Afrikaaps: a Celebratory Protest Against
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AFRIKAAPS: A CELEBRATORY PROTEST AGAINST THE RACIALISED HEGEMONY OF ‘PURE’ AFRIKAANS by Menán van Heerden Thesis presented in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Social Anthropology in the Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences at Stellenbosch University Supervisor: Prof. C.S. van der Waal December 2016 Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za DECLARATION By submitting this thesis electronically, I declare that the entirety of the work contained therein is my own, original work, that I am the sole author thereof (save to the extent explicitly otherwise stated), that reproduction and publication thereof by Stellenbosch University will not infringe any third party rights and that I have not previously in its entirety or in part submitted it for obtaining any qualification. Date: December 2016 Copyright © 2016 Stellenbosch University All rights reserved ii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ABSTRACT Afrikaaps is a multi-media (Becker and Oliphant, 2014) protest theatre production that has been performed locally and internationally between 2010 and 2015. Afrikaaps, also termed ‘Vernacular Spectacular’, is performed in Kaaps, a vernacular subvariety of Afrikaans. This approximately hour- and-a-half production, directed by Catherine Henegan, involved eight mainly hip-hop artists from the Cape Flats. Through artistic means of expression such as hip-hop, performance poetry, jazz, dialogues, etc., Afrikaaps foregrounds issues pertaining to marginalised and stigmatised Kaaps in response to the racialised hegemony of standard/‘pure’ Afrikaans. Central to this response is the celebration of (an ethnified) Kaaps ‘coloured’ identification. This multi-sited ethnography has various foci: The 2010 South African and 2011 Dutch versions of the production, the 2010 documentary film with the same title, and a description and analysis of the various ways in which members of the Afrikaaps collective experience the hegemony, ideology, and fiction of ‘suiwer’ (pure) Afrikaans. Three sites are foregrounded: A performance poetry event in Amsterdam, the Netherlands, as part of the 2011 Dutch tour; the 2015 matinee performance, part of the annual Suidoosterfees in Cape Town; and the 2015 screening of the Afrikaaps documentary by student collective Open Stellenbosch at Stellenbosch University. I discuss the ways in which each site aims to subvert the hegemony. I show that Afrikaaps is a case study of the heterogeneity of Afrikaans. I argue that the celebration of Kaaps by the production and the positive identification with Kaaps by members of the Afrikaaps collective are extremely relevant within the current climate. In the wake of the nationwide #AfrikaansMustFall protests, this climate encompasses the deliberate, renewed recognition and celebration of Afrikaans varieties other than standard Afrikaans in the public sphere. The conceptualisation of Afrikaans as an indigenous, ‘creole’ language relates to current, opposing views of the Afrikaans language as a ‘colonial’ language and an African language. Afrikaaps aims to subvert the general perception of Afrikaans as a ‘white’ language of the ‘white’ Afrikaner oppressor. I concurrently argue that the production endeavours to connect the Afrikaans language to an ethnicity other than ‘white Afrikaners’, namely ‘coloured’ Kaaps-speakers. I demonstrate that the use of Kaaps is a decolonising political tool (Erasmus, 2006) in response to the general perception of Afrikaans as a ‘colonial’ language. A concurrent aim of the production includes the encouragement of ‘coloured’ Kaaps-speakers from the Cape Flats to be proud of their mother-tongue and their claimed indigenous (Khoi and San) and slave (‘Malay’) cultural heritage. I regard the emphasis on the symbolic value of Kaaps by the production as imperative to the reclaiming of a positive identification with Kaaps. I accordingly argue that Afrikaaps iii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ‘re-imagines’ negative notions of ‘coloured’ by celebrating ‘creolised’ ‘coloured’ identification (Erasmus, 2001). I emphasise that the encouragement by Afrikaaps to ‘reclaim’ Afrikaans ‘for all who speak it’ links with the topical debate ‘to whom does Afrikaans belong’. The production encourages all Afrikaans-speakers to ‘reclaim’ the ‘creole’ language formed in the early, cosmopolitan Cape in response to the hegemony. Afrikaans is thereby conceptualised as inclusive and ‘liberated’; the racialised divide within the Afrikaans speech community can therefore be bridged. I argue that these claims express a current hope for Afrikaans to be viewed as a language of ‘transformation’. iv Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za OPSOMMING Afrikaaps is ’n multi-media (Becker en Oliphant, 