Rian Malan
Encyclopedia
Rian Malan is a South Africa
n author, journalist, documentarist and songwriter of Afrikaner
descent. He first rose to prominence as the author of the memoir My Traitor's Heart
, which, like the bulk of his work, deals with South African society in a historical and contemporary perspective and focuses on racial relations. As a journalist, he has written for major newspapers in South Africa, Great Britain and the USA.
), he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and worked as a journalist.
, his memoir
of growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa in which he explores race relations through prominent murder cases. In addition, he reflects on the history of his family, a prominent Afrikaner clan that migrated to the Cape in the 17th century and included Daniel François Malan
, the South African Prime Minister who was a principal ideological force behind Apartheid doctrine.
The book, which became a best-seller, was translated into 11 languages.
. During his stay in the U.S., he served as managing editor for Music Connection (1978), as news editor for LA Weekly
(1979), as staff writer for New West Magazine (California) (1981), as senior writer for Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
(1984) and as senior editor for Manhattan Magazine (1984). Since then, he has been a freelance writer for various magazines, mainly in the U.S. (e.g. Esquire
, Rolling Stone
, The Wall Street Journal
), Great Britain (e.g. The Spectator
and The Sunday Times
) and South Africa (e.g. The Star, Time
and Noseweek
).
, tracing its history from its first recording by Solomon Linda
, a penniless Zulu singer, through its adoption by The Weavers
, The Tokens
, many of the folksingers of the 1960s, and its appropriation by The Walt Disney Company
in the movie The Lion King
. Malan reveals that Linda never received any royalties for the song; however, an ensuing courtcase established that 25 percent of the song's past and future royalties should go to Linda's three daughters.
in Africa. In articles in Rolling Stone, The Spectator and Noseweek, a controversial South African monthly, he proposed that AIDS statistics are greatly exaggerated by researchers and health professionals who are trying to obtain more funding. His hypothesis was roundly criticised by national and international AIDS organisations, and Malan was accused of endangering lives in Africa. Responding to the controversy, Malan is alleged to have said, in an interview in the Afrikaans magazine, Insig: ‘I get a kick out of it when the Treatment Action Campaign attacks me; it’s like sport.’ He has, however, repeated his claims in 2007, stressing that 'In truth, I never claimed that Aids was not a problem - on the contrary, I described it as a terrible affliction that was claiming countless lives. At the same time however, it was clear that Aids numbers were being exaggerated and good news suppressed. I stand by that story.'
's Omnibus, titled Tales of ordinary murder: Rian Malan in South Africa.
In 1994, he appeared as the presenter of BBC Television
's travel documentary
, Great Railway Journeys
(series 2, episode 2). The episode was titled Cape Town to the Lost City.
In 2004, he appeared in an episode of Channel 4
's Without walls, titled The last Afrikaner. A search with Rian Malan, written by Malan and directed by Don Boyd
.
In 2005, his struggle for justice for the heirs of Solomon Linda (see above) was documented in A lion's trail, directed by François Verster
.
In 2009, Malan, together with Lloyd Ross, produced the documentary The Splintering Rainbow for Al Jazeera
. The film documents a journey through South Africa, investigating unfolding political dramas and taking the pulse of the Rainbow Nation
.
The CD was listed as number 23 on Afrikaans newspaper Beeld
's list of Albums van die dekade.
He also performs with Hot Club d'Afrique, a gypsy jazz
band with the following members: Kevin Drummond (Guitar), Theodora Drummond (accordion), Rian Malan (guitar), Timon Wapenaar (violin), Nippy Cripwell (double bass).
Malan contributed lyrics to Stoomradio and Opgestook, the first two albums by Afrikaans roots music/boeremusiek band Die Radio Kalahari Orkes and appears on guitar on their second CD, Die Nagloper (2007: Terraplane Entertainment/Sony BMG). He also contributed lyrics to Say Africa by Vusi Mahlasela
.
