Musical parody, “zef” and the politics of belonging: “Dankie vir die antwoord maar wat was die vraag?”

Abstract

Drawing on the parodic representations of poor whites in the lyrics and music videos of Die Antwoord and Die Vraag, this paper explores whether mediated representations of poor whites open up a space to contest class-based stereotypes or whether they merely work to perpetuate middle-class white normativity. Drawing on Mason's (2010) assertion that the media constantly “rediscovers” poor white South Africans, we will argue that Die Antwoord as well as Die Vraag are complicit in this “rediscovery”, but at cost. We will explore what this cost entails and what its implications are within the socio-politics of belonging in contemporary South Africa.

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