EXILE IDENTITY: A DISCOURSE ANALYSIS Matsheliso X. Rankoe Town Cape of A minor dissertation submitted in partial fulfillment of the requirements for the degree of Master of Arts in Clinical Psychology. University of Cape Town 1999 University The Univer~P:v of C11pe Tr.r-"n has bdon g!vtm ' ~~O~:l~:~/D ~~:~~;~-;~~tei~!::~)~·;~~;i-~!<~'1 cl~~;: The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgementTown of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Cape Published by the University ofof Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I would like to thank Professor Don Foster, my supervisor for his guidance and rigorous supervision of this work. To the participants for their time and support. To my friends and colleagues for your constancy and words of encouragement. TKO-DITTO My mother, my pillar of strength, who has held my hand all the way.:.. you are the best. Finally, to the children of the Diaspora, the 'struggle children', this is a tribute to you. It's been a long march, keep marching on and let your voices be heard. ABSTRACT This study focuses on the discourses of exile identity and the subjectivity of an individual born in exile. The study also focuses on the methodology used whereby, unlike traditional research where the researcher interviews subjects; in this case the subjects interview the researcher. 6 individuals from different backgrounds, who will be referred to as participants, were chosen, 2 male and 4 females, to interview the subject (1, the researcher). The participants interviewed the subject, exploring her exile identity. The resulting taped discussions were analyzed. A discourse analysis methodology is used to analyze the conversations. Four main discourses are outlined, which have sub-discourses within them. The main discourses are the political, territorial, patriarchy and language. These discourses were identified by their repeated occurrence in the research material. These four discourses appear to be pervasive and are indicative of exile identity as it emerges in the subjectivity of the subject. These discourses can not be generalized to exiles in general. Although discourses were similar across the texts, there were contradictory discourses that emerged. These seem to be as a result of the inter-subjective field, and the differences between the individuals that were conducting the interviews. Due to the fact that it was a different interviewer each time, this created differences, as different issues were highlighted in the stories that were told by the subject, due to a different interaction with the participant. ( Contents 1 Introduction 1 1.1 Background to the study 1 1.2 Outline 3 2 Literature Review 4 2.1 Historical Context 4 2.2 Being a refugee - Being in exile 6 2.2.1 What is a refugee or exile and where is home? 9 2.3 Identity 12 2.3.1 Power and identity 18 2.3.2 What is the function of the variability of identity? 19 3 Methodology 20 3.1 How is the study to be carried out? 23 3.2 Who are the participants? 24 3.3 How is the data to be collected? 26 3.4 How is the data to be analysed 26 3.5 The problems with discourse analysis 29 4 Analysis 30 4.1 Introduction 30 4.2 Discourses 30 4.2.1 Discourses of politics 31 4.2.1.1 Inter-generational talk 32 4.2.1.2 Politics of separation and racial division 33 4.2.1.3 Silence 35 4.2.2 Territorial -Social discourse 37 4.2.2.1 Construction of home 37 4.2.2.2 'Coming' or 'Coming back' 39 4.2.3 Patriarchy discourse 41 4.2.3.1 Patriarchy and family lineage 43 4.2.4 Language 44 4.2.4.1 'Us' and 'them' 45 4.3 Contradictory discourses and the inter-subjective field 47 5 Discussion and Conclusion 51 5.1 Exile Identity 51 5.2 Methodology 53 References 54 Appendix - Transcripts Moeketsi Edward Tristin Nandi Tracy Moroka "Yet it is no exaggeration to say that liberation as an intellectual mission, born in the resistance and opposition to the confinements and ravages of imperialism, has now shifted from the settled, established, and domesticated dynamics of culture to its unhoused, decentred, and exilic energies, energies whose incarnation today is the migrant, and whose consciousness is that of the intellectual and artist in exile, the political figure between domains, between forms, between homes, and between languages. From this perspective then all things are indeed counter, original, spare, strange" (Said, 1993). Chapter 1 INTRODUCTION 1.1 Background to the study My interest in this study arose as a result of having been born to South African parents who had left South Africa for political reasons. The following factors also contributed to my interest in this subject: my experience as someone who was born outside South Africa; having lived in different parts of the world with other South African exiles who were living as South Africans and foreigners in the different lands that we inhabited. I bore witness to other individuals like myself being brought up with the idea that we were to carry a South African identity, even though this was a country that was clearly foreign to us, except for the stories that we heard. The political lives that our parent's led impacted on us and was a part of our lives from an early age. On coming to South Africa for the first time at the end of 1990, I was faced with many challenges. Firstly, having to come to grips with the challenge of what it meant to carry a South African identity having not lived here; secondly, I had to question the idea of 'home' that I had carried with me all my life. Again I bore witness and engaged in discussions with others that came 'home' about how it felt. For most people that I encountered, the adjustment to South Africa was a struggle; there was a sense of not really belonging. There were struggles in relation to language, as numerous people that had grown up in exile had not been schooled in the languages spoken in South Africa, some struggled to learn them in order to belong, others still struggle. There was a change in the sense that the African National Congress (or various other political parties) had played a dominant role in one's life and now the status quo was different, one now had to think about themselves as separate from the - political. Some people encountered difficulties in adjustment on a number of levels, in relation to family, and also some of the general public feeling that the exiles had taken the easier route and now were back to take their jobs in a country where resources are few. There was a growing sense that there was something different about being an exile. At the time there were different names being used, 'returned exile', 'returnee', 'exile', etc. What did these labels mean to the individuals that carried them? I began to question exactly what it meant to be an 'exile'. Was I an exile, and if so how has that identity been constructed? As I asked these questions I also realised that the experiences of exile are numerous and varied, and also that this was also a very personal journey. As a result I needed to find a methodology that would allow for the exploration of such a personal journey. In this study I would therefore like to look at the emerging discourses within my exile identity. The questions that I wish to ask are: I. What has the influence of the political arena been on the exile identity? The reason I ask this question is because the meaning of being an exile is so tied up with ideology and politics. II. Is this exile identity something that is unitary and fixed, or is it multiple and constantly changing? If it is multiple, does the multiplicity necessitate a confused identity, or do the multiple identities exist cohesively? Ill. What is the impact of language as a means of communication and interaction on the exile identity? IV. What is 'home', and how is this constructed? V. What method can one use to investigate these issues that will allow for the emergence and interaction of the above issues? It is important to point out that in the post-apartheid era, a good deal of research is being done into areas such as the victims and perpetrators of gross human rights violations, but there is little or no literature on the exile experience. Thousands fled into exile during the apartheid era, and it is important that a process is begun of documenting some of these experiences. 2 1.2 OUTLINE The present study begins with a brief overview of the historical context of South African exiles. An exploration of the literature will ensue, firstly in relation to the material on exiles and refugees, which is minimal. Secondly, the literature on identity will be explored, the emphasis being on whether identity is unitary and fixed or multiple. Finally, the methodology will be described and will explore the strengths of discourse analysis as a method, and also the limitations of this means of investigation will be outlined. An analysis of the transcripts will be presented, and finally the discussion and conclusi9ns of the study. 3 _, .•.. Chapter 2 LITERATURE REVIEW 2.1 Historical Context The arena of struggle that is most central to the production of this work has been that of the political struggle waged against apartheid inside and outside South Africa from the 1950's to 1994, the years of struggle to the present transformation dispensation.