Singing against Apartheid: ANC cultural groups and the international anti-Apartheid struggle

Gilbert, Shirli (2008) Singing against Apartheid: ANC cultural groups and the international anti-Apartheid struggle. In, Olwage, Grant (ed.) Composing Apartheid: Music for and against Apartheid. Johannesburg, ZA. Wits University Press. (doi:10.1080/03057070701292848).

Abstract

This article explores the ways in which music, together with cultural forms such as poetry, theatre and dance, was used to garner international support for the struggle against apartheid. It focuses on two of the African National Congress's most significant projects in this realm: Mayibuye, an agitprop group that achieved considerable success in Europe in the 1970s; and Amandla, which travelled widely as a party ambassador during the 1980s, offering large-scale performances incorporating music, theatre and dance. A central motivation for the article was documenting the work of these two ensembles, both of which made significant contributions to the development of cultural activity and yet remain virtually undocumented in the history of the movement and the struggle. The article's primary analytical interest is in how black South African popular culture came to play a role in the movement's work in exile, how it was recruited and re-packaged in order to appeal to foreign audiences, and the relationship between this and cultural activity that was more internally focused. The distinction between culture's role in external propaganda work as opposed to internally-focused nation-building - although not often clearly made in ANC discourse - helps to situate the contributions of these two groups within the larger context of culture and the struggle. Further, it helps to explain the difficulties faced by those trying to revive Amandla in post-apartheid South Africa, an initiative that ultimately has not come to fruition. In exploring how music was mobilised by the ANC in the international arena, the article seeks to understand the importance and distinctive value of propaganda-focused cultural activity to the movement, as well as its necessary and inevitable limitations.

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