CRC 1472 Transformations of the Popular, Subproject C05
How does popular music negotiate the legitimacy of political violence, and how do political actors refer to violence in musical practices? South Africa’s historical struggle against the racist system of Apartheid and the country’s vibrant popular music scene make it a highly suitable case through which to explore how musicians, politicians, activists, and wider audiences negotiate uses of political violence in and through popular music.
The project centers on a couple of key questions:
The research project draws on the analysis of songs, interviews, observations, videos and written documents. The initial sample of songs includes struggle songs as well as songs from other musical genres like “Bubblegum” or Kwaito. It is continuously developed by employing theoretical sampling based on the empirical work, and by following pertinent songs through their history of musical and political reinterpretations.
The project is part of the Collaborative Research Centre (CRC) “Transformations of the Popular” at the Chair of General Sociology I at the University of Siegen.
The CRC is funded by the DFG, Germany’s major self-governing funding organization for science and research.