Identities in Extended Afrikaans Speech Communities

Abstract

This study investigates the link between language and identity in a few enclaved Afrikaans speaking communities where ascribed identities, i.e. the role of ‘self’ as opposed to ‘the other’, is particularly salient. Given the role of both 'self-identification' and the perceptions and attitudes of 'others' in the construction of (ethnic) identity the aim of this study is to understand the processes of identity construction and negotiation that resulted in these communities either distancing themselves from their black heritage or viewing themselves as ‘Black Afrikaners’. Four such communities are investigated namely the Buys family, who represents a group that rejects their black heritage and the Van der Merwe family, the people of Thlabane and the black Afrikaners of Onverwacht who represent the latter grouping. Neville Alexander’s work is drawn upon in which he argues that identity politics in South Africa is often cladded in ornamental rainbow imagery leaving many communities in a crisis of identity.