Beyond the Static: Women, Voice and Radio Zulu in the 1970s and 1980s

Abstract

ABSTRACT The article argues that radio – in particular, the African-language station initially known as Radio Bantu, and from 1973 as Radio Zulu – became a space that gave women access to a powerful acoustic domain of the airwaves that extended their “voices” in both the private and public spheres. Versatile, multi-operational broadcasters such as Winnie Mahlangu challenged any singular or normative understanding of roles that women could inhabit. They became cultural brokers and norm shakers Also, in the sphere of “voice”, the airwaves of Radio Zulu, in the turbulent 1980s and before, gave space to performers such as the Royal uMntwana/Princess Constance Magogo. Her performances further unsettled any simple configurations of voice, gender and radio. She influenced younger performers and dissolved conventional historical expectations of gender, sound and power.