Local beats to global rhythms: coloured student identity and negotiations of global cultural imports in Cape Town, South Africa

High school student identities in South Africa are informed by negotiations of global cultural flows, local histories, and social expectations. Students appropriate and give new meanings to the cultural flows they use to frame their identities, informed by the local context and by globalisation. Several aspects of these practices are of interest, notably the way in which American hip-hop interpellates coloured students in South Africa, drawing them into particular topographies of globalisation and framing their identity formations and engagement with race. The identities produced remain contested, malleable and incomplete. Understanding these identity formations therefore requires the recognition of the interactions and negotiations of global and local influences. Les identités des étudiants au lycée en Afrique du Sud sont influencées par les négociations de courants culturels mondiaux, les histoires locales, et les attentes sociales. Les étudiants s'approprient et donnent des nouvelles significations aux courants culturels qu'ils utilisent pour formuler leurs identités, influencées par le contexte local et la mondialisation. Plusieurs aspects de ces pratiques sont intéressants, notamment la manière dont laquelle le hip-hop américain interpelle les étudiants de couleur en Afrique du Sud, les attirant dans des topographies particulières de mondialisation et formulant leurs formations identitaires et leur vis-à-vis de leur race. Les identités produites sont toujours contestées, malléables, et incomplètes. Comprendre ces formations d'identité requière donc la reconnaissance des interactions et des négociations sous des influences mondiales et locales. En Sudáfrica, las identidades de los estudiantes de escuela secundaria están informados por negociaciones de flujos culturales, historias locales, y expectativas sociales. Los estudiantes se apropian los flujos culturales y se los dan nuevos significados que se usan para elaborar sus identidades, informados por el contexto local y por la globalización. Varios aspectos de estas practicas están de interés, notablemente la manera en que el hip-hop Americano se convoca los estudiantes de color en Sudáfrica, atrayéndolos a topografías particulares de globalización y elaborando la formación de sus identidades y su interrelación con la raza. Las identidades producidas siguen polémicas, maleables y incompletas. Para entender la formación de estas identidades se requiere el reconocimiento de las interacciones y negociaciones de las influencias globales y locales. Keywords: South Africacultural flowsyouthidentitycoloured identityconsumerismKeywords: Afrique du Sudcourants culturelsjeunesseidentité de gens de couleurconsumérismeKeywords: Sudáfricaflujos culturalesjuventudidentidadidentidad de la gente de colorel consumo Acknowledgements Financial support for this research was provided by the Economic and Social Research Council. I would like to thank Lynn Staeheli for her comments, as well as those of Phil Hubbard and three anonymous reviewers. Notes 1 Invitations to work at three other high schools were declined. A short period of research was conducted at one primary school. One school principal agreed to a personal interview but declined my request to spend time at the school due to researcher fatigue. 2 All names have been changed in accordance with the requirements of the Western Cape Education Department. 3 Focus group discussions were conducted in English. Participants were a mixture of first-language English and first-language Afrikaans; the majority of those for whom English was a second language were fluent English speakers, and additional provisions were made to ensure plain language was used and interviewees fully understood the nature of the research and the questions being asked. 4 Kwaito music emerged in Johannesburg in the 1990s and has developed in to a key post-apartheid urban cultural expression. Presented by some as South African hip-hop (although this by implication ignores the strong hip-hop scene in South Africa (see Haupt Citation2008 for more on this genre) or glocal form of rap music, kwaito music has come to be synonymous with post-apartheid black South African culture. It is often critiqued for failing to have a political dynamic and for perpetuating misogynistic gendered identities, but is also defended as reflecting a shift from youth culture linked to political activism to a youth concerned with pleasure (Steingo Citation2005). 5 'The whole of Jo'burg in their mouth' refers to the history of gold mining in the area around Johannesburg and the trend amongst several of the male students at Sun Valley to have gold fillings. 6 Lekker translates as nice.