Difference between revisions of "Township"

From ESAT
Jump to navigation Jump to search
 
(25 intermediate revisions by the same user not shown)
Line 1: Line 1:
−
== General definition ==
+
Besides its general legal meaning, the term [[township]] or '''[[black township]]'''  is the name used specifically to refer to the urban ghetto reserved as places of residence for all [[blacks]], in [[colonial]] times (1852-1947) as well as during the [[apartheid]] regime (1948-1994). (Referred to in [[Afrikaans]] as a [[woonbuurt]] or [[swart woonbuurt]].)
  
 +
In this latter sense it was initially also referred to as a "[[location]]" ("[[lokasie]]" in [[Afrikaans]]).
 +
 +
= General definition of the word township=
 +
 +
 +
In South Africa, the terms township and location usually refer to the often underdeveloped racially segregated urban areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid, were  Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities.[1][2] The term township also has a distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title, which carries no racial connotations.
 +
 +
= South African definition and use of the term =
  
 +
Townships were usually built  on the periphery of towns and cities,  often as temporary places with scant infrastructure, and in the 20th century large numbers of people were relocated there from their residences in the newly declared "white areas" of the various towns and cities. A matter of enormous frustration and anger, and reflected in a large number of the literary and theatrical works produced in the second half of the 20th century in particular. 
  
 +
==Specific townships==
  
 +
=== Langa ===
  
−
== South African definition ==
 
  
 +
===Sophiatown===
  
  
Line 12: Line 23:
 
=== Soweto ===
 
=== Soweto ===
  
 +
=Townships and theatre=
  
 +
== [[Township theatre]] ==
  
 +
The term [[Township theatre]] refers to theatre and performance events created and performed  by [[black]] South Africans living in the [[Township|townships]] that surround cities and and towns of the country.
  
 +
== The [[township musical]] ==
  
−
== The [[township musical]] ==
+
A term used to refer to a uniquely South African form of musical melodrama which evolved in the various black urban townships of South Africa, also as a particularly powerful form of political and protest theatre.
  
−
A term used to refere to a uniquely South African form of musical melodrama which evolved in the black urban townships of South Africa. It utilizes stock characters and situations and melodramatic and moralizing plots in which good, sympathetic characters suffer as a result of the pressures of urbnan life and the machinations of evil urban characters, but ultimately triumph. Devoted to entertainment and - at most - social satire, rather than to any overt political agenda or content. Formally the plays are interspersed with jazz music, songs and dance routines (often with on-stage musicians). Gibson Kente and Sam Mhangwane are generally considered the true originators and certainly commercially the most successful exponents of the township musical in its original form, but of course its roots lie much further back in the early part of the twentieth century. Strongly influenced by the African variety tradition of Motsiela, Matshikiza and others, and the post WW2 musical extravaganzas such as  King Kong and Meropa, it arose from experiments by Kente and other young performer-writers who had begun to adapt the form of the jazz-musical to smaller-scale, domestic plays for township audiences in township performance spaces. Inheritors of the tradition have been many and include writers such as Mzwandile Maqina, *** and ***. While the form was long ignored by the media despite its commercial viability, and actively despised by the more politicised and intellectual of the the movements of the 70’s and 80’s, such as the Black Consciousness Movement and Mihloti, a number of the more serious writers also took up the form – utilizing adapting and even exploiting it. These include Matsemela Manaka, Maishe Maponya, Mbongeni Ngema,  Junction Avenue Theatre Company, Zakes Mda, ****. By the late 1990’s it had become a central feature of what may be termed the South African style of theatre. From an academic point of view the form gained prominence largely to the efforts of Robert Kavanagh, who – although he certainly disapproved of it intellectually – recognized the importance of Kente and the township musical, and wrote about it in the journal  S’ketsh and in his seminal work Theatre and Cultural Struggle in South Africa. Other writers such as Coplan, Larlham, Steadman and Kruger picked up on this influence and explored it further.
+
'''See further [[Township musical]]'''
  
−
== Township theatre ==
+
== [[Township venues]] ==
 +
 +
A reference to venues in urban, (black) townships utilized for theatrical performances. These ranged from formal [[Community Halls]], school  and church halls to private homes, shebeens, streets and grave-sides.
  
