Louise Meintjes in "Paul Simon's Graceland, South Africa, and the Mediation of Musical Meaning" discusses a number the semiotics of Paul Simon's Graceland album. She asserts that the album is primarily understood as a symbol of collaboration, which is interpreted in a number of different lights by various populations in South Africa. Simon encodes the idea of collaboration into his album by emphasizing the creative process which involved a number of indigenous South African musicians and the union of multiple distinct indigenous musical traditions. While Simon prominently gives credit to a few of his collaborators -- particularly Ladysmith Black Mambazo -- he does so inconsistently. There is a subtext of colonialism and a power dynamic in his work due to the work's commercial nature, and the fact that Simon is from a powerful Western nation. He also leaves the album's message open to interpretation by making no overt references of the state's political situation. White South Africans have a number of responses which emphasize the nonracial aspects of collaboration. The album can serve a nationalist purpose by facilitating the creation of a nonracial South African music culture in which White South Africans can claim indigenous music as their own. Also, it serves to Westernize African music and make it more palatable to White South African audience. Liberal and Conservative Whites alike can utilize Graceland as a tool for reform; either as a vision of future racial cooperation, or as an example of such successful cooperation under the current regime. Black South Africans, on the other hand, emphasize the international aspects of the Graceland collaboration. Recognition from a prominent Western artist lends them international legitimacy and establishes their music as potentially lucrative commodity both abroad and at home. While this serves to give more power to Black South Africans, it also compromises the music's value to some. Furthermore, the records relationship with the liberation movement is controversial, as it both promotes Black culture and violates international sanctions on the South African for the maintenance of Apartheid. Clearly, Graceland's multifaceted relationship with South Africa makes it a topic for much debate. Its collaborative nature allows it to be utilized for a number of different purposes by groups with vastly different interests.
Discussion question:
Meintjes assumes that collaboration is the basic message of Graceland to be interpreted by South Africans. But what else might it signify either in South Africa or the international community?
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