chapter 1

Xhosa.

The Xhosa is the people, who refer to themselves as Amaxhosa, they are of Nguni stock, now found mostly in the southern part of South Africa, particularly the eastern cape. they have a diversity of proud clans, the Pondo, Bomvana, Thembu, Gcaleka, Ngqika, Ndlambe and Dushane and the Xhosa tribe itself. 

The reason i chose the Xhosa people for my research report is because firstly i am a Xhosa man and secondly i think their story as the people needs to be told, as i have this belief that their social and cultural norms can construct a life of a man in having a deep sense of his community and be a productive member of his society. 

Bling.

Bling comes from the word bling bling which is a slang term popularized on hip hop culture, referring to flashy, ostentatious or elaborate jewellery, and ornamented accessories that are carried, worn or installed such as cellphones or tooth caps.

The reason for choosing bling bling is because it is deeply attached to hip hop culture as one of its elements and is used to signal the status of the wearer, hip hop is a culture and art movement but it has become a culture of materialism. Now it is known for its negative reputation. It is often thought as an entrance way into gangs, illegal drug activity, and malicious behavior. This is because hip-hop has moved away from what it was supposed to be used for. Hip hop culture has found its ways all over the world particularly on the Youth.

Now living in the world of materialism I want to attempt to bring the two cultures together, I am using Xhosa culture for the content of my research report and bling for the flashy, ostentatious look to elaborate the look of my contemporary jewellery. through seeing the effects of materialism in my community I deeply feel a sense of responsibility in manufacturing contemporary jewellery that is flashy with a narrative of the Xhosa social and cultural norms that will construct a Xhosa man. Therefore I will be using the anthropology of a Xhosa man to produce bling contemporary jewellery.

from a boy to a man there are roles that a Xhosa man is responsible for. i am particularly looking at the adornments worn which i believe were distinctively able to distinguish and signal the status of the wearer and those that were worn at celebrations of particular social and cultural events of milestones.

The milestones.

Izibulo: The first born child of a married couple, either a boy or a girl.

Inkulu: Is the first born boy child, the inheritor, even if born after girls.

Inkwenkwe: a boy. looking after livestock, play with clay oxen, stick fighting.

umkhwetha: initiate, time of getting adult teachings, learns respect, and ways to honor ancestors.

Ikrwala: home coming,small unimportant man, wears red ocher.

Umfana: a worrier.

Unomgcana: married man.

Jewellery indicating the status. 

The word jewelry is derived from Latin word jocale, means plaything. But it is the most ancient form of body ornamentation. In ancient times, jewelry was used to be made from bone, animal teeth, shells, wood, carved stones, etc. A specific piece was made for each part of the body. Apart from functional use, jewelry was a symbol of wealth, status and membership. It had been used to move wedding dowries, to keep large amount of wealth or to just for artistic display.  https://www.streetdirectory.com/travel_guide/author/details/Roberto+Sedycias/ I think my  Xhosa bling contemporary jewellery is functional because I want it to “…squelch materialistic messages…” (Rindfleisch 2007, cited in Kline 2007) that are affecting the social, cultural values in the Xhosa societies, Particularly the young people, the purpose of the bling bling look is to coincide with the modern times, reason being you cant censor the young and they are consumed by materialistic assets (Rindfleisch 2007). Xhosa bling contemporary jewellery has to be associated with visual scream, as that attracts attention. from that attention i can be able to convey the purpose of every piece of work that has to function as reminder (INDICATE) to the wearer what STAGE THEY ARE IN AND their roles in their SOCIAL AND CULTURAL community.

generate key words that will help me find people making jewellery as indicator of status for chapter 2.

7 milestone indicating the social and cultural status of a xhosa man.

leading me to find people who are doing something similar to what i want to do.

what does Bruce, den say about indicator of status