Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)

Music played an important role as a political medium for the anti-apartheid movement, particularly in the 1980s. Drawing on sources from the UK and South Africa, the article investigates the controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s album Graceland (1986) against the backdrop of the cultural boycott agai...

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Autor principal:	Detlef Siegfried
Formato:	article
Lenguaje:	DE EN
Publicado:	Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG 2017
Materias:	apartheid anti-apartheid popular culture music boycott History (General) D1-2009
Acceso en línea:	https://doaj.org/article/9c8c5020fa1e46edae6dba16527fa458
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spelling	oai:doaj.org-article:9c8c5020fa1e46edae6dba16527fa4582021-12-02T12:18:21ZAporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)10.14765/zzf.dok-14021612-60331612-6041https://doaj.org/article/9c8c5020fa1e46edae6dba16527fa4582017-07-01T00:00:00Zhttps://zeithistorische-forschungen.de/sites/default/files/Siegfried_en.pdfhttps://doaj.org/toc/1612-6033https://doaj.org/toc/1612-6041Music played an important role as a political medium for the anti-apartheid movement, particularly in the 1980s. Drawing on sources from the UK and South Africa, the article investigates the controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s album Graceland (1986) against the backdrop of the cultural boycott against South Africa. The aim of the boycott was to isolate the apartheid regime in the field of culture, but from the middle of the 1980s, the opposition within South Africa increasingly regarded it as an obstacle. The African National Congress (ANC) pursued a modification of the boycott against the resistance of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM). The controversy over Graceland only served to compound the confusion: opinions differed as to whether Simon had really breached the cultural boycott by collaborating with South African musicians, and on how this could potentially be sanctioned (in either sense of the word). The incident shows that the attempt to control transnational cultural currents through political institutions in times of increased mediatisation was ultimately doomed to failure. ∗ ∗ ∗ In der Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung spielte Musik als politisches Medium eine herausragende Rolle, besonders in den 1980er-Jahren. Auf der Basis von Quellenmaterial aus England und aus Südafrika untersucht der Aufsatz die Kontroverse um Paul Simons Album »Graceland« (1986) vor dem Hintergrund des Kulturboykotts. Dieser sollte das Apartheid-Regime auf dem Gebiet der Kultur isolieren, wurde aber seit Mitte der 1980er-Jahre von der Opposition innerhalb Südafrikas immer mehr als Fessel betrachtet. Der African National Congress (ANC) betrieb eine Modifikation des Boykotts – gegen den Widerstand der britischen Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung. Die Kontroverse um »Graceland« steigerte noch die Verwirrung: Es gab unterschiedliche Meinungen zu der Frage, ob Simon durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit südafrikanischen Musikern den Kulturboykott gebrochen habe und wie dies eventuell zu sanktionieren sei. Der Versuch, in Zeiten gesteigerter Medialisierung grenzüberschreitende kulturelle Ströme durch politische Instanzen kontrollieren zu wollen, war letztlich zum Scheitern verurteilt.Detlef SiegfriedVandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KGarticleapartheidanti-apartheidpopular culturemusicboycottHistory (General)D1-2009DEENZeithistorische Forschungen, Vol 13 (2016), Iss 2 (2017)
institution	DOAJ
collection	DOAJ
language	DE EN
topic	apartheid anti-apartheid popular culture music boycott History (General) D1-2009
spellingShingle	apartheid anti-apartheid popular culture music boycott History (General) D1-2009 Detlef Siegfried Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
description	Music played an important role as a political medium for the anti-apartheid movement, particularly in the 1980s. Drawing on sources from the UK and South Africa, the article investigates the controversy surrounding Paul Simon’s album Graceland (1986) against the backdrop of the cultural boycott against South Africa. The aim of the boycott was to isolate the apartheid regime in the field of culture, but from the middle of the 1980s, the opposition within South Africa increasingly regarded it as an obstacle. The African National Congress (ANC) pursued a modification of the boycott against the resistance of the British Anti-Apartheid Movement (AAM). The controversy over Graceland only served to compound the confusion: opinions differed as to whether Simon had really breached the cultural boycott by collaborating with South African musicians, and on how this could potentially be sanctioned (in either sense of the word). The incident shows that the attempt to control transnational cultural currents through political institutions in times of increased mediatisation was ultimately doomed to failure. ∗ ∗ ∗ In der Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung spielte Musik als politisches Medium eine herausragende Rolle, besonders in den 1980er-Jahren. Auf der Basis von Quellenmaterial aus England und aus Südafrika untersucht der Aufsatz die Kontroverse um Paul Simons Album »Graceland« (1986) vor dem Hintergrund des Kulturboykotts. Dieser sollte das Apartheid-Regime auf dem Gebiet der Kultur isolieren, wurde aber seit Mitte der 1980er-Jahre von der Opposition innerhalb Südafrikas immer mehr als Fessel betrachtet. Der African National Congress (ANC) betrieb eine Modifikation des Boykotts – gegen den Widerstand der britischen Anti-Apartheid-Bewegung. Die Kontroverse um »Graceland« steigerte noch die Verwirrung: Es gab unterschiedliche Meinungen zu der Frage, ob Simon durch seine Zusammenarbeit mit südafrikanischen Musikern den Kulturboykott gebrochen habe und wie dies eventuell zu sanktionieren sei. Der Versuch, in Zeiten gesteigerter Medialisierung grenzüberschreitende kulturelle Ströme durch politische Instanzen kontrollieren zu wollen, war letztlich zum Scheitern verurteilt.
format	article
author	Detlef Siegfried
author_facet	Detlef Siegfried
author_sort	Detlef Siegfried
title	Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
title_short	Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
title_full	Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
title_fullStr	Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
title_full_unstemmed	Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)
title_sort	aporias of the cultural boycott. anti-apartheid movement, anc and the conflict surrounding paul simon’s album graceland (1985–1988)
publisher	Vandenhoeck & Ruprecht GmbH & Co. KG
publishDate	2017
url	https://doaj.org/article/9c8c5020fa1e46edae6dba16527fa458
work_keys_str_mv	AT detlefsiegfried aporiasoftheculturalboycottantiapartheidmovementancandtheconflictsurroundingpaulsimonsalbumgraceland19851988
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Aporias of the Cultural Boycott. Anti-Apartheid Movement, ANC and the Conflict Surrounding Paul Simon’s Album Graceland (1985–1988)

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