (Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa): EXPLORING ’SPACE’ IN CENSORSHIP BATTLES: THE CASE OF POPULAR MUSIC IN APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA
Thu 26 September 4-6 pm.
Seminar room Hovi, Department of Musicology, University of Turku. Address: Kaivokatu 12, Turku (Sirkkala campus).
Abstract: A part of the apartheid state’s attempt to maintain hegemony in South Africa was through censorship. The terrain of popular music was no exception. This paper considers popular music censorship by means of the metaphor of space as both a real and imagined area of contest. It is argued that censorship involved contests over the use of space, and those involved in the contest sought to reposition themselves according to the most suitable strategies available to them. Influenced particularly by the work of Pierre Bourdieu, the analysis of contest posited in this paper extends beyond simple binary conceptions of struggle. Throughout the apartheid era resistant musicians worked within the context of social movements to devise means of overcoming censorship and making themselves heard. They proved that agency is possible, even in contexts of severe repression. Despite apartheid censorship, creative and meaningful spaces of resistance were discovered and successfully manipulated.
Professor Drewett is the IIPC Visiting Fellow for Autumn 2013, more details below.
Upcoming IIPC Debates:
16.10. Wed: Stan Hawkins (University of Oslo) 4 – 6 pm Janus Hall: “Hyperembodiment and Agency in the Pop Video”
18.10. Fri: Debate Caryl Flinn (University of Michigan) 4 -6 pm Janus: “The Emotional Work of the Hollywood Musical”
5.11. Tue: Michael Drewett (Rhodes University, Grahamstown, South Africa) 4 – 6 pm Hovi: [TBC]
14.11. Thu: Miguel Mera (City University, London) 4 -6 Hovi: “Inglo(u)rious Basterdisation: Tarantino and the War Movie Mashup”
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