This thesis investigates the creation of Afrikaner identity, more particularly the role of an individual in the shaping of public consciousness, in order to help comprehend how 'Afrikaner' identity was propagated. The focus is on Eugene Marais's career from 1890 to 1936, a period in which the Afrikaner language was standardised and changing socio-economic forces produced the conditions under which class and regional fragmentation yielded to pan-South African Afrikaner identity. This thesis does not retell the story of Marais's life. Neither does it give an overview of the rise of Afrikaner nationalism. Instead, it lies between these two poles. Marais represents two important foci of research: those who assisted in the self-conscious construction of Afhkanerdom and those who came to be seen as ware Afrikaners (true Afrikaners) and volkshelde (heroes of the people). This thesis tells a story woven from two contrapuntal narratives. The first speaks of an individual's life and work, the second, of a wider context of culture-brokers and the process of creating ethnic consciousness. The initial two chapters trace the workings of Afrikaner identity from the pre-South African War interaction between politics and those coming increasingly to define themselves as Afrikaners, to the interplay of ethnicity and language within the divided cultural elite. The discussion then turns to the use of popular science by this elite, in the making and propagation of an Afrikaner identity. The following two chapters consider the interaction of the Afrikaner with other groups, exploring cultural osmosis between ethnic communities and the image of another race in Afrikaans literature. Finally, the myth-making of the Afrikaner, particularly the creation of a volksheld, is considered, to examine the interplay of ethnicity, politics and memory.

No description available.

Afrikaner Nationalism and the discourse of Apartheid have always formed a central part of Afrikaner identity. The fact that Afrikaner Nationalism has now been publicly discredited has had a destabilising effect on Afrikaner identity in post-Apartheid South Africa. This qualitative study explored the ways in which Afrikaners reinterpret their identity post-Apartheid. Fifteen adults, residents of middle-class Afrikaner suburbia in Bloemfontein, participated in in-depth interviews focusing on participants‟ dilemmas and struggles over their identity as Afrikaners, South Africans and Africans and the way in which these identities are being redefined in post-Apartheid South Africa. While participants condemn Apartheid, they are in fact „recycling‟ the discourse of Afrikaner Nationalism and Apartheid. The central argument which emerged from the data is one against acceptance of Africa and does not point to an adaptive re-negotiation of Afrikaner identity. Participants claim their entitlement to the category „African‟ but there are no indications that they are discursively redrawing the group boundaries, such that „Afrikaner‟ is part of a broader „African‟ identity. Participants appear to be constructing a version of Afrikaner identity which is more acceptable, by jettisoning certain public aspects of Afrikaner of identity as liabilities in post-Apartheid South Africa. / Thesis (M.A.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2008.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel hoe die Afrikaner in literere tekste van die veertiger- en tagtigerjare uitgebeeld word, en of 'n vaste beskouing oor die begrip Afrikanerskap by die skrywers van die verskillende tekste bestaan. Omdat die verhouding tussen die gekose tekste en die geskiedenis telkens ondersoek is, is die Nuwe Historisistiese benadering as geskikte teoretiese model gevolg. Waar hierdie benadering die klem op die realiteit plaas, stel die lmagologie die beeld voorop, en die lmagologiese werkswyse is dus aanvullend gevolg. Omdat die tekste van veertig hoofsaaklik as koloniale literatuur beskou kan word, en die tekste van tagtig as postkoloniaal van aard, is die koloniale en postkoloniale literatuur in Afrikaans kortliks ondersoek. Die studie het verder gepoog om deeglik verkenning van die begrippe Afrikaner en Afrikanerskap te doen aan die hand van verskillende narratiewe tekste wat nie noodwendig literer van aard is nie. Alhoewel daar by die herlees van die vier en twintig literere tekste van die veertigerjare gevind is dat die tekste hoofsaaklik nog as koloniale literatuur beskou kan word, is die interessante insig verwerf dat sekere tekste wat nie deel van die kanon vorm nie, 'n ander realiteit oor die Afrikaner en oor Afrikanerskap aan die leser voorhou as wat tradisioneel die geval was. So is byvoorbeeld bevind dat die strukture wat die Afrikanermaghebber sedert die veertigerjare geskep het, die belange van die Afrikanerdom moes dien. Deur die herlees van die tekste kon die gegewe opnuut ge'interpreteer word en kon nodige aanpassings dus by aanvaarde opvattings gemaak word. Die ondersoek het verder aan die lig gebring dat veral die tekste uit die tagtigerjare verruimend ingewerk het op bestaande, geykte opvattinge oor die Afrikaner en Afrikanerskap en dat sulke opvattinge deur die tekste ondermyn, ontluister of bloot ontken word. Ten slotte het dit duidelik geword dat daar geen eensydige of stabiele betekenis oor die begrippe Afrikaner en van Afrikanerskap uit die verskillende tekste afgelei kon word nie / The purpose of this study was to determine how the Afrikaner was depicted in the literary texts of the forties and the eighties, and to determine whether the authors of the different texts expresses fixed views of the concept Afrikanerskap. As the relationship between the chosen texts and history had been investigated several times, the New Historisistic approach was adopted as a suitable theoretical model. As this approach places the emphasis on reality, and the lmagology sees the image as the most important, lmagological procedures were used additionally. Because the texts of the forties can be seen as mainly colonial of nature and the texts of the eighties as post colonial, the colonial and post colonial literature in Afrikaans was briefly investigated. The study further attempted to thoroughly investigate the concepts Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap with reference to different narrative texts which are not necessarily literary of nature. Although the rereading of twenty four literary texts of the forties confirms that the texts could mainly be seen as colonial literature, the interesting conclusion was made that certain texts not included in the canon gave the reader another reality of Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap than was traditionally the case. It was found, for example, that structures created by Afrikaner authorities since the forties were created to serve the needs of the Afrikanerdom. The rereading of these specific texts led to new interpretations and the necessary adaptations could be done to previously accepted views. The research further indicated that texts from the eighties especially had a broadening effect on existing hackneyed conceptions of Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap and that such views are undermined, clouded or simply ignored by the texts. In conclusion it became clear that no onesided or static interpretation of the concepts Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap could be derived from the different texts / Afrikaans & Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

