The language of Black women's music: MmaAusi's role in preserving Setswana heritage.
In this article, I examine MmaAusi's music as a dynamic site of Setswana language preservation, cultural protest, and liberatory expression, situating her work within a broader transnational lineage of Black women's musical storytelling as a form of resistance and cultural memory. Through a multidis...
| Publicado en: | Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Vol. 63; no. 1; pp. 66 - 77 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Tydskrif vir Letterkunde
2026
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=hlh&AN=195397556&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: hlh uiTerm: 195397556 longDbName: Humanities International Complete uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 0041476X 162I jtl: Tydskrif vir Letterkunde issn: 0041476X maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: 2026 vid: 63 iid: 1 pid: 71603 pub: Tydskrif vir Letterkunde artinfo: ui: 195397556 10.17159/tl.v63i1.22636 ppf: 66 ppct: 11 formats: fmt: @attributes: type: P size: 1.1MB tig: atl: The language of Black women's music: MmaAusi's role in preserving Setswana heritage. aug: au: Aiseng, Kealeboga affil: Senior lecturer in the Department of Media Studies, Faculty of Humanities, University of the Witwatersrand, Johannesburg, South Africa su: Women's music Black women Language maintenance Collective memory Linguistics sug: subj: Women's music Black women Language maintenance Collective memory Linguistics keyword: MmaAusi mmino-wa-Setswana music preservation Setswana storytelling ab: In this article, I examine MmaAusi's music as a dynamic site of Setswana language preservation, cultural protest, and liberatory expression, situating her work within a broader transnational lineage of Black women's musical storytelling as a form of resistance and cultural memory. Through a multidisciplinary analysis of three selected songs spanning her career from 2008 to 2022, I investigate how MmaAusi employs linguistic richness, deliberate cultural references, and sonic innovations to challenge the enduring forces of coloniality, cultural globalisation, and gendered marginalisation. Applying an intersectional feminist lens, I reveal her artistic oeuvre as a powerful feminist counter-narrative that actively reclaims and revitalises Setswana identity while simultaneously echoing broader Pan-African and diasporic struggles. I trace these musical connections, drawing parallels between her work and traditions as diverse as Zimbabwe's mbira spiritual music and Afro-Cuban Yoruba ceremonial songs, demonstrating how her sound is both locally grounded and globally resonant. By forging what I term a mmino-wa-Setswana aesthetic--a distinctly Tswana musical sensibility--MmaAusi not only catalyses cultural sovereignty but also delivers a potent social critique of post-colonial and contemporary societal issues. Ultimately, I position her work as a vital model for sustaining indigenous epistemologies and linguistic heritage in an increasingly homogenising world, affirming the role of Black women artists as crucial guardians and innovators of cultural knowledge. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: Y custom: Copyright of Tydskrif vir Letterkunde is the property of Tydskrif vir Letterkunde and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites without the copyright holder's express written permission. Additionally, content may not be used with any artificial intelligence tools or machine learning technologies. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. item: Tydskrif vir Letterkunde holder: Tydskrif vir Letterkunde dt: @attributes: year: 2026 holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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