Original Venda hustler
Symbols, generational difference and the construction of ethnicity in post-apartheid South Africa
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2186809 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Fraser G Mcneill (0000-0002-0863-8856, University of Pretoria, corresponding author) |
| Year | 2016 |
| Volume | 39 |
| Issue | 3 |
| Pages | 187-203 |
| Publication date | 2016-08-31 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23323256.2016.1209725 |
| OpenAlex | W2516539199 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 27 |
This paper provides an ethnographic analysis of contemporary articulations of “Vendaness” in Pretoria, South Africa. Current ethnic identifications articulate recent fluctuations in political, economic and social dynamics. Two case studies are offered as evidence. I evoke Turner’s symbolism to demonstrate that car stickers of the old Venda flag unite “the Venda” while at the same time dividing Tshivenda speakers into groups with loyalties to rival traditional leaders. Car stickers create and maintain metaphorical and actual borders that fuel re-imaginings of the previous homeland in contemporary urban settings. Secondly, I examine the emergence of an urban youth movement through which young men advertise with alacrity their ethnic affiliations. With captions like “Original Venda Hustler” and “I’m Venda, So What?!,” a younger generation of Tshivenda speakers has reinterpreted the notion of “being Venda”: from a stereotypically secretive and mysterious minority group to a conspicuous presence in the cityscape. I look at generational divisions as a way of interpreting this recent manipulation of materiality, and suggest that the connection between the two case studies is to be found in the dynamics of a dual crisis of masculinity in which young and older men have responded to changing socio-economic dynamics in divergent ways
Aesthetics · Art · Dynamics (music · Ethnic group · Ethnography · FLAGS register · Homeland · Masculinity · Materiality (auditing · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Law · Public Spaces through Art · South African History and Culture
Ethnic humor around the world
“Satan Is an Imitator”
Ethnicity, Inc.
Chiefs in South Africa
Money from Nothing
Hobos, Hustlers, and Backsliders
Symbols
The Creation of tribalism in southern Africa
The Forest of Symbols
In Search of Respect
Popular Politics in the History of South Africa, 1400–1948
Rural Reggae
I'm still a hustler
Ethnic identity as performance
Introduction
Maps, names, and ethnic games
Witchcraft, Violence, and Democracy in the New South Africa
A Post-Fordist Ethnicity
The Ritual Process
Rethinking Ethnicity
Doing Politics in Bushbuckridge
Studies in Ethnomusicology
Stylizing the Self
The analysis of culture in complex societies
Liberation and Redistribution
Making Music, Making Money
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 1,33 |
| Citation span | 2023 - 2025 (3) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |