This thesis reports on a project which investigated how young native, Afrikaans-speaking Rhodes University students responded to the musical outfit Die Antwoord and to their music video “I Fink U Freeky”. The study attempted to establish how a selected group of Afrikaans-speaking students consisting of Whites, Coloureds and Blacks interpret the work of Die Antwoord as well as their own Afrikaans identity. The purpose of the study was to interrogate the relationship between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a particular group. The thesis reports on the ways in which interviewees in the group discussions responded to notions of identity, whiteness, class, race, hybridity and creolization registered in the music video which was used to prompt the discussions. Finally the thesis reports on findings regarding the relationship between citizenship and the artistic media. The enormous change in the socio-political position of Afrikaans-speakers in the post -1994 dispensation provides the social context of the study. The project utilised qualitative research and a reception study of the music was undertaken by means of focus group discussions in order to arrive at thick descriptions in an attempt to understand the contextual behaviour of the participants. It was postulated that Die Antwoord provides a discursive site within which audiences could generate their own innovative meanings regarding being Afrikaans. While there was no clear indication that the identities of the participants was constructed by the media, the video prompted discussions regarding identity and provided evidence that media texts are capable of stimulating an interrogation of identities. It emerged that all participants, while abandoning some aspects of Afrikaans culture, strongly embraced and highly valued the language. Participants did not regard race as an important aspect of citizenship. Vociferous discussions regarding class demonstrated how media texts can influence citizenship. Discussions about hybridization and creolization demonstrated how the media can challenge received conceptions regarding citizenship. Responses provided evidence that the media could stimulate new forms of citizenship and contribute to the inclusion of previously excluded subjects. The research findings clearly demonstrate links between artistic media, citizenship and belonging to a group of Afrikaanses rather than Afrikaners. Post- 1994 young Afrikaans-speakers in this study provided clear evidence that they are exploring new and alternative ways of being Afrikaans.
| Identifer | oai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:rhodes/vital:3538 |
| Date | January 2014 |
| Creators | Meintjes, Stephané Ruth |
| Publisher | Rhodes University, Faculty of Humanities, Journalism and Media Studies |
| Source Sets | South African National ETD Portal |
| Language | English |
| Detected Language | English |
| Type | Thesis, Masters, MA |
| Format | 98 leaves, pdf |
| Rights | Meintjes, Stephané Ruth |
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