Negotiating urbanities : an ethnography of Zimbabwean immigrants’ music informed-placemaking and musicking in Johannesburg

Abstract

Abstract

Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa bring a rich heritage and unique cultural contributions to their adopted home. As a sovereign neighbouring country, Zimbabwe has distinct musical traditions and cultural practices that continue to evolve and influence new environments. This study focuses on the music-making activities of Zimbabwean immigrants in South Africa, exploring how their unique heritage shapes the cultural landscape and contributes to placemaking in their new communities. The theoretical framework for this study bands together theories of social creative placemaking, hybridity, and transnationalism, to investigate how the concept of musicking – the active engagement with music-making, listening, and sharing – shape the experiences of immigrants in their new social and physical environments.

The study followed a qualitative approach, nested in a focused ethnography design. Study participants were selected among Zimbabwean musicians and audience members in Johannesburg using a multi-stage random purposive sampling strategy. Data were gathered through participant observation at music rehearsals, performance venues, and churches, as well as through semi-structured interviews and focus group discussions. Thematic data analysis was employed to discover codes, patterns, and themes from the spoken and non-verbal material collected during fieldwork. Additionally, content analysis was applied to selected songs, using both literal translation for direct meaning and contextual translation for cultural and nuanced understanding.

The research findings reveal that Zimbabwean immigrants use music to mediate social connections and construct diasporic communities, thereby resisting cultural death. Their musicking and placemaking practices counter hegemonic narratives of crisis and instability by creating sociocommerscapes and adjusting to their adopted home. Zimbabweans have effectively used music to discover new ways of being and connecting in the diaspora, giving character to place. For them, music is not just sound but a partnered social phenomenon that helps them navigate everyday challenges, celebrate life amidst the complexities of immigration, and negotiate their identity, wellbeing, and social position. Cognisant of the immigration crisis and the legitimate fight against xenophobia, this study concludes that there is a much richer range of experiences of sociality and social cohesion experienced by non-South Africans in Johannesburg, especially at sociocommerscapes where music facilitates inclusive negotiation of social relations and everyday citizenship.