Parodies of whiteness

Die Antwoord and the politics of race, gender, and class in South Africa

Bibliographic Data

ID2883274
AuthorsIan Bekker (0000-0001-7602-2642, North-West University), Erez Levon (0000-0003-1060-7060, Queen Mary University of London, corresponding author)
Year2020
Volume49
Issue1
Pages115-147
Publication date2020-02-01
Peer ReviewedYes
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenueLanguage in Society (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 0047-4045 • E-ISSN: 1469-8013
PublisherCambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.1017/s0047404519000630
OpenAlexW3001619086
LanguageEN
Citations received7
References cited86

The dramatic reconfiguration of the social, political, and ideological order in South Africa since 1990/1994 has demanded a concomitant reconceptualization of (white) Afrikaner notions of self and belonging in the (new) nation. In this article, we draw on recent developments in the study of varidirectional voicing (polyphony), performance, and mediatization to examine how the South African rap-rave group Die Antwoord makes use of parody and metaparody in their music to critique emerging 'new Afrikaner' identities and the racial, class, and gender configurations on which they are based. We also discuss the structural limits of these critiques and the political potential of (meta)parodic performance more generally. ((Meta)parody, polyphony, performance, race, class, gender, South Africa

Class (philosophy) · Epistemology · Ideology · Linguistics · Political science · Politics · Polyphony · Race (biology) · Sociology · Voice · White (mutation) · Gender Studies · Law · Multilingual Education and Policy · Music History and Culture · Philosophy · South African History and Culture