South Africa
The Republic of South Africa is a country in southern Africa. Located at the southern tip of Africa, it is divided into nine provinces, with of coastline on the Atlantic and Indian oceans...
n author, journalist, documentarist and songwriter of Afrikaner
Afrikaner
Afrikaners are an ethnic group in Southern Africa descended from almost equal numbers of Dutch, French and German settlers whose native tongue is Afrikaans: a Germanic language which derives primarily from 17th century Dutch, and a variety of other languages.-Related ethno-linguistic groups:The...
descent. He first rose to prominence as the author of the memoir My Traitor's Heart
My Traitor's Heart
My Traitor's Heart is an autobiographical book by Rian Malan first published in 1989 on his return from exile. It is subtitled "South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe and His Conscience" or "Blood and Bad Dreams: A South African Exile Explores the Madness in His Country, His...
, which, like the bulk of his work, deals with South African society in a historical and contemporary perspective and focuses on racial relations. As a journalist, he has written for major newspapers in South Africa, Great Britain and the USA.
Personal background
Malan grew up in a middle-class and pro-apartheid Afrikaner family in a white suburb of Johannesburg. He has described how, as a teenager, he formed a rock band that associated with black artists and wanted to rebel against the apartheid system, at a time when he in fact had virtually no interaction with black people. He attended the then Witwatersrand university for a year. To avoid conscription, which was compulsory for all white males (see End Conscription CampaignEnd Conscription Campaign
The End Conscription Campaign was an anti-apartheid organisation allied to the United Democratic Front and composed of conscientious objectors and their supporters in South Africa...
), he moved to Los Angeles in 1977 and worked as a journalist.
As a memoirist: My Traitor's Heart
Returning to South Africa in the 1980s, he wrote My Traitor's HeartMy Traitor's Heart
My Traitor's Heart is an autobiographical book by Rian Malan first published in 1989 on his return from exile. It is subtitled "South African Exile Returns to Face His Country, His Tribe and His Conscience" or "Blood and Bad Dreams: A South African Exile Explores the Madness in His Country, His...
, his memoir
Memoir
A memoir , is a literary genre, forming a subclass of autobiography – although the terms 'memoir' and 'autobiography' are almost interchangeable. Memoir is autobiographical writing, but not all autobiographical writing follows the criteria for memoir set out below...
of growing up in Apartheid-era South Africa in which he explores race relations through prominent murder cases. In addition, he reflects on the history of his family, a prominent Afrikaner clan that migrated to the Cape in the 17th century and included Daniel François Malan
Daniel François Malan
Daniel François Malan , more commonly known as D.F. Malan, was the Prime Minister of South Africa from 1948 to 1954. He is seen as a champion of Afrikaner nationalism. His National Party government came to power on the program of apartheid and began its comprehensive implementation.- Biography...
, the South African Prime Minister who was a principal ideological force behind Apartheid doctrine.
The book, which became a best-seller, was translated into 11 languages.
Journalism
Malan began his journalistic career in 1975, as a reporter for The Star (South Africa)The Star (South Africa)
The Star is a daily newspaper based in Gauteng, South Africa. It has a readership of 840 000 and is owned by Independent News & Media. It gained worldwide attention in 2006 when it published survey results according to which about twenty percent of South African men have raped a woman in...
. During his stay in the U.S., he served as managing editor for Music Connection (1978), as news editor for LA Weekly
LA Weekly
LA Weekly is a free weekly tabloid-sized "alternative weekly" in Los Angeles, California. It was founded in 1978 by Editor/Publisher Jay Levin and a board of directors that included actor-producer Michael Douglas...
(1979), as staff writer for New West Magazine (California) (1981), as senior writer for Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
Los Angeles Herald-Examiner
The Los Angeles Herald Examiner was a major Los Angeles daily newspaper, published Monday through Friday in the afternoon, and in the morning on Saturdays and Sundays. It was part of the Hearst syndicate. The afternoon Herald-Express and the morning Examiner, both of which had been publishing in...
(1984) and as senior editor for Manhattan Magazine (1984). Since then, he has been a freelance writer for various magazines, mainly in the U.S. (e.g. Esquire
Esquire (magazine)
Esquire is a men's magazine, published in the U.S. by the Hearst Corporation. Founded in 1932, it flourished during the Great Depression under the guidance of founder and editor Arnold Gingrich.-History:...
, Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone
Rolling Stone is a US-based magazine devoted to music, liberal politics, and popular culture that is published every two weeks. Rolling Stone was founded in San Francisco in 1967 by Jann Wenner and music critic Ralph J...
, The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal
The Wall Street Journal is an American English-language international daily newspaper. It is published in New York City by Dow Jones & Company, a division of News Corporation, along with the Asian and European editions of the Journal....
), Great Britain (e.g. The Spectator
The Spectator
The Spectator is a weekly British magazine first published on 6 July 1828. It is currently owned by David and Frederick Barclay, who also owns The Daily Telegraph. Its principal subject areas are politics and culture...
and The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times
The Sunday Times is a British Sunday newspaper.The Sunday Times may also refer to:*The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times *The Sunday Times...
) and South Africa (e.g. The Star, Time
Time (magazine)
Time is an American news magazine. A European edition is published from London. Time Europe covers the Middle East, Africa and, since 2003, Latin America. An Asian edition is based in Hong Kong...
and Noseweek
Noseweek
Noseweek is a South African investigative magazine published by Chaucer Publications that has appeared monthly since June 1993. It is best known for regular legal action against it, such as a failed bid at interdiction by banking group FirstRand and defamation actions by judge Fikile Bam and...
).
The lion sleeps tonight
In 2000, he wrote a widely-disseminated piece in Rolling Stone about the origin of the song The Lion Sleeps TonightThe Lion Sleeps Tonight
"The Lion Sleeps Tonight", also known as "Wimoweh" and originally as "Mbube", is a song recorded by Solomon Linda and his group The Evening Birds for the South African Gallo Record Company in 1939. It was covered internationally by many 1950s pop and folk revival artists, including The Weavers,...
, tracing its history from its first recording by Solomon Linda
Solomon Linda
Solomon Popoli Linda , also known as Solomon Ntsele , was a South African Zulu musician, singer and composer who wrote the song "Mbube" which later became the popular music success "The Lion Sleeps Tonight", and gave its name to the Mbube style of isicathamiya a cappella popularized later by...
, a penniless Zulu singer, through its adoption by The Weavers
The Weavers
The Weavers were an American folk music quartet based in the Greenwich Village area of New York City. They sang traditional folk songs from around the world, as well as blues, gospel music, children's songs, labor songs, and American ballads, and selling millions of records at the height of their...
, The Tokens
The Tokens
The Tokens are an American male doo-wop-style vocal group from Brooklyn, New York. They are known best for their chart-scoring 1961 single, "The Lion Sleeps Tonight" .-Career:...
, many of the folksingers of the 1960s, and its appropriation by The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company
The Walt Disney Company is the largest media conglomerate in the world in terms of revenue. Founded on October 16, 1923, by Walt and Roy Disney as the Disney Brothers Cartoon Studio, Walt Disney Productions established itself as a leader in the American animation industry before diversifying into...
in the movie The Lion King
The Lion King
The Lion King is a 1994 American animated film produced by Walt Disney Feature Animation and released by Walt Disney Pictures. It is the 32nd feature in the Walt Disney Animated Classics series...
. Malan reveals that Linda never received any royalties for the song; however, an ensuing courtcase established that 25 percent of the song's past and future royalties should go to Linda's three daughters.
Aids controversy
Malan has generated controversy by repeatedly denying the seriousness and scope of AIDSAIDS
Acquired immune deficiency syndrome or acquired immunodeficiency syndrome is a disease of the human immune system caused by the human immunodeficiency virus...
in Africa. In articles in Rolling Stone, The Spectator and Noseweek, a controversial South African monthly, he proposed that AIDS statistics are greatly exaggerated by researchers and health professionals who are trying to obtain more funding. His hypothesis was roundly criticised by national and international AIDS organisations, and Malan was accused of endangering lives in Africa. Responding to the controversy, Malan is alleged to have said, in an interview in the Afrikaans magazine, Insig: ‘I get a kick out of it when the Treatment Action Campaign attacks me; it’s like sport.’ He has, however, repeated his claims in 2007, stressing that 'In truth, I never claimed that Aids was not a problem - on the contrary, I described it as a terrible affliction that was claiming countless lives. At the same time however, it was clear that Aids numbers were being exaggerated and good news suppressed. I stand by that story.'