 +
In the run-up to and especially after the fall of [[Apartheid]] and the new dispensation in 1994, the race restrictions fell away, so townshop theatre productions increasingly went on to play at urban theatre venues. At the same time the townships gradually became larger and economically more empowered. So a number of new venues arose, including the [[Soweto Theatre]] in Jabulani (2012),
  
 +
A number of community theatre festivals also arose to feature such work, for example the annual [[Ikhwezi Community Theatre Festival]] hosted by the [[Baxter Theatre]] since 1998.
  
  
−
=== Theatre in Soweto ===
+
=== [[Theatre in Soweto]] ===
  
 +
==Sources==
  
 +
[[David B. Coplan]]
  
−
== Township venues ==
+
[[Gay Morris]]. 2007. "Townships, identity and collective theatre making by young South Africans: theatre as intervention." ''[[South African Theatre Journal]]'' Vol. 21, No. 1[https://hdl.handle.net/10520/EJC110998https://journals.co.za/doi/abs/10.10520/EJC110998]
−
 
−
A reference to venues in urban, (black) townships utilized for theatrical performances. These ranged from formal Community Halls, school  and church halls to private homes, shebeens, streets and grave-sides. ***
 
  
−
After the fall of Apartheid and the new dispensation in 1994, the townships gradually became larger and economically more empowered. Also a number of new venues arose, including the [[Soweto Theatre]] in Jabulani (2012),
+
[[Zaza Hlalethwa]]. 2019 "A call for township theatres", ''[[Mail & Guardian]]'' 15 March 2019[https://mg.co.za/article/2019-03-15-00-a-call-for-township-theatres/]
  
 
==Return to==  
 
==Return to==  

Latest revision as of 06:24, 19 November 2024

Besides its general legal meaning, the term township or black township is the name used specifically to refer to the urban ghetto reserved as places of residence for all blacks, in colonial times (1852-1947) as well as during the apartheid regime (1948-1994). (Referred to in Afrikaans as a woonbuurt or swart woonbuurt.)

In this latter sense it was initially also referred to as a "location" ("lokasie" in Afrikaans).

General definition of the word township

In South Africa, the terms township and location usually refer to the often underdeveloped racially segregated urban areas that, from the late 19th century until the end of apartheid, were Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities.[1][2] The term township also has a distinct legal meaning in South Africa's system of land title, which carries no racial connotations.

South African definition and use of the term

Townships were usually built on the periphery of towns and cities, often as temporary places with scant infrastructure, and in the 20th century large numbers of people were relocated there from their residences in the newly declared "white areas" of the various towns and cities. A matter of enormous frustration and anger, and reflected in a large number of the literary and theatrical works produced in the second half of the 20th century in particular.

Specific townships

Langa

Sophiatown

Soweto

Townships and theatre

Township theatre

The term Township theatre refers to theatre and performance events created and performed by black South Africans living in the townships that surround cities and and towns of the country.

The township musical

A term used to refer to a uniquely South African form of musical melodrama which evolved in the various black urban townships of South Africa, also as a particularly powerful form of political and protest theatre.

See further Township musical

Township venues

A reference to venues in urban, (black) townships utilized for theatrical performances. These ranged from formal Community Halls, school and church halls to private homes, shebeens, streets and grave-sides.

In the run-up to and especially after the fall of Apartheid and the new dispensation in 1994, the race restrictions fell away, so townshop theatre productions increasingly went on to play at urban theatre venues. At the same time the townships gradually became larger and economically more empowered. So a number of new venues arose, including the Soweto Theatre in Jabulani (2012),

A number of community theatre festivals also arose to feature such work, for example the annual Ikhwezi Community Theatre Festival hosted by the Baxter Theatre since 1998.


Theatre in Soweto

Sources

David B. Coplan

Gay Morris. 2007. "Townships, identity and collective theatre making by young South Africans: theatre as intervention." South African Theatre Journal Vol. 21, No. 1[1]

Zaza Hlalethwa. 2019 "A call for township theatres", Mail & Guardian 15 March 2019[2]

Return to

Return to South African Theatre Terminology and Thematic Entries

Return to The ESAT Entries

Return to Main Page

Retrieved from "https://esat.sun.ac.za/index.php?title=Township&oldid=269101"