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South Africa’s indigenous culture

South Africa’s indigenous culture
South Africa’s indigenous culture
South Africa’s indigenous culture

Indigenous Culture
South Africa’s indigenous culture suffered during the years of apartheid, but in language traditional South African languages have survived in rural areas, . Bantu and its various dialects are undergoing a minor renaissance and musicians are adopting their native tongues once more . Kwaito is a pleasant fusion of old and contemporary African beats and even native African singers began using English or Afrikaans . 

The South African black majority still features a substantial number of rural inhabitants who lead largely impoverished lives. It is among these folks that cultural traditions survive most strongly; as blacks became increasingly urbanised and Westernised, aspects of traditional culture have declined. Members of the center class, who are predominantly white but whose ranks include growing numbers of black, coloured and Indian people, have lifestyles similar in many respects thereto of people found in Western Europe, North America and Australasia.

Arts
South African art includes the oldest art objects within the world, which were discovered during a South African cave, and dated from 75,000 years ago. The scattered tribes of Khoisan peoples stepping into South Africa from around 10,000 BC had their own fluent art styles seen today during a mess of cave paintings. They were superseded by Bantu/Nguni peoples with their own vocabularies of art forms. New sorts of art evolved within the mines and townships: a dynamic art using everything from plastic strips to bicycle spokes. The Dutch-influenced genre of the Afrikaner trekboers and thus the urban white artists, earnestly following changing European traditions from the 1850s onwards, also contributed to this eclectic mix which continues to evolve today.


Olive Schreiner
South African literature emerged from a singular social and political history. One of the primary documented novels written by a black author in an African language was Solomon Thekiso Plaatje's Mhudi, written in 1930. During the 1950s, Drum magazine became a hotbed of political satire, fiction, and essays, giving a voice to urban black culture.

Notable white South African authors include Paton , who published the novel Cry, the Beloved Country in 1948. Nadine Gordimer became the primary South African to be awarded the Nobel prize for Literature, in 1991. JM Coetzee won the Nobel prize for Literature, in 2003. When awarding the prize, the Swedish Academy stated that Coetzee "in innumerable guises portrays the surprising involvement of the outsider."

The plays of Athol Fugard have been regularly premiered in fringe theatres in South Africa, London (Royal Court Theatre) and New York. Olive Schreiner's The Story of an African Farm (1883) was a revelation in Victorian literature: it's heralded by many as introducing feminism into the novel form.

Breyten Breytenbach was jailed for his involvement with the guerrilla movement against apartheid. André Brink was the primary Afrikaner writer to be banned by the govt after he released the novel A Dry White Season.

Popular culture in Africa
Popular culture in Africa
Popular culture
The South African media sector is large, and South Africa is one among Africa's major media centres. While South Africa's many broadcasters and publications reflect the range of the population as an entire , the foremost commonly used language is English. However, all ten other official languages are represented to some extent or another.

There is great diversity in South African music. Black musicians have developed a singular style called Kwaito, that's said to possess appropriated radio, television, and magazines. Of note is Brenda Fassie, who launched to fame together with her song "Weekend Special", which was sung in English. More famous traditional musicians include Ladysmith Black Mambazo, while the Soweto string quartette performs classic music with an African flavour. South Africa has produced world-famous jazz musicians, notably Hugh Masekela, Jonas Gwangwa, Abdullah Ibrahim, Miriam Makeba, Jonathan Butler, Chris McGregor, and Sathima Bea Benjamin. Afrikaans music covers multiple genres, like the contemporary Steve Hofmeyr, the punk band Fokofpolisiekar, and therefore the singer-songwriter Jeremy Loops. South African popular musicians that have found international success include Johnny Clegg, rap-rave duo Die Antwoord, and rock group Seether.

Although few South Africa n film productions are known outside South Africa itself, many foreign films are produced about South Africa . Arguably, the foremost high-profile film portraying South Africa in recent years was District 9. Other notable exceptions are the film Tsotsi, which won the Academy Award for Foreign Language Film at the 78th Academy Awards in 2006, also as U-Carmen e-Khayelitsha, which won the Golden Bear at the 2005 Berlin International festival . In 2015, the Oliver Hermanus film The Endless River became the first South African film selected for the Venice Film Festival.

Cuisine
Main article: South African cuisine

An example of bunny chow served in Durban, originated within the Indian South African community
South African cuisine is diverse; foods from many cultures are enjoyed by all and particularly marketed to tourists who wish to sample the massive variety available.


Dance is popular altogether echelons of South African society, with particular dances representing the origins of its performers. Gumboot originated from the primary miners and is today an integral a part of the nation’s culture. Gumboot performances are often seen at key tourist areas, like Cape Town’s Victoria & Alfred Waterfront. Zulu dances are a tremendous spectacle of warriors in traditional attire, which may be observed during the annual Royal Reed Dance or at cultural shows in Phezula Game Park in KwaZulu Natal Province.

South Africa features a rich sporting heritage and its three hottest are rugby, cricket and soccer. People in South Africa actively follow the Springboks and the Proteas national teams and games are shown on televisions in many public establishments.

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