Liesl Van der Merwe – författare

This book interrogates the notion of belonging through musicing rituals in the South African context. The authors raise questions such as «What can we learn from musicing rituals?», «What does it mean to belong through musicing?» and «In what ways could musicing address marginalization and transform a broken society?»To answer these questions, the editors employ a range of perspectives from micro-sociological theory to personal accounts of marginalization and belonging through musicing. The contributors employ both established and novel qualitative strategies of inquiry including case studies, narrative inquiry, performative autoethnography, practice as research, and interpretive phenomenological analysis, amongst others.Although this book focuses on musicing in the South African context, international readers will also benefit from the rich theoretical and methodological contributions in this volume. It investigates the potentiality of cultivating a sense of belonging through musicing rituals to heal a mutilated world. The contributions will inform and enhance readers’ repertoire of musicing strategies in both community and educational contexts.This work is based on the research supported in part by the National Research Foundation of South Africa (Grant Numbers: 118579). The Grantholder, Prof Liesl van der Merwe,　acknowledges that opinions, findings and conclusions or recommendations expressed in　Ritualised　Belonging,　generated by the NRF supported research (Grant Numbers: 118579), is that of the authors, and that the NRF accepts no liability whatsoever in this regard.

This volume explores how negotiating power between different cultures, as well as within educational contexts, can shape personal growth, empowerment, and well-being in musicking practices. It examines the interface between individuals engaged in musicking and the institutions and societies that exercise power over them. The chapters investigate strategies of resistance and survival used by musicians who challenge or reject institutionalised ways of knowing. In doing so, they often draw on traditionally marginalised domains of musical experience—such as expression, affect, and values. In some contributions, these domains form the central argument, while in others they are integrated with more conventional concerns of musical materials and construction. Together, these perspectives raise important questions about the role of spirituality in the lives of musicians, offering fresh insights into how musicking can contribute to spiritual flourishing and emotional well-being even under conditions of constraint.