Thesis (DPhil (History))—University of Stellenbosch, 2009. / The study analyzes the reconfiguration of Afrikaans identities in post-apartheid South Africa as mediated by two prominent Afrikaans-orientated arts festivals, namely the Klein Karoo National Arts Festival and Aardklop. Fieldwork was conducted in the two host towns – Oudtshoorn and Potchefstroom. A variety of research methods such as archival research, participant observation, semi-structured interviews and informal conversations were employed. The arts festivals emerged during a time of perceived crisis for particularly Afrikaans communities in the 1990s, when Afrikaans and the arts were in need of being renewed. The study compares and contrasts the Afrikaans-oriented arts festivals to the former Afrikaner volksfeeste in order to illustrate the marked contrasts between them. Whereas the volksfeeste were designed to advance Afrikaner nationalism in a narrow sense, the newly established Afrikaans-oriented arts festivals were envisioned as inclusive celebrations. Both festivals were established to advance the arts in Afrikaans, to redeem Afrikaans, given its tainted reputation as the language of apartheid, and to help bring about national reconciliation. The study traces the historical development of the two festivals in relation to these aims. The literature indicates that festivals as liminal events facilitate conditions during which festivalgoers are united in celebration and experience a sense of community or social communitas. The study utilizes the notion of liminality – the process by which the ordinary is rendered extraordinary during festivals. Six conditions of liminality are distinguished: extensive planning and preparation, different senses of time, the alteration of everyday routines, re-discovery and reappropriation of private and public spaces, the activation of festival spaces and the reworking of rules. It shows how liminality, rather than being self-evident, was carefully constructed. The study assesses the festivals’ potential ‘to bring people together’ against this background by looking at three possible means of social transformation: through the experience of the arts, through the use of public space and through encountering Afrikaans. The assessment reveals the discrepancy between official festival policy and practice. The tensions that existed – between ‘high culture’ and ‘popular culture’, centre and periphery, and inclusion and exclusion – hindered social transformation. The festivals nevertheless contributed to the establishment of a temporary sense of belonging or communitas amongst some festival-goers. Although Afrikaans was central to most manifestations of social communitas, festival-goers celebrated ‘being Afrikaans’ in diverse ways. The study concludes that these festivals were characterized just as much by the presence as the absence of social communitas.

