Die FAK-fenomeen: populêre Afrikaanse musiek en volksliedjies

Afrikaans popular music of a variety of genres and subgenres is currently flourishing. A very productive phenomenon is the re-interpretation of older songs, in particular folk songs. This article gives a short historical overview of the collection and publication of Afrikaans folk songs, followed by a brief description of various ways in which folk songs have previously been utilised. The collection of Afrikaans folk songs known as the FAK (Federation of Afrikaans Cultural Organisations) songbook earned itself an important position in Afrikaans cultural circles, but it was also stigmatised. Since the end of the 1990s, Afrikaans popular songwriters and singers showed a renewed interest in so-called FAK songs and a number of musical arrangements and re-writings of folk song lyrics have been recorded. A number of lyrics that either contain references to folk songs or are re-writings of folk songs, are discussed. Tension between the old, well-known words of the folk songs and the new songs often develops, while the intertextual references to older songs are used to comment on current situations. The importance of popular music in minor cultures is briefly discussed