The devil's children :volk, devils and moral panics in white South Africa, 1976 - 1993

[摘要] ENGLISH ABSTRACT: There are moments in history where the threat of Satanism and the Devil have been promptedby, and in turn stimulated, social anxiety. This thesis considers particular moments of 'satanicpanic' in South Africa as moral panics during which social boundaries were challenged,patrolled and renegotiated through public debate in the media. While the decade of the 1980swas marked by successive states of emergency and the deterioration of apartheid, it beganand ended with widespread alarm that Satan was making a bid for the control of white SouthAfrica. Half-truths, rumour and fantasy mobilised by interest groups fuelled public uproarover the satanic menace – a threat deemed the enemy of white South Africa. Under P. W.Botha's 'total onslaught' rhetoric, a large sector of white South Africa feared total 'moralonslaught'. Cultural guardians warned against the satanic influences of popular culture, thecorrupting power of materialism, and the weakening moral resolve of the youth. Others wereadamant that Satanists sought to punish all good, white South Africans with financial ruinand divorce in their campaign to destroy white South Africa. From the bizarre to the macabre,the message became one of societal decay and a youth that was simultaneously out of control.While influenced by the international Satanism Scare that swept across the global Westduring the 1980s and early 1990s, this thesis argues that South Africa's satanic panicsreflected localised anxieties as the country's social borders changed over time. Whilecritically discussing the concept of the 'moral panic' and its analytical value in historicalstudy, this thesis further argues that these moments of moral panic betray the contextuallyspecific anxieties surrounding the loss of power and shifts in class and cultural solidarity. Inso doing, this thesis seeks to elucidate the cultural changes in South Africa between 1976 and1993 by highlighting the social, temporal and geographic boundaries which were contestedand renegotiated through the shifting discourse on Satanism.

[发布机构] Stellenbosch University