NATIONAL IDENTITY in POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: SABC TV's CONTRIBUTION by KURAI PROSPER MASENYAMA Submitted in Partial Fulfi
Total Page:16
File Type:pdf, Size:1020Kb
NATIONAL IDENTITY IN POST-APARTHEID SOUTH AFRICA: SABC TV’S CONTRIBUTION By KURAI PROSPER MASENYAMA Submitted in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of MASTER OF ARTS In INDUSTRIAL SOCIOLOGY In the FACULTY OF HUMANITIES At the UNIVERSITY OF JOHANNESBURG SUPERVISOR: PROFESSOR J.M. UYS CO-SUPERVISORS: MS M. DAWSON & MS L. LOCHNER JANUARY 2005 For my mother who sacrificed so much so that I could have what she could not have. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS AND DECLARATION i ABSTRACT ii OPSOMMING iii TABLE OF CONTENTS iv CHAPTER ONE THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1.1 INTRODUCTION 1 1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH 2 1.3 STATEMENT OF THE PROBLEM 4 1.4 AIMS OF THE RESEARCH 6 1.5. CHAPTER OUTLINE 7 CHAPTER TWO A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND OF NATIONAL IDENTITY 2.1 INTRODUCTION 9 2.2 CONCEPTUALISING IDENTITY 9 2.3 A THEORETICAL BACKGROUND TO IDENTITY, NATIONALISM AND NATIONAL IDENTITY 10 2.3.1 Social Identity Theory 10 2.3.2 Classical Sociological Theories On National Identity 11 2.3.3 Contemporary Sociological Theories On National Identity 12 2.3.3.1 Primordialism 13 2.3.3.2 Modernism 14 2.3.3.4 Postmodernism 15 2.4 THE CHANGING COURSE OF NATIONAL IDENTITY IN SOUTH AFRICA 17 2.4.1 National Identity Before And During The Apartheid Era 17 2.4.2 National Identity In The Post-Apartheid Era 17 2.5 TRENDS IN NATIONAL IDENTITY FORMATION AND THE ROLE OF COMMUNICATION 19 2.6 LANGUAGE AND NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 20 2.7 CONCLUSION 22 CHAPTER 3 PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA 3. 1 INTRODUCTION 23 3.2. THE NORMATIVE MEDIA FRAMEWORK 23 3.2.1 A Summation Of The Normative Media Theories 24 3.2.2 Applying The Normative Media Theories To South Africa 25 3.3. ORIGINS AND THE HISTORY OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING 26 3.4 THE DEVELOPMENT OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTING IN SOUTH AFRICA. 27 3.5. A PROFILE OF THE SABC AND SABC TELEVISION 29 3.6. SABC POLICY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 30 3.6.1. Local Content Policy 31 3.7. EMPIRICAL RESEARCH RELATED TO MEDIA AND NATIONAL IDENTITY 32 3.8. CONCLUSION 33 CHAPTER 4 EXPLORING THE PERCEIVED ROLE OF SABC TV IN NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 4.1 INTRODUCTION 34 4.2 RESEARCH PROBLEM 34 4.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 35 4.4. POPULATION AND SAMPLING PROCEDURE 35 4.4.1 Population 35 4.4.2 Choice Of Sampling Method 36 4.4.3 Sampling Procedures 36 4.5 RESEARCH METHODS 37 4.5.1. Choice Of Method 37 4.5.2. Conducting The Interviews 38 4.5.3. Analysis Of Data 38 4.6 POTENTIAL LIMITATIONS OF THE STUDY 39 4.7 CONCLUSION 39 CHAPTER FIVE A PRESENTATION OF FINDINGS: THE PERCEIVED ROLE OF SABC TELEVISION IN NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 5.1 INTRODUCTION 41 5.2 CONCEPTUALISATION OF NATIONAL IDENTITY 41 5.3 SABC POLICY AND NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 44 5.4 REPRESENTATION OF OTHER POSSIBLE NATIONAL IDENTITY DRIVERS 48 5.4.1 Language 48 5.4.2 Sport 50 5.4.3 Religion 50 5.4.4 Use Of National Symbols 51 5.4.5 Globalisation 52 5.5 TRANSFORMATION OF THE SABC 53 5.6 IS SABC A PUBLIC BROADCASTER IN REALITY? 55 5.7 POSSIBILITIES OF GOVERNMENT INTERFERENCE 57 5.8 CONCLUSION 58 CHAPTER SIX CONCLUSION: BEYOND NATIONAL IDENTITY! 6.1 INTRODUCTION 60 6.2 A RECAP OF THE RESEARCH OBJECTIVES 60 6.3 RESEARCH DESIGN 61 6.4 A SUMMARY OF MAJOR FINDINGS 61 6.5 CONCLUSIONS ON NATIONAL IDENTITY 62 6.5.1 On Its Fluidity 62 6.5.2 On Its Potential To Exclude 62 6.5.3 On Its Relationship With Other Identities 63 6.6 CONCLUSIONS ON THE CHANGING ROLE OF PUBLIC SERVICE BROADCASTERS 64 6.7 CONCLUSIONS ON SABC’S ROLE IN NATIONAL IDENTITY CREATION 65 6.8 CLOSING GAPS AND PAVING NEW WAYS 66 6.9 CONCLUDING REMARKS: BEYOND NATIONAL IDENTITY! 67 LIST OF SOURCES 69 APPENDIX 76 CHAPTER ONE THE RESEARCH PROBLEM AND ITS SETTING 1.1 INTRODUCTION The concept of a national identity has acquired renewed prominence in academic circles, with various scholars in the social sciences debating its meaning and significance. Even-Zohar (1997: 14) for example, observes that ‘national identity has gained academic currency in recent years’. Sabine (2001:1) reinforces this view by arguing that with the emergence of postmodernism, questions of identity and difference began to feature prominently. Underlying this debate is the issue of cultural representation in the media, visual art, history, and literature, and how these relate to the creation of identity. This has particular relevance to a country like South Africa that is undergoing a process of transformation closely related to the search for a new national identity and new forms of identification