Music and Dance Theses and Dissertations

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The Power of Song: The Role of Afrikaans Patriotic Songs in the Maintenance of Apartheid
(University of Oregon, 2022-10-26) Basson, Suzanne; Fine, Abigail
In this thesis, I examine how the patriotic songs found in the FAK songbook helped maintain the continued imposition of apartheid. During the start of the 20th century the FAK aimed to solve the ‘poor white problem’ by uplifting the Afrikaner people both economically and culturally. They first set out to unite the Afrikaners by creating a shared heritage, including folk songs. By expanding on Patricia Hill Collins’ theory of controlling images, I argue that the FAK created a controlling sound by associating musical genres with class. The patriotic songs affiliated with the uplifted Afrikaner, in turn, narrated the created heritage with lyrics that promoted settler colonialism. I claim these songs encouraged white ignorance—the disbelief or absence of true belief about systemic white supremacy—and, more importantly, that encouraging their performance is in itself white ignorance.