South Africa : Mbaqanga - Research Paper Example

The Mahotella and Mahlathini Queens had a big role in promoting it (Opondo, n.d.). Mbaqanga played a big role in westernizing the cultural music of South Africa. It introduced the western musical instruments in South Africa, as a result of which, the indigenous music also experienced addition of a taste of jazz to it. In this way, Mbaqanga combined the native vocal style of South Africa with Western music. Mbaqanga is considered by many scholars, a product of the alliance between kwela and marabi.

It provided the South Africans with a means to facilitate the white and black interaction. Prior to its introduction, South Africa was quite segregated into the two races. Therefore, Mbaqanga united the two races and played the role of an adjudicator. It does not have a religious significance, though it has promoted peace, harmony and unity in the disintegrated society of South Africa. I partially agree with the statement that in order to adjust and grow into a new society, one needs to abandon many of the traits of the culture of country, one comes from.

The level of resistance one may be offered because of one’s display of association with another culture through visual appearance, practices, language or habits varies from nation to nation. Some nations are extremely sensitive towards foreign cultures, and leave no stone unturned in the way of condemning the introduction of foreign elements into the indigenous culture. Yet there are other nations, that allow people from all cultures belonging to all religions to settle and grow into them just like their natives because they draw many benefits from the migrants.

Multiculturalism can increasingly be seen particularly in the most advanced nations of the contemporary age. Therefore, we can not blindly say that one can not be assimilated by a new culture because one carries the traits of previous culture. The case can be analyzed with respect to two types of societies that exist i.e. the racist societies and the non-racist societies. Let’s take the example of a Muslim woman. Islam requires a Muslim woman to wear Hijab in which she is supposed to cover her self from head to toe, expect for the face and hands (Chopra, 2007).

A racist society will never accept her as a member. She would be offered hatred, hooting, ridicule and insult. On the other hand, there are nations that have no issues with women wearing Hijab, though they are not Islamic nations. In such non-racist nations, a Muslim woman can even work and earn money wearing Hijab. In fact, there are a lot of advanced countries that have tremendous number of covered women who are peacefully living there, and have develop assimilation with the indigenous people.

According to the study carried out by Ahmed (1993), more than 10 million Muslims live in the West. Therefore, it can be concluded that the level of acceptability a nation offers to the foreigners with their culture depends upon its own ideology, culture and thinking. In the country that I have analyzed the music, the response has been great and the natives have openly accepted the incorporation of Western style into their local music. The response of South Africans towards accepting Mbaqanga was positive.

Hence, they progressed and drew positive results accordingly. Mbaqanga served to reduce tensions between the two races in South Africa. If I were to migrate in a foreign country, one thing that I would never compromise upon is my religious beliefs. I would openly