The Changing Faces Of Aawambo Musical Arts

How does a peoples’ music reflect their history, their occupations, cultural beliefs and values? These are the core questions that this book addresses in rela-tion to the Aawambo people of Namibia. The author brings to the fore the nuanced views of different people, describing their personal musical experiences – past as well as present. This is the first time that the music and stories of contemporary Namibian musicians is shared alongside those of the elderly. Similarly, it is the first time that some of the traditional Aawambo dances are analysed and described, abundantly illustrated with colourful photographs and several songs. Based on years of personal research, this book will appeal to research scholars, students and other interested readers alike, since its style is accessible but detailed, personal yet objective.

Most research on the migrant labour system in Namibia under South African colonial rule emphasises its dehumanising aspects. In a complete contrast, this study highlights the social and ritual resources that contract workers and their families in colonial Ovamboland mobilised to provide forms of support and connection across great distances and absences. Based on extensive oral research, this study peels back the layers of intangible infrastructure that sustained migrant workers through all the stages of their contract, including observances around workplace deaths. This thesis vividly demonstrates the persistence of older practices that sustained the bonds of life, fellowship and family under stress, as well as adaptation to new colonial system, such as the postal system.

This book is a collection of essays written by emerging scholars at the University of Basel on the basis of their subjective encounters with a specific archival collection housed in the Basler Afrika Bibliographien in Basel. The Ernst and Ruth Dammann collection consists of around 8100 images, 750 audio recordings and numerous manuscripts, diaries and notes. The German couple conducted research on Namibian oral literatures and languages as they were spoken and performed across the country in the early 1950s. Based on in-depth engagement with the textual, visual and audio records assembled in this intricate collection, the authors of this book critically interrogated the implications of opening a colonial archive, exploring alternative ways of reading and understanding the historical material. As unique examples of close reading and listening, the essays propose creative ways of attending to the politics of race, gender, famine, ethnography, biography and fiction in colonial knowledge production.

A rich collection of captivating and remarkable chapters, Writing Namibia Coming of Age presents research of senior academics as well as emerging scholars from Namibia. The book includes wide ranging topics in literature written in English and other Namibian languages, such as German, Afrikaans and Oshiwambo. Almost thirty years after independence, Namibia literature has come of age with new writers experimenting with different genres and varied aspects of literature. As an aesthetic object and social phenomenon, Namibian literature still fulfils the function of social conscience and as new writers emerge, there is ample demonstration that, pluri-vocal as they are, Namibian literary texts relate in a complex manner to the socio-historical trends shaping the country. The Namibian literary-critical tradition continues to paint some versions of Namibia and what we find in this new and highly welcome volume is a canvas of rich voices and perspectives that demonstrate an intricate diversity in terms of culture, language, and themes.

Writing Namibia: Literature in Transition is a cornucopia of extraordinary and fascinating material which will be a rich resource for students, teachers and readers interested in Namibia. The text is wide ranging, defining literature in its broadest terms. In its multifaceted approach, the book covers many genres traditionally outside academic literary discourse and debate. The 22 chapters cover literature of all categories in Namibia since independence: written and performance poetry, praise poetry, Oshiwambo orature, drama, novels, autobiography, womens writing, subaltern studies, literature in German, Ju|hoansi and Otjiherero, childrens literature, Afrikaans fiction, story-telling through film, publishing, and the interface between literature and society. The inclusive approach is the books strength as it allows a wide range of subjects to be addressed, including those around gender, race and orature which have been conventionally silenced.

Parading respectability: The cultural and moral aesthetics of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape, South Africa is an intimate and incisive portrait of the Christmas Bands Movement in the Western Cape of South Africa. Drawing on her own on background as well as her extended research study period during which she became a band member and was closely involved in its day-to-day affairs, the author, Dr Sylvia Bruinders, documents this centuries-old expressive practice of ushering in the joy of Christmas through music by way of a social history of the coloured communities. In doing so, she traces the slave origins of the Christmas Bands Movement, as well as how the oppressive and segregationist injustices of both colonialism and apartheid, together with the civil liberties afforded in the South African Constitution (1996) after the country became a democracy in 1994 have shaped the movement.

This collection brings together many African voices expressing their ideas and conceptions of musical practice and arts education in Africa. With essays from established scholars in the field as well as young researchers and educators, and topics ranging from philosophical arguments and ethno-musicology to practical classroom ideas, this book will stimulate academic discourse. At the same time, practical ideas and information will assist teachers and students in Africa and elsewhere, bringing fresh musical perspectives on instrument playing, singing, childrenis literature and play.

What are the most popular names of the Ambo people in Namibia? Why do so many Ambos have Finnish first names? What do the African names of these people mean? Why is the namesake so important in Ambo culture? How did the long independence struggle affect personal naming, and what are the latest name-giving trends in Namibia? This study analyses the changes in the personal naming system of the Ambo people in Namibia over the last 120 years, starting from the year 1883 when the first Ambos received biblical and European names at baptism. The central factors in this process were the German and South African colonisation and European missionary work on the one hand, and the rise of African nationalism on the other hand. Eventually, this clash between African and European naming practices led to a new and dynamic naming system which includes elements of both African and European origin.