Enculturation and adaptation: a practice-led investigation into the history and contemporary transformation of the Bahananwa harepa
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479607 , vital:78328 , DOI 10.21504/10962/479607
- Description: This thesis investigates the cultural and musical transformations of the harepa, a stringed instrument initially introduced as the autoharp by Christian missionaries in the late nineteenth century, now deeply embedded within the Basotho ba Lebowa community in Limpopo, South Africa. Through an interdisciplinary approach that blends historical ethnography with practice-led research, this thesis explores the harepa's negotiation of identity amidst the cultural shifts and modernisation affecting the community. The musical output of the harepa showcases a unique hybridity that fuses Basotho ba Lebowa traditions with Western musical influences. The aim of this research is to document the harepa instrument, analyse its music and transformation processes, highlight the musical history of research partners and emphasise the unique tunings which are distinct from Western standards. Employing methodologies that integrate participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and direct musical practice, the research engages with local musicians to understand the contemporary relevance of the harepa and its role in sustaining cultural heritage. It examines shifts in musical practices, the decline of traditional uses of the harepa, and efforts towards its revitalisation, including documenting musical repertoires and analysing performance practices. The findings highlight a complex narrative of enculturation, adaptation, and resistance, revealing the resilience of cultural identity through unique tuning systems that contrast sharply with Western musical paradigms. African tuning practices, characterised by their flexibility and reliance on auditory perception, challenge the adequacy of Western tuning methodologies. This study also investigates the potential of sampling as a method for the sonic representation of African music, advocating for a more culturally sensitive framework that respects the diversity of global musical traditions. By focusing on this localised musical phenomenon, the study illustrates broader cultural preservation and innovation dynamics within Limpopo's Basotho ba Lebowa community. It calls for ongoing dialogue and research to develop methodologies that reflect the unique cultural contexts of musical traditions worldwide. Ultimately, this work underscores the importance of engaged, practice-led research in documenting and revitalising endangered musical cultures in the face of globalisation and cultural homogenisation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2025-04-02
- Subjects: Uncatalogued
- Language: English
- Type: Academic theses , Doctoral theses , text
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/479607 , vital:78328 , DOI 10.21504/10962/479607
- Description: This thesis investigates the cultural and musical transformations of the harepa, a stringed instrument initially introduced as the autoharp by Christian missionaries in the late nineteenth century, now deeply embedded within the Basotho ba Lebowa community in Limpopo, South Africa. Through an interdisciplinary approach that blends historical ethnography with practice-led research, this thesis explores the harepa's negotiation of identity amidst the cultural shifts and modernisation affecting the community. The musical output of the harepa showcases a unique hybridity that fuses Basotho ba Lebowa traditions with Western musical influences. The aim of this research is to document the harepa instrument, analyse its music and transformation processes, highlight the musical history of research partners and emphasise the unique tunings which are distinct from Western standards. Employing methodologies that integrate participant observation, ethnographic interviews, and direct musical practice, the research engages with local musicians to understand the contemporary relevance of the harepa and its role in sustaining cultural heritage. It examines shifts in musical practices, the decline of traditional uses of the harepa, and efforts towards its revitalisation, including documenting musical repertoires and analysing performance practices. The findings highlight a complex narrative of enculturation, adaptation, and resistance, revealing the resilience of cultural identity through unique tuning systems that contrast sharply with Western musical paradigms. African tuning practices, characterised by their flexibility and reliance on auditory perception, challenge the adequacy of Western tuning methodologies. This study also investigates the potential of sampling as a method for the sonic representation of African music, advocating for a more culturally sensitive framework that respects the diversity of global musical traditions. By focusing on this localised musical phenomenon, the study illustrates broader cultural preservation and innovation dynamics within Limpopo's Basotho ba Lebowa community. It calls for ongoing dialogue and research to develop methodologies that reflect the unique cultural contexts of musical traditions worldwide. Ultimately, this work underscores the importance of engaged, practice-led research in documenting and revitalising endangered musical cultures in the face of globalisation and cultural homogenisation. , Thesis (PhD) -- Faculty of Humanities, Music and Musicology, 2025
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2025-04-02
Repatriating Xhosa music recordings archived at the International Library of African Music (ILAM) and reviving interest in traditional Xhosa music among the youth in Grahamstown
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International Library of African Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Ethnomusicology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Cultural property -- Repatriation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap musicians -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76599 , vital:30611
- Description: This research looks at the feasibility of using repatriation as a tool for the revitalisation of indigenous music within a contemporary South African musical context. Using tracks from the International Library of African Music (ILAM), this investigation presents isiXhosa traditional and indigenous music to a group of musicians from a hip-hop background that would never have had access to this type of music before. The thesis then traces their creative use of the music within their own genres. Speaking to the legacy of the Hugh Tracey collection at ILAM and criticisms that have surfaced, this research also attempts to validate the efforts made by Hugh Tracey in collecting and documenting African music. Themes ranging from understanding the term “tradition” are addressed, as well as other technical terms in the vernacular while also exploring and analysing the results of the repatriation project. Practical issues regarding the sampling of indigenous music were interrogated carefully due to the fact that the complexity of African music was foreign to most of the participants. Their familiarity with the music, or lack thereof, either motivated or ended the musicians’ participation in the research project. An in-depth analysis of the results of the musicians’ interaction with the music is presented where this study finds, at the heart of this research, that the musicians performed as agents who easily took to revitalising the music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
- Authors: Madiba, Elijah Moleseng
- Date: 2019
- Subjects: International Library of African Music , Xhosa (African people) -- Music , Sound recordings in ethnomusicology -- South Africa , Ethnomusicology -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Cultural property -- Repatriation -- South Africa -- Makhanda , Rap musicians -- South Africa -- Makhanda
- Language: English
- Type: text , Thesis , Masters , MMus
- Identifier: http://hdl.handle.net/10962/76599 , vital:30611
- Description: This research looks at the feasibility of using repatriation as a tool for the revitalisation of indigenous music within a contemporary South African musical context. Using tracks from the International Library of African Music (ILAM), this investigation presents isiXhosa traditional and indigenous music to a group of musicians from a hip-hop background that would never have had access to this type of music before. The thesis then traces their creative use of the music within their own genres. Speaking to the legacy of the Hugh Tracey collection at ILAM and criticisms that have surfaced, this research also attempts to validate the efforts made by Hugh Tracey in collecting and documenting African music. Themes ranging from understanding the term “tradition” are addressed, as well as other technical terms in the vernacular while also exploring and analysing the results of the repatriation project. Practical issues regarding the sampling of indigenous music were interrogated carefully due to the fact that the complexity of African music was foreign to most of the participants. Their familiarity with the music, or lack thereof, either motivated or ended the musicians’ participation in the research project. An in-depth analysis of the results of the musicians’ interaction with the music is presented where this study finds, at the heart of this research, that the musicians performed as agents who easily took to revitalising the music.
- Full Text:
- Date Issued: 2019
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