Browsing by Author "van Zyl, Deborah Lynn"

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    Reflections on Music and Deutschtum in Namibia
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 2016-12) van Zyl, Deborah Lynn; Muller, Stephanus; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Department of Music
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This thesis examines music-making through the lens of Deutschtum and the construction of a Heimat in South West Africa/Namibia. The research is concerned with how German musicking took root in German colonial life, and the role of musicking in establishing and cementing German culture in South West Africa/Namibia thereafter. The thesis documents the German presence in South West Africa/Namibia from the arrival of the German missionaries to the establishment of a German colony, through the mandate years including two world wars, until after independence in 1990. A summary of the topography and demography, with emphasis on the towns of Swakopmund and Lüderitz, as well as music activities in the prisoner of war camps of both World Wars, serve as case studies to delve into the role of music in creating a sense of settledness. In the perceived re-enactment of German culture in an unfamiliar space, German nationalism, and nationalism in music is discussed, by viewing its role in the context of the German settlers making a home away from home in South West Africa/Namibia. Deutschtum or Germanness and the socio-political implications of the establishment of German cultural societies and clubs in South West Africa/Namibia are considered in order to establish how Namibian Germans have used their music to create an identity and a sense of belonging in a hostile and alien environment. The Swakopmund Men‟s‟ Chorus (Swakopmund Männergesangverein) which was established 1902, and the Swakopmund Music Week (Swakopmunder Musikwoche) which celebrated fifty years of existence in 2015, are discussed in detail against the social milieu of the town. Several leading musical personalities in Swakopmund are highlighted. Similarly, the musical activities in the „forgotten‟ town of Lüderitz have been researched within the context of the colonial years and the economic rise and fall of the town. Continued music-making in the prisoner-of-war camps of both the First and Second World Wars contributed further to the notion of music as an accepted part of daily life in a German environment. Although the Herero and Nama people involved at the mission stations in both central and southern South West Africa/Namibia were schooled in Western classical music to a certain level, they were never assimilated into the social musical life of the settlers. My findings are that German musicking had a significant influence on the social life of the German-speaking population, contributing simultaneously to their cohesion and to their isolation.