for various ethnic groups (Currie and Markovitz, 1993: 91). The study emphasises the discursive aspects of the role of communication in articulating a national identity. National identity is viewed as a phenomenon that is dependent on communication as people interpret their everyday lives. Communication is related to giving meaning to events and might result in identity formation. Against such a background the study focuses on how television, as a form of mass communication in South Africa, influences national identity creation. The project of nation-building and national identity creation in South Africa during the late 1990s and 2000s has been undertaken in the wider context of internationalisation. This refers to the growing influence of globalisation, a process that has resulted in a wider movement of goods, services, peoples and cultures across national borders. The country’s media, particularly the public service broadcaster, is expected to play a crucial role in this process. Post-apartheid South Africa provides one example of an attempt to shape collective stability, political order and national identity through the use of public broadcasting systems (Le Pere and Lambrechts, 1999: 76). The South African Broadcasting Corporation (SABC) provides an important case study of social transformation and how the cultural, social and political identities of a diverse population, and the structure and practices of the media of mass communication affect the prospects of developing a national identity. This research project was inspired by the fact that South African television, especially SABC TV, has undergone great changes in recent years, and is poised to take on massive challenges in the future. It is, therefore, exciting to follow up these changes and explore how they relate to changes in the political context and place. Qualitative research methods were used to elicit information from representatives of the Independent Communication Authority of South Africa (ICASA), the body that regulates media policy in South Africa, and more prominently the SABC TV managers and programmers to understand the motivations behind their programmes, their conception of national identity, and assess how far they assist the goal of creating a South African national identity. While most television studies focus on audiences and their reactions to television programmes, this study suggests that any analysis of the products of the television field cannot be carried out exclusively based on the studies of audiences, and that it is essential to know the process that has created it and the views of the people involved in the process. Therefore, this study is based on the views and opinions of the media players, in this case representatives of ICASA, SABC television management and commissioning editors. 1.2 BACKGROUND TO THE RESEARCH To get a clearer understanding of the issue under investigation, in terms of its significance in the South Africa and as to why the research was formulated around the particular topic it is imperative that some kind of background be given. The section looks at the background against which the study was conceived and highlights the importance of carrying out a research of this nature. Identity has emerged as an interesting object of scholarly inquiry in recent years. However, in South Africa debates on identity have been limited. Bekker (1999:3) observes that during the 1970s and 1980s most South African scholars avoided questions relating to cultural, ethnic and racial identities. The main reason for this may be found in the apartheid context that isolated and confined the ideas of its opponents and supporters alike. With racial and identity issues at the core of the apartheid process, scholarly debates on identity became a ‘hot potato’ to be avoided at all cost. As transformation progressed in South Africa the issue of identity politics and the relevance of ethnicity have elicited renewed interest in a number of scholarly communities. Bekker (1999:7) notes that the early 1990s saw five academic conferences on identity in South Africa being held. This went some way in re- establishing the legitimacy of the subject in intellectual circles. This study is a continuation of this trend as it has become more relevant to tackle the burning issue of national identity that has to be constructed and re-constructed out of the debris of apartheid. This is happening amid the context of migration, globalisation and the associated changes in the media fraternity. The research is also significant as part of a growing trend in media studies in South Africa. Many studies on contemporary South Africa have failed to examine critically the political character and effects of the mass media in the post-1994 period. Following Epstein’s (1997) investigation of the role played by print media in the creation of a post-apartheid national identity this study is valuable in that it closes a knowledge gap in electronic media research in South Africa.