Although both the Immorality Act and the Prohibition of Mixed Marriages Act were repealed in
1985, for the most part, interracial intimate relationships continue to be fraught with controversy.
It was hypothesised that discourses on interracial intimate relationships in post-apartheid South
Africa would intersect with racist and/or antiracist discourses. This study sought to identify and
explore discourses on these relationships, and to investigate the possible intersections with
discourses on racism. Thompson’s method of depth hermeneutics (of which critical discourse
analysis was a component) was employed to analyse data generated by two focus group
discussions and two interviews with interracial couples. The study yielded a wealth of data. This
research report presents significant findings in terms of how discourses on interracial intimate
relationships in post-apartheid South Africa intersect with discourses on race and racism. The
three main discursive themes were on race, whiteness, and interracial intimate relationships, with
the latter theme dominating. Of particular significance was how discursive strategies were
employed in order to deny, negate and justify racism. The most striking findings relate to how
discourses on interracial relationships intersect with discourses on three main themes: i)
experimentation, as depicted by discourses on developmental psychology, ii) geographical
locations, socio-economic status, and class, as manifested in the discourse of “It depends on
where you go”, and iii) the ideological construction of the family, which functions to maintain a
racially stratified society that maintains the status quo.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:wits/oai:wiredspace.wits.ac.za:10539/4905 |
| Date | 30 May 2008 |
| Creators | Jaynes, Claire Lisa |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis |
| Format | 394302 bytes, 11749 bytes, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf, application/pdf |
Page generated in 0.002 seconds