Lyrical Nationalism in Post-Apartheid Namibia

This book explores how young people living in a former ethnic homeland in post-apartheid Namibia imagine the nation through songs they compose and perform. The author argues that these Oshiwambo-speaking youth draw on conflicting ideologies—hierarchical and egalitarian, nationalist and cosmopolitan—to construct a complex sense of national identity.

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When Namibia gained its independence from South Africa in 1990, the new government began dismantling the divisive apartheid state and building a unified nation-state. What does this new nation look like from the perspective of ordinary citizens? In Lyrical Nationalism in Post-Apartheid Namibia, Wendi Haugh provides an ethnographic portrayal of the nation as imagined by people living in the former ethnic homeland of Ovamboland, with a particular focus on the lyrics of songs composed and performed by Catholic youth. The author argues that these youth draw on conflicting ideologies—hierarchical and egalitarian, nationalist and cosmopolitan—from multiple sources to construct a multi-faceted sense of national identity. She reveals how their vision of the nation—framed as neutrally national—is deeply rooted in specific local histories and cultures.