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"The Struggle to be South African": Cultural Politics in Durban, Contesting Indian Identity in the Public Sphere

  • Indian children playing on Durban Beach
    Archive Category
    Theses and Dissertations
    Name of Publication:
    "The Struggle to be South African": Cultural Politics in Durban, Contesting Indian Identity in the Public Sphere
    Author:
    Aline Jeanette lohn-Naidu
    Date of Publication:
    2005
    Place of Publication:
    University of KwaZulu-Natal-Durban
    Copyright:
    Aline Jeanette lohn-Naidu
    Source:
    file:///C:/Users/hp/Downloads/John-Naidu_Aline_Jeanette_2005.pdf
    Synopsis:

    At the state level, the discourses of ' non-racialism' and ' Rainbow Nation' are dominant, but at the local level, the old categories of Indian, Coloured, White and Black are often aggressively asserted. It is suggested that, although apartheid has ended, there exists in contemporary South Africa a heightened sense of ethnic identification. Indians in contemporary South Africa grapple with questions of their identity, their ' place' in the new South Africa, and (like other minority groups) express anxiety about being part of the majority of South African society. This dissertation examines a broadly defined Indian cultural sphere in Durban, in particular a public sphere related to media and religion, where old Indian identities retain currency and, at the same time, new articulations of identity are constantly being made. The role of public discourses in shaping such identities is examined in detail using data collected through interviews with Indian cultural leaders and media communications between 1999 and 2001. An interrogation of discourses prevalent in the public sphere exposes the inherent contradictions and complexities of attempts to (re)create such "essentialised" identities. This paper demonstrates that Indian-ness is a highly contested and hybrid identification.

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References
John-Naidu, A.J. (2005). "The Struggle to be South African": Cultural Politics in Durban, Contesting Indian
Identity in the Public Sphere. Accessed on 19 January 2022
Source
file:///C:/Users/hp/Downloads/John-Naidu_Aline_Jeanette_2005.pdf
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  • Produced 19 January 2022
    Last Updated 19 January 2022

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