Dr Schalk van der Merwe is an author, lecturer and professional musician that divides his time

between the classroom, the stage and the studio. He lectured in history at Stellenbosch University

from 2005 to 2017, and as social historian has specialised in popular music. His embedded

experience as musician served as inspiration for his doctoral study on popular Afrikaans music,

which he completed in 2015. This was also the basis for his recent book, On Record: Popular

Afrikaans Music and Society, 1900-2017, which dealt with a vast array of themes; from emerging

linguistic identities among Afrikaans speakers and Afrikaner nationalism, apartheid’s influence on

the broadcasting industry and censorship, to political music, class tension, and the problematic

insularity of white music performance and racial politics in post-apartheid pop music. He is