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Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa
Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
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Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
2026
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| _version_ | 1869484183853727744 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Fortuin, Enrico |
| author2 | Xaba, N. J. |
| author_browse | Fortuin, Enrico Xaba, N. J. |
| author_facet | Xaba, N. J. Fortuin, Enrico |
| author_sort | Fortuin, Enrico |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135991 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-07-01T04:10:51.068Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2026 |
| publishDateRange | 2026 |
| publishDateSort | 2026 |
| publisher | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| publisherStr | Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/135991 Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa Fortuin, Enrico Xaba, N. J. Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Sociology and Social Anthropology. Cape Town (South Africa) -- Social life and customs Automobiles -- Racing -- Social aspects Motorsports -- South Africa Urban anthropology -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa -- Social life and customs Popular culture -- South Africa -- Cape Town Rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Cape Town UCTD Thesis (MA)--Stellenbosch University, 2026. Fortuin, E. 2026. Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa. Unpublished masters thesis. Stellenbosch: Stellenbosch University [online]. Available: https://scholar.sun.ac.za/items/28d11dac-106b-443d-bcc3-f41faed6d64c ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study explores drag racing and spinning in Cape Town as more than cars, engines, and smoke. It looks at how people in these scenes show who they are, how they build respect, and how they find belonging. Through interviews and time spent at events and workshops, the research shows that identity is carried in cars, in clothes, in sound systems, and in the way a driver enters the pitch or lines up at the start. These are not random choices, they are performances where skill and control are put on display, and where the crowd gives back recognition through cheers, names spreading, and moments of respect. At the same time, these practices follow the shape of rites of passage. Newcomers learn slowly, standing between outsider and insider, helping with tasks, saving for parts, and proving themselves until they step into the spotlight. Winning prizes matters, but often the louder reward is the crowd itself. Using Turner’s idea of liminality, Van Gennep’s stages of passage, and Goffman’s view of performance, this study shows how drag racing and spinning become paths of transformation. Yet these practices cannot be understood without Cape Town’s history. Apartheid forced people out of their homes and left them with poverty and exclusion. Out of this ground car culture grew as a form of sub-culture. A car is not just a machine. It is freedom, some form of survival and also dignity. Drag racing and spinning are not mindless or reckless. They are ritual and they are memories to these individuals. Each race and each spin is a way of claiming space in a city that pushes people aside. It is a way of saying we are here. We are strong. We will not disappear. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Hierdie studie ondersoek sleurwedrenne en spinne in Kaapstad as meer as net motors, enjins en rook. Dit kyk na hoe mense in hierdie tonele wys wie hulle is, hoe hulle respek opbou, en hoe hulle behoorlikheid vind. Deur onderhoude en tyd wat by geleenthede en werkswinkels deurgebring is, toon die navorsing dat identiteit in motors, klere, klankstelsels en in die manier waarop 'n bestuurder die baan betree of by die start opstel, oorgedra word. Dit is nie toevallige keuses nie; dit is vertonings waar vaardigheid en beheer getoon word, en waar die skare erkenning gee deur gejuig, die verspreiding van name, en oomblikke van respek. Tegelykertyd volg hierdie praktyke die struktuur van inisiasierites. Nuwelinge leer stadig, staan tussen buitevoerder en binnewerker, help met take, spaar vir onderdele, en bewys hulself totdat hulle in die kollig tree. Pryse wen is belangrik, maar dikwels is die luider beloning die skare self. Deur Turner se idee van liminaliteit, Van Gennep se fases van oorgang, en Goffman se siening van vertoning te gebruik, toon hierdie studie hoe sleuterlopies en spinne paaie van transformasie kan word. Tog kan hierdie praktyke nie sonder Kaapstad se geskiedenis verstaan word nie. Apartheid het mense uit hul huise gedryf en hulle met armoede en uitsluiting gelaat. Uit hierdie grond het motorkultuur gegroei. ’n Motor is nie net ’n masjien nie. Dit is vryheid, ’n vorm van oorlewing en ook waardigheid. Sleuterlopies en spinne is nie heelloos of roekeloos nie. Dit is ritueel en dit is herinneringe vir hierdie individue. Elke wedren en elke spin is ’n manier om ruimte in ’n stad te eis wat mense opsy skuif. Dit is ’n manier om te se ons is hier. Ons is sterk. Ons sal nie verdwyn nie. Masters 2026-04-17T08:22:16Z 2026-04-17T08:22:16Z 2026-03 Thesis https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135991 en_ZA Stellenbosch University 66 pages : illustrations application/pdf Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University |
| spellingShingle | Cape Town (South Africa) -- Social life and customs Automobiles -- Racing -- Social aspects Motorsports -- South Africa Urban anthropology -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa -- Social life and customs Popular culture -- South Africa -- Cape Town Rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Cape Town UCTD Fortuin, Enrico Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_fullStr | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_full_unstemmed | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_short | Drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in Cape Town, South Africa |
| title_sort | drag racing and spinning as a ritualised sport in cape town south africa |
| topic | Cape Town (South Africa) -- Social life and customs Automobiles -- Racing -- Social aspects Motorsports -- South Africa Urban anthropology -- South Africa Youth -- South Africa -- Social life and customs Popular culture -- South Africa -- Cape Town Rites and ceremonies -- South Africa -- Cape Town UCTD |
| url | https://scholar.sun.ac.za/handle/10019.1/135991 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT fortuinenrico dragracingandspinningasaritualisedsportincapetownsouthafrica |