The communicative strategies, the significance, the content and the role of the performance of Mangae a Makoloane a Basotho (Basotho boy initiates’ music)

Abstract

The study investigated the contemporary performance of mangae in order to find the communication strategies, the significance, the content and the role they perform. By rendition and style, the performance of mangae is considered as total theatre. Despite only a pure vocal performance of mangae, a consolidation of styles is blended to form a contemporary oral style of mangae. The union of styles during the performance of mangae reproduces a new trend of performance-within-performance during rendition. Traditional and modern theatrical actions are fused in, either concurrently or sporadically within the performance of the songs. The performance of mangae demonstrates a serious flexibility and turn-around by incorporating the resources from two different art spaces. In the process, it successfully strikes a balance between the two cultures; it does not totally shed off all the traditional artistic qualities while at the same time it does not fully and exclusively rely on modern-day resources. The balance that the performance of mangae strikes between the traditional and modern-day culture marks it as the popular culture of the Basotho. Thus, the contemporary performance of mangae uses popular discourse to place it within modern day popular culture of Basotho. It draws from the bank of traditional language as well as from the modern-day library and blend them to mark a contemporary art of the performance of mangae. This strength of the performance of mangae to fuse the two cultures together is important for the conservation, conformity and continuity of the culture. The topics that form the contemporary performance of mangae include industrialisation, modern politics, unemployment and social life of the contemporary Basotho. Obsolete as well as modern day terminology and expressions are used among other things to delineate the new self-identities, self-righteousness, masculine virility and heroic identities of the initiates. The performance of mangae invariably uses language, popular discourse and themes accessible both to youth and the old populace of the Basotho. It also relates to modern-day popular music, dances styles, christian liturgy and biblical stories, themes alluding to cognisance of the impact of modern-day and social media technologies to cite a few. The modern-day performance of mangae is the renowned cultural heritage of the Basotho upon which a combination of styles is presented during its presentation. Despite the complex of styles found among the Setšekha, Senotši/Sesotho and Sekaota style, the contemporary performance of mangae reproduces subjects and themes relating the social, economic, political, climatic and psychodynamic aspects of human life. It also alludes to some indigenous knowledge base of the Basotho, for example, the rain making and stopping capabilities. Thus, the performance of mangae serves as a repository of the worldview and thought of the society within which it is rendered.