The Eloquence of Anger: Zulu Ngoma Men’s Song and Dance

For Zulu ngoma performers, responsible manhood entails crafting anger into eloquence. In so doing, performers blur the lines between pain and styling, violence and its performance. When song and dance are limned by violence, how might we think about histories of anger acting upon the world through art? Living with the legacies of apartheid, ngoma performers’ anger (“ulaka”) is an expressive resource and a necessary though ambiguous response to injustice. This Center for Historical Research talk was presented by Professor Louise Meintjes. It is part of the “Anger in History” series.
About Louise Meintjes:
Louise Meintjes is the Marcellor Lotti Professor of Music and Cultural Anthropology at Duke University. Some of her recent publications include: Dust of the Zulu: Ngoma Aesthetics after Apartheid (Duke University Press, 2017) and Sound of Africa!: Making Music Zulu in the South African Studio (Duke University Press, 2003).