The Culture of AIDS in Africa: Hope and Healing Through Music and the Arts

519 Pages·2011·3.742 MB·English

by  Gregory Barz, Judah M. Cohen

THE CULTURE
OF AIDS IN AFRICA
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THE CULTURE
OF AIDS IN AFRICA
Hope and Healing
in Music and the Arts
edited by
g regory b arz
and
j udah m. c ohen
1
1
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Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data
The culture of AIDS in Africa : hope and healing in music and the arts /
edited by Gregory Barz and Judah Cohen.
p. cm.
Includes bibliographical references and index.
ISBN 978-0-19-974447-3 — ISBN 978-0-19-974448-0
1. AIDS (Disease)—Africa—Songs and music—History and criticism.
2. Music—Social aspects—Africa. 3. AIDS (Disease)—Social aspects—Africa.
4. AIDS (Disease) and the arts—Africa. I. Barz, Gregory F., 1960-
II. Cohen, Judah M.
ML3917.A4C85 2011
362.196'97920096—dc22
2010053152
1 3 5 7 9 8 6 4 2
Printed in the United States of America
on acid-free paper
For Simon and Lucy Barz.
For Rebecca, Rena, and Gabriel Cohen.
And to all those affected by HIV/AIDS, in Africa and throughout
the world, who strive to live positively each and every day.
The world at large and African leaders and our motherland in particular
Should be an example in the campaign against the AIDS epidemic
We are educating for peace, unity, and for development
Yes, everyone of Africa is on a very strong foundation
To hear the echoes almost from every home
The wind of change is blowing around,
We have all the breeze to rejoice through communication and mobilizing
Now as we enter the millennium this has to be the solution
Harmony and togetherness that’s how to grow
Between traditional healers, medical doctors, religious leaders
United researching should be supported
Research institutes need to wake up to fi ght the epidemic
Sung by the choir of Tokamalirawo AIDS Support
Group Awareness (TASGA) Kampala, Uganda
CONTENTS
List of Abbreviations xi
List of Figures xv
Acknowledgments xvii
1. Introduction: The Culture of AIDS: Hope and Healing
Through the Arts in Africa 3
Gregory Barz and Judah M. Cohen (Vanderbilt University/University of the Free State,
Indiana University)
2. Interlude: Singing for Life: Songs of Hope, Healing, and HIV/AIDS in Uganda 20
Gregory Barz (Vanderbilt University/University of the Free State)
3. Born in Africa (1990): Documentary Transcript 35
J ohn Zaritsky
4. T ears Run Dry: Coping with AIDS through Music in Zimbabwe 56
R ic Alviso ( California State University, Northridge)
5. Singing in the Shadow of Death: African Musicians Respond to a Pandemic
with Songs of Sorrow, Resistance, Advocacy, and Hope 63
Jonah Eller-Isaacs
6. Music, HIV/AIDS, and Social Change in Nairobi, Kenya 70
Kathleen J. Van Buren (University of Sheffi eld)
7. Interlude: Nyimbo za EDZI (Songs about AIDS) 85
E. Jackson Allison, Jr.
8. Using Music to Combat AIDS and Other Public Health Issues in Malawi 88
E. Jackson Allison, Jr. , Lawrence H. Brown III , Susan E. Wilson (SUNY
Upstate Medical University, Anton Breinl Centre/James Cook University,
East Carolina University)
9. Visual Approaches to HIV Literacy in South Africa 94
Annabelle Wienand (University of Cape Town)
10. Ngoma Dialogue Circles (Ngoma-DiCe): Combating HIV/AIDS Using
Local Cultural Performance in Kenya 111
Mjomba Majalia (St. Augustine University of Tanzania)
11. Interlude: To Sing of AIDS in Uganda 129
Judah M. Cohen (Indiana University)
12. HIV/AIDS Poster Campaigns in Malawi 131
Eckhard Breitinger (University of Bayreuth)
vii
contents
13. Contemporary Uses of the Musical Arts in Botswana’s HIV/AIDS Health
Education Initiatives: The Case of the Radio Serial Drama M akgabaneng 144
Abimbola Cole (University of California, Los Angeles)
14. “We Are the Loudmouthed HIV-Positive People”: “ Siyayinqoba/Beat It !”
on South African Television 158
Rebecca Hodes (University of Cape Town)
15. “C’est Le Wake Up! Africa”: Two Case Studies of HIV/AIDS
Edutainment Campaigns in Francophone Africa 180
Daniel B. Reed (Indiana University)
16. Singing Songs of AIDS in Venda, South Africa: Performance, Pollution,
and Ethnomusicology in a Neo-Liberal Setting 193
Fraser G. McNeill and Deborah James (University of Pretoria, London
School of Economics)
17. Interlude: “Let’s Get Together” 213
Namirembe Post-Test Club/TASO Mbarara Drama Group
18. Aesthetics and Activism: Gideon Mendel and the Politics of Photographing
the HIV/AIDS Pandemic in South Africa 215
Michael Godby (University of Cape Town)
19. A Lady Who is an A kadongo Player: Singing Traditionally to Overturn
Traditional Authority 222
Rebekah Emanuel
20. “What Shall We Do?”: Oliver Mtukudzi’s Songs about HIV/AIDS 241
Jennifer W. Kyker (Eastman School of Music/University of Rochester)
21. Swahili AIDS Plays: A Challenge to the Aristotelian Theory on Tragedy 256
Aldin K. Mutembei (University of Dar es Salaam)
22. Confronting AIDS Through Popular Music Cultures in Kenya: A Study
of Princess Jully’s “Dunia Mbaya,” Jack Nyadundo’s “Ukimwi,” and Oduor
Odhialo’s “Nyakomollo” 268
Mellitus N. Wanyama and Joseph B. Okong’o (Moi University, Kenya)
23. Interlude: Grassroots Organizing and Celebrity Campaigns: The Arts and AIDS
Activism in Morocco 283
Jeffrey Callen
24. Siphithemba—We Give Hope: Song and Resilience in a South African Zulu
HIV/AIDS Struggle 285
Austin Chinagorom Okigbo (Williams College)
25. Young and Wise in Accra, Ghana: A Musical Response to AIDS 299
Angela Scharfenberger (Indiana University)
26. Singing as Social Order: The Expressive Economy of HIV/AIDS
in Mbarara, Uganda 309
Judah M. Cohen (Indiana University)
viii
contents
27. “I’m a Rich Man, How Can I Die?”: Circus Performance as a Means
of HIV/AIDS Education in Ethiopia 322
Leah Niederstadt (Wheaton College)
28. Interlude: Interview with VOLSET Youth Drama Group 341
29. Kwaito and the Culture of AIDS in South Africa 343
Gavin Steingo (Columbia University)
30. Positive Disturbance: Tafash, Twig, HIV/AIDS, and Hip Hop in Uganda 362
Gregory Barz and Gerald C. Liu (Vanderbilt University/University of the Free State,
Vanderbilt University)
31. “Edzi Ndi Dolo” (“AIDS is Mighty”): Singing HIV/AIDS in Malawi,
1980–2008 384
John Chipembere Lwanda (Dudu Nsomba Publications)
32. Representing HIV/AIDS in Africa: Pluralist Photography and Local
Empowerment 404
Roland Bleiker (University of Queensland) and Amy Kay (Centre for Development
and Population Activities)
33. Postlude: A Tam-Tam for Africa: In Memoriam: Mamadou Konté (1945–2007) 427
Patricia Tang (Massachusetts Institute of Technology)
About the Authors 4 29
References 437
Notes 469
Index 493
ix