Youth, Popular Culture, and Identity

Abstract

Beginning in the early twentieth century and continuing through today, American culture in general, and more specifically African-American culture and identity, has played a significant role in the construction of identity, popular culture, and the struggle for equality in southern Africa. Of particular interest is how American culture (particularly the African-American component), mediated through South Africa, has impacted the political and cultural identity of Basotho youth in the 1990s. Basotho and South African youth identify with aspects of American culture that provide them with new meanings, which help negotiate their landscape. As an enclave in South Africa, Lesotho not only illustrates the impact of aspects of American culture on South Africa, but in this case has also contributed to a decreasing national identity that is being replaced by an increased identification with South Africa.

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