Songs of the Women Migrants: Performance and Identity in South Africa (International African Library)

This book gives an account of how migrant women, whose lives and experiences have heretofore been neglected in the pages of academic scholarship, dance and sing the vibrant and expressive musical style of kiba . In so doing, they build an identity as autonomous breadwinners whose aspirations and values are nonetheless rooted in 'tradition'. On Sunday 17 March 1990, as on other Sundays, the piece of open ground adjoining the Number 1 Men's Hostel in Alexandra township near Johannesburg was a focus of intense musical activity. Deborah James. Includes Bibliographical References (p. [218]-230), Discography (p. [200]-202) And Index.