2014) protes-teaterproduksie wat plaaslik en internasionaal tussen 2010 en 2015 opgevoer is. Afrikaaps, wat ook ‘Vernacular Spectacular’ (Omgangstaalskouspel) genoem word, word in Kaaps, ’n vernakulêre variëteit van Afrikaans, opgevoer. Hierdie ongeveer uur-en-’n-half-lange produksie onder regie van Catherine Henegan betrek agt hoofsaaklik hip-hop kunstenaars van die Kaapse Vlakte. Deur artistieke vorme van uitdrukking soos hip-hop, die gesproke woord, jazz, dialoog, ens., laat val Afrikaaps lig op kwessies in verband met gemarginaliseerde en gestigmatiseerde Kaaps in reaksie op die rasse-hegemonie van standaard/‘suiwer’ Afrikaans. Sentraal tot hierdie reaksie is die viering van ʼn (‘ge-etnifiseerde’) ‘bruin’ Kaaps-identifikasie. Hierdie multi-terrein etnografie het verskeie fokuspunte: die 2010 Suid-Afrikaanse en 2011 Nederlandse weergawes van die produksie; die 2010 dokumentêre film met dieselfde titel; en ’n beskrywing en analise van die verskeie maniere waarop lede van die Afrikaaps-geselskap die hegemonie, ideologie, en fiksie van ‘suiwer’ Afrikaans ervaar. Drie terreine word op die voorgrond gestel: ’n aanbieding in die gesproke woord in Amsterdam, Nederland, as deel van die Nederlandse toer in 2011; die 2015 matinee-opvoering, as deel van die jaarlikse Suidoosterfees in Kaapstad; en die vertoning van die Afrikaaps-dokumentêr deur die Open Stellenbosch studentegroep by die Universiteit Stellenbosch in 2015. Ek bespreek die maniere waarop elke terrein beoog om die hegemonie te ondermyn. Ek toon aan dat Afrikaaps ’n gevallestudie van die heterogeniteit van Afrikaans is. Ek argumenteer dat die viering van Kaaps deur die produksie en die positiewe identifikasie met Kaaps deur lede van Afrikaaps-geselskap uiters relevant is binne die huidige klimaat. Na aanleiding van die landwye ‘#AfrikaansMustFall’ opstande, sluit hierdie klimaat die doelbewuste, hernude erkenning en viering van Afrikaans-variëteite anders as standaard Afrikaans in die openbare sfeer in. Die konseptualisering van Afrikaans as ’n inheemse, ‘kreoolse’ taal hou verband met die huidige, opponerende sienings van die Afrikaanse taal as ’n ‘koloniale’ taal en as ’n Afrikataal. Afrikaaps poog om die algemene siening van Afrikaans as ʼn ‘wit’ taal van die ‘wit’ Afrikaner-onderdrukker te ondermyn. Terselftertyd argumenteer ek dat die produksie dus poog om die Afrikaanse taal met ’n etnisiteit anders as ‘wit Afrikaners’ te assosieer, naamlik ‘bruin’ Kaaps-sprekers. Ek demonstreer dat die gebruik van Kaaps as ʼn dekoloniserende politieke strategie is (Erasmus, 2006) as reaksie op die algemene persepsie van Afrikaans as ʼn ‘koloniale’ taal. ’n Gepaardgaande doel van die produksie sluit in die aanmoediging van ‘bruin’ Kaaps-sprekers van die Kaapse Vlakte om trots op hul moedertaal en hul beweerde inheemse (Khoi en San) en slawe (‘Maleise’) kulturele erfenis te wees. Ek beskou die klem op die simboliese waarde van Kaaps deur die v Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za produksie as noodsaaklik ten einde positiewe identifikasie met Kaaps te herwin. Daarvolgens argumenteer ek dat Afrikaaps negatiewe opvattings van ‘bruin’ ‘her-verbeel’ deur ‘gekreoliseerde’ ‘bruin’ identifikasie te vier (Erasmus, 2001). Ek wys daarop dat die aanmoediging om Afrikaans te ‘herwin’ ‘vir almal wat dit praat’ skakel met die aktuele debat ‘aan wie behoort Afrikaans’. Die produksie moedig alle Afrikaanssprekendes aan om die ‘kreoolse’ taal, wat aan die vroeë, kosmopolitiese Kaap gevorm is, te herwin in reaksie op die hegemonie. Afrikaans word dus gekonseptualiseer as inklusief en ‘bevry’; die rasse-kloof binne die Afrikaanse taalgemeenskap kan dus oorbrug word. Ek argumenteer dat hierdie eise spreek tot ’n huidige hoopvolle siening van Afrikaans as ’n taal van ‘transformasie’. vi Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I thank my supervisor, Prof. Kees van der Waal, as well as the Department of Sociology and Social Anthropology at Stellenbosch University for their valuable guidance and financial support. I am also grateful to the entire Afrikaaps team for their generosity, friendliness, time, and assistance. This study would not have been possible without the love and support of my family and friends. vii Stellenbosch University https://scholar.sun.ac.za TABLE OF CONTENTS DECLARATION .................................................................................................................................... ii ABSTRACT ........................................................................................................................................... iii OPSOMMING ........................................................................................................................................ v ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS .................................................................................................................