{"product_id":"african-stars","title":"African Stars","description":"In recent years black South African music and dance have \u003cbr\u003ebecome ever more popular in the West, where they are now \u003cbr\u003ewidely celebrated as expressions of opposition to \u003cbr\u003ediscrimination and repression. Less well known is the \u003cbr\u003erich history of these arts, which were shaped by several \u003cbr\u003egenerations of black artists and performers whose \u003cbr\u003estruggles, visions, and aspirations did not differ fundamentally \u003cbr\u003efrom those of their present-day counterparts.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn five detailed case studies Veit Erlmann digs deep to expose the roots of the most important of these performance traditions. He relates the early history of \u003ci\u003eisicathamiya\u003c\/i\u003e, the a cappella vocal style made famous by Ladysmith Black Mambazo. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eIn two chapters on Durban between the World Wars he charts the evolution of Zulu music and dance, studying in depth the transformation of \u003ci\u003eingoma\u003c\/i\u003e, a dance form popular among migrant workers since the 1930s. He goes on to \u003cbr\u003erecord the colorful life and influential work of Reuben T. Caluza, \u003cbr\u003eSouth Africa's first black ragtime composer. And Erlmann's reconstruction of the 1890s concert tours of an Afro-American vocal group, Orpheus M. McAdoo and the Virginia Jubilee Singers, documents the earliest link between the African and American performance traditions. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eNumerous eyewitness reports, musicians' personal testimonies, and song texts enrich Erlmann's narratives and demonstrate that black performance evolved in response to the growing economic and racial segmentation of South African \u003cbr\u003esociety. Early ragtime, \u003ci\u003eingoma\u003c\/i\u003e, and \u003ci\u003eisicathamiya\u003c\/i\u003e enabled the black urban population to comment on their precarious social position and to symbolically construct a secure space within a rapidly changing political world. \u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eToday, South African workers, artists, and youth continue to build upon this performance tradition in their struggle for freedom and democracy. The early performers portrayed by Erlmann were guiding lights—African stars—by which the present and future course of South Africa is being determined.","brand":"The University of Chicago Press","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":54218385391960,"sku":"9780226217246","price":33.99,"currency_code":"EUR","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0278\/1295\/4195\/files\/9780226217246_77d9a9a5-986f-416f-8450-544c8da8e49c.jpg?v=1769750116","url":"https:\/\/agendabookshop.com\/products\/african-stars","provider":"Agenda Bookshop","version":"1.0","type":"link"}