As a television documentarist
In 1990, Malan appeared as the presenter of an episode of BBC TelevisionBBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's Omnibus, titled Tales of ordinary murder: Rian Malan in South Africa.
In 1994, he appeared as the presenter of BBC Television
BBC Television
BBC Television is a service of the British Broadcasting Corporation. The corporation, which has operated in the United Kingdom under the terms of a Royal Charter since 1927, has produced television programmes from its own studios since 1932, although the start of its regular service of television...
's travel documentary
Travel documentary
A travel documentary is a documentary film or television program that describes travel in general or tourist attractions in a non-commercial way....
, Great Railway Journeys
Great Railway Journeys
Great Railway Journeys, originally titled Great Railway Journeys of the World, is a recurring series of travel documentaries produced by BBC Television...
(series 2, episode 2). The episode was titled Cape Town to the Lost City.
In 2004, he appeared in an episode of Channel 4
Channel 4
Channel 4 is a British public-service television broadcaster which began working on 2 November 1982. Although largely commercially self-funded, it is ultimately publicly owned; originally a subsidiary of the Independent Broadcasting Authority , the station is now owned and operated by the Channel...
's Without walls, titled The last Afrikaner. A search with Rian Malan, written by Malan and directed by Don Boyd
Don Boyd
Donald William Robertson Boyd Hon D.Litt is a Scottish film director, producer, screenwriter and novelist...
.
In 2005, his struggle for justice for the heirs of Solomon Linda (see above) was documented in A lion's trail, directed by François Verster
François Verster
François Verster is a South African film director and documentary maker.He has a wide background in writing, music, academia and film. After completing an MA degree with distinction under literature Nobel Prize laureate JM Coetzee at the University of Cape Town, he worked with Barenholtz...
.
In 2009, Malan, together with Lloyd Ross, produced the documentary The Splintering Rainbow for Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera
Al Jazeera is an independent broadcaster owned by the state of Qatar through the Qatar Media Corporation and headquartered in Doha, Qatar...
. The film documents a journey through South Africa, investigating unfolding political dramas and taking the pulse of the Rainbow Nation
Rainbow Nation
Rainbow Nation is a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa, after South Africa's first fully democratic election in 1994....
.
Musical career
He has released a CD of his own songs, titled Alien Inboorling (2005: Shifty Music/Sony BMG). The title translates as "Alien native"; the songs were described by one journalist as "parables of contemporary South Africa told in the voices of Afrikaners who have stayed and those who have left. The songs are dusty, weary, a stream of consciousness for the Afrikaans 'tribe'."The CD was listed as number 23 on Afrikaans newspaper Beeld
Beeld
Beeld is an Afrikaans language daily newspaper that was launched on 16 September 1974. Beeld is distributed in five provinces of South Africa: Gauteng, Mpumalanga, Limpopo, North West and KwaZulu-Natal. Die Beeld was an Afrikaans language Sunday newspaper in the late 1960s...
's list of Albums van die dekade.
He also performs with Hot Club d'Afrique, a gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz
Gypsy jazz is an idiom often said to have been started by guitarist Jean "Django" Reinhardt in the 1930s. Because its origins are largely in France it is often called by the French name, "Jazz manouche," or alternatively, "manouche jazz," even in English language sources...
band with the following members: Kevin Drummond (Guitar), Theodora Drummond (accordion), Rian Malan (guitar), Timon Wapenaar (violin), Nippy Cripwell (double bass).
Malan contributed lyrics to Stoomradio and Opgestook, the first two albums by Afrikaans roots music/boeremusiek band Die Radio Kalahari Orkes and appears on guitar on their second CD, Die Nagloper (2007: Terraplane Entertainment/Sony BMG). He also contributed lyrics to Say Africa by Vusi Mahlasela
Vusi Mahlasela
Vusi Sidney Mahlasela Ka Zwane is a Sotho South African singer-songwriter.His music is generally described as "African folk". His work was an inspiration to many in the anti-apartheid movement. His themes include the struggle for freedom, and forgiveness and reconciliation with enemies...
.