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Nightsong: Performance, Power, and Practice in South Africa (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology) by Veit Erlmann is a book available to read on EtoBox.

What is Nightsong: Performance, Power, and Practice in South Africa (Chicago Studies in Ethnomusicology) about?

<p><P>First popularized by Ladysmith Black Mambazo and Paul Simon, the a cappella music known as <i>isicathamiya</i> has become internationally celebrated as one of South Africa's most vibrant and distinct performance traditions. But Ladysmith Black Mambazo is only one of hundreds of choirs that perform nightsongs during weekly all-night competitions in South Africa's cities.<br><br>Veit Erlmann provides the first comprehensive interpretation of <i>isicathamiya</i> performance practice and its relation to the culture and consciousness of the Zulu migrant laborers who largely compose its choirs. In songs and dances, the performers oppose the class and racial oppression that reduces them to labor units. At the same time, Erlmann argues, the performers rework dominant images to symbolically reconstruct their home, an imagined world of Zulu rural tradition and identity.<br><br>By contrasting the live performance of <i>isicathamiya</i> to its reproduction in mass media, recordings, and international concerts, Erlmann addresses important issues in performance studies and anthropology, and looks to the future of <i>isicathamiya</i> live performance in the new South Africa. Featuring an In

Author

Veit Erlmann

Publisher

Chicago: University of Chicago Press

Published

1996

Language

EN

ISBN

9780226217215

Subjects

Music, History, Arts