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Papers by ROCKIE SIBANDA
South Africa. The on-going English-Afrikaans debate points to broader
issues of power and identity. Several scholars have convincingly shown
Afrikaans as inextricably linked to Afrikaner nationalism. During apartheid,
Afrikaans was contentious as the language of the ruling elite and tool for
Black oppression. This paper investigates how Afrikaans-speaking Coloured
learners are caught in the debates around language and racial hierarchies.
Results of the study show some scepticism about learning English in
a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking Coloured township community. While
a “progressive” part of the community strongly associates English with elitism
and power, a more “conservative” part views English as a threat to the
preservation of Coloured identity. The study concludes that in spite of
Afrikaans’ awkward position in South Africa’s linguistic historiography as
the language of the oppressor and the oppressed, it should be considered
a marker of Coloured identity. Finally, this study adds to our understanding
of racialized identities and in-betweenness as regards language (and cultural)
identities in South Africa.
South Africa. The on-going English-Afrikaans debate points to broader
issues of power and identity. Several scholars have convincingly shown
Afrikaans as inextricably linked to Afrikaner nationalism. During apartheid,
Afrikaans was contentious as the language of the ruling elite and tool for
Black oppression. This paper investigates how Afrikaans-speaking Coloured
learners are caught in the debates around language and racial hierarchies.
Results of the study show some scepticism about learning English in
a predominantly Afrikaans-speaking Coloured township community. While
a “progressive” part of the community strongly associates English with elitism
and power, a more “conservative” part views English as a threat to the
preservation of Coloured identity. The study concludes that in spite of
Afrikaans’ awkward position in South Africa’s linguistic historiography as
the language of the oppressor and the oppressed, it should be considered
a marker of Coloured identity. Finally, this study adds to our understanding
of racialized identities and in-betweenness as regards language (and cultural)
identities in South Africa.