No abstract available. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of Natal, Durban, 1981.

In a South African society in transformation it is well known that "white‟ Afrikaans-speaking South Africans are experiencing social change as a painful process. Against this background the purpose of the study was to investigate the construction of identities of being Afrikaans during family conversations between school-going Afrikaner adolescents and their parents in the post-apartheid context. A qualitative research design was utilized to investigate the phenomenon of negotiating identities of Afrikaansness in depth, openness and rich detail. A social constructionist meta-theoretical perspective underpinned the study. Theoretical perspectives from discursive psychology, as well as the dialogical self theory, formulated by Hermans and colleagues, framed the analysis and interpretation of the data. In contrast to conventional psychological approaches to the study of adolescent identity, such as the neo-Eriksonian identity status model developed by Marcia, identity was conceptualised as discursively produced between speakers in dialogue, and in particular social, cultural and historical contexts. Nine Afrikaner families, consisting of both parents and at least one school-going adolescent, between 16 and 18 years of age, were invited to take part in family conversations about their "white‟ Afrikaner identity. The nine family conversations were managed as focus groups (Wilkinson, 2004), and the purpose was to allow family members to talk freely and interact with one another around their experiences as "white‟ Afrikaans-speakers in the post-apartheid society. A discursive and rhetorical analysis, using Billig's (1996) rhetorical approach, was utilized to analyse the transcribed texts of the family conversations. The analysis revealed that when Afrikaners talk about their identities of being Afrikaans in the post-apartheid context their discourse involves talk about being threatened. Afrikaners seem to experience a sense of threat in relation to the stigma of being branded as "oppressors‟ and "racists‟ under apartheid, and they often utilize the discursive strategy of constructing themselves as victims and the Other as a powerful opponent or enemy. Furthermore, the analysis showed that the threat narratives contained an ambivalent structure. This ambivalent structure can be seen in the use of disclaimers, mitigations and other forms of racism denial in the construction of these threat narratives. These are the routine discursive manoeuvres of social face-keeping when talking about the Other. Analysis of the interview transcripts revealed that discourses of the past were often recited in the construction of threat narratives. In unpacking the Afrikaner threat narratives, it was shown how the participants recited ways of talking that were dominant in the apartheid era in making sense of changing realities in post-apartheid South Africa. The discourse of the "Swart Gevaar‟ (Black Danger) seems to be one of the most pervasive discourses in the production of the threat narratives, and it is used to construct a powerful Enemy that wants to harm the language, culture and interests of Afrikaners. The analysis indicated that Afrikaner adolescents and their parents often collaborated in producing identities of threat and apartheid in conversation. However, during the dialogue forms of contradiction, contestation and discursive struggle also emerged. There were occasions during the dialogue where the adolescents utilized discursive and rhetorical resources from being embedded in de-segregated settings. These ways of talking can be characterized as "non-threat talk‟ and "non-separation/apartheid talk‟. From a discursive and dialogical self theory perspective, identities are taken up as ways of doing or enacting identities in discourse and in dialogue, and not as universal and timeless structures of personality (such as the neo-Eriksonian identity status model). In trying to understand the complex identity struggles of Afrikaner adolescents in a tension-filled and rapidly changing society like South Africa, it is necessary to utilize theoretical and methodological tools that are appropriate in dealing with the complexity and multiplicity of identity responses that emerge in these contexts. For this reason the dialogical self theory was found to be a useful theoretical perspective in making sense of the multiplicity of voices or identities that emerge in a heterogeneous and globalizing society like South Africa. / Thesis (Ph.D.)-University of KwaZulu-Natal, Pietermaritzburg, 2012.

No description available.

