Multimodality, cultural production, and the protest event: Considerations of space, politics, and affect in South Africa

Abstract

The high levels of protest in South Africa have produced varied academic literature on the subject. Although political and structural determinants of protest are readily acknowledged, social actors who comprise protest events are rarely centralised within scholarly inquiry. The particularities of protests are thus less considered than the structural issues underlying protests. We therefore argue that studying the multimodality of cultural production within protests affords researchers insight into the socially embedded nature of protest from the perspective of protester as a social actor. When we understand culture as continually being remade with and against different semiotic repertoires, then protest comes to signify a series of dynamic moments wherein cultural meanings are deployed for political purposes. Accordingly, we explore protest in South Africa by examining how the cultural practices of stick-fighting, dance, and song are navigated within the protest as a politico-affective space. Our analysis of cultural production within this space does not diminish the fundamentally political nature of protest, but instead uses cultural registers to expand how we engage the political. We conclude by reflecting on how multimodal considerations push protest research to explore the internal dynamics of protests and what this means for the understanding of protests more generally.