Eventifying Identity: Festivals in South Africa and the Search for Cultural Identity

Abstract

Festivals have become a prominent feature of theatre in South Africa today. More than forty such annual events not only provide employment, but constitute a socio-cultural polysystem that serves to ‘eventify’ the output of theatre practitioners and turn everyday life patterns into a significant cultural occasion. Important for the present argument is the role of the festivals as events that foreground relevant social issues. This is well illustrated by the many linked Afrikaans-language festivals which arose after 1994, and which have become a major factor not only in creating, displaying, and eventifying Afrikaans writing and performance, but also in communicating a particular vision of the Afrikaans-speaking and ‘Afrikaner’ cultural context. Using the Klein Karoo Nasionale Kunstefees in Oudtshoorn as a case study, in this article Temple Hauptfleisch discusses the nature, content, and impact of this particular festival as a theatrical event, and goes on to explore the polysystemic nature of the festival phenomenon in general. Temple Hauptfleisch is a former head of the Centre for South African Theatre Research (CESAT) and Chair of the University of Stellenbosch Drama Department. He is currently the director of the Centre for Theatre and Performance Studies at Stellenbosch and editor of the South African Theatre Journal. His recent publications include Theatre and Society in South Africa: Reflections in a Fractured Mirror (1997), a chapter in Theatrical Events: Borders, Dynamics, Frames (2003), and one on South African theatre in Kreatives Afrika: Schriftstellerlnnen über Literatur, Theater und Gesellschaft (2005).

Festival loyalty to a South African literary arts festival: action speaks louder than words!

“…Nevertheless, Afrikaans has flourished in the cultural sphere, particularly at festivals, the publication of fiction and in pay television channels (Giliomee, 2014). Afrikaans arts festivals, in particular, were established to help preserve the Afrikaans language and culture (Kitshoff, 2005; Hauptfleisch, 2006). Woordfees, as in the case of other festivals, has also become a significant tool in tourism development in many small towns (Donaldson, 2018), but the most notable, it aims to provide valuable exposure to the Afrikaans literary arts in its various forms.…”

Technology, Society, and Visioning The Future of Music Festivals

“…A driving force behind this megatrend in developed and developing countries is the need of individuals to create their own identities (Arcodia & Whitford, 2006;Hauptfleisch, 2006) and to shape their personalities in lives characterized by increasing freedom and an improving economy (Yeoman, 2013). As such, experiences function as a personal source of information for the stories people tell about their lives (Mehmetoglu & Engen, 2011).…”

Debates around Cultural Re-imaging and Culture-led Urban Regeneration: The Politics of two Festivals in Gwangju and Glasgow

“…Some have conceptualised the problem in relation to neoliberal governance, highlighting the community members' exclusion from what is fundamentally economic decision-making (Lee, 2007). Others have criticised the public sector's intervention, or seen the 'merchandisation' of the city by the private sector as the main problem (Hauptfleisch, 2006;Sofield and Li, 1998).…”