Text in Afrikaans / Die doel van hierdie studie was om vas te stel hoe die Afrikaner in literere tekste van die veertiger- en tagtigerjare uitgebeeld word, en of 'n vaste beskouing oor die begrip Afrikanerskap by die skrywers van die verskillende tekste bestaan. Omdat die verhouding tussen die gekose tekste en die geskiedenis telkens ondersoek is, is die Nuwe Historisistiese benadering as geskikte teoretiese model gevolg. Waar hierdie benadering die klem op die realiteit plaas, stel die lmagologie die beeld voorop, en die lmagologiese werkswyse is dus aanvullend gevolg. Omdat die tekste van veertig hoofsaaklik as koloniale literatuur beskou kan word, en die tekste van tagtig as postkoloniaal van aard, is die koloniale en postkoloniale literatuur in Afrikaans kortliks ondersoek. Die studie het verder gepoog om deeglik verkenning van die begrippe Afrikaner en Afrikanerskap te doen aan die hand van verskillende narratiewe tekste wat nie noodwendig literer van aard is nie. Alhoewel daar by die herlees van die vier en twintig literere tekste van die veertigerjare gevind is dat die tekste hoofsaaklik nog as koloniale literatuur beskou kan word, is die interessante insig verwerf dat sekere tekste wat nie deel van die kanon vorm nie, 'n ander realiteit oor die Afrikaner en oor Afrikanerskap aan die leser voorhou as wat tradisioneel die geval was. So is byvoorbeeld bevind dat die strukture wat die Afrikanermaghebber sedert die veertigerjare geskep het, die belange van die Afrikanerdom moes dien. Deur die herlees van die tekste kon die gegewe opnuut ge'interpreteer word en kon nodige aanpassings dus by aanvaarde opvattings gemaak word. Die ondersoek het verder aan die lig gebring dat veral die tekste uit die tagtigerjare verruimend ingewerk het op bestaande, geykte opvattinge oor die Afrikaner en Afrikanerskap en dat sulke opvattinge deur die tekste ondermyn, ontluister of bloot ontken word. Ten slotte het dit duidelik geword dat daar geen eensydige of stabiele betekenis oor die begrippe Afrikaner en van Afrikanerskap uit die verskillende tekste afgelei kon word nie / The purpose of this study was to determine how the Afrikaner was depicted in the literary texts of the forties and the eighties, and to determine whether the authors of the different texts expresses fixed views of the concept Afrikanerskap. As the relationship between the chosen texts and history had been investigated several times, the New Historisistic approach was adopted as a suitable theoretical model. As this approach places the emphasis on reality, and the lmagology sees the image as the most important, lmagological procedures were used additionally. Because the texts of the forties can be seen as mainly colonial of nature and the texts of the eighties as post colonial, the colonial and post colonial literature in Afrikaans was briefly investigated. The study further attempted to thoroughly investigate the concepts Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap with reference to different narrative texts which are not necessarily literary of nature. Although the rereading of twenty four literary texts of the forties confirms that the texts could mainly be seen as colonial literature, the interesting conclusion was made that certain texts not included in the canon gave the reader another reality of Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap than was traditionally the case. It was found, for example, that structures created by Afrikaner authorities since the forties were created to serve the needs of the Afrikanerdom. The rereading of these specific texts led to new interpretations and the necessary adaptations could be done to previously accepted views. The research further indicated that texts from the eighties especially had a broadening effect on existing hackneyed conceptions of Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap and that such views are undermined, clouded or simply ignored by the texts. In conclusion it became clear that no onesided or static interpretation of the concepts Afrikaner and Afrikanerskap could be derived from the different texts / Afrikaans and Theory of Literature / D. Litt. et Phil. (Afrikaans)

This work looks at Afrikaner Nationalism, and more closely the changes it has undergone in years since external pressure has been applied against it from as early as 1946. This has been accomplished by placing it against the background of the international context ego as in relation to India and the British Commonwealth. Following a discussion of the ideology of nationalism in general, the thesis examines the specific case of Afrikaner Nationalism, which it portrays as an example of ethnonationalism. This latter is distinguished by familial ties and other stereotypes. After outlining the changing characteristics of Afrikaner Nationalism over time by reference to pronounciations by its leaders and other prominent spokesmen, this process of change is analysed with particular regard to the role played by international and other external pressures upon Afrikaner Nationalism. By carefully describing the changing attitudes of elite groups within Afrikaner Nationalism, the thesis assesses the impact of external factors. Then it is reasonably stated in this work that Afrikaner elites have become less exclusive under external pressure. The writer of this study is of the opinion that, give the fact that the doors of the National Party were thrown open, Afrikaner Nationalism and its aforementioned ideological organ are no longer identical.