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Wrestling with identity: some black Afrikaans writers
Notions of identity are major themes in black Afrikaans writing. This phenomenon is caused by the imperative for these writers to articulate a particular community's struggles, but is also caused by the critics' inclination to read the coloured community in these texts. This article looks at the constructs of identity in the work of three leading figures: S.V. Petersen, Adam Small and Patrick Petersen. The following trends are identified: adherence to the Afrikaner, Black Consciousness, communality with Afrikaans speakers, identifying with the rainbow nation. The article draws on post-colonial theory and current debates in South African society to evaluate these constructs

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Mulatte vat nie "top-down" nie. (Small 1993: 11) [T]he third is dedicated to purifying the language of the tribe, and it is he who is jumped on by both sides for pretentiousness or playing white. He is the mulatto of style. (Walcott 1970: 9) Opsomming In hierdie artikel word die dramakonvensies van Adam Small ondersoek met besondere aandag aan perspektiewe op die mulat as 'n sosiale gegewe. Hierdie element bied 'n gepaste invalshoek omdat dit enersyds 'n verskynsel is wat Small in sy dramas en ander skryfwerk aansny en daar andersyds 'n uitgebreide literatuur bestaan waarin oor die dramatiese, lewensbeskoulike en literer-teoretiese inkleding daarvan besin word. Die werk van onder andere Langston Hughes en Derek Walcott word ondersoek om 'n leesstrategie te ontwikkel waarmee die Small-teks geanaliseer kan word. SummaryThis article examines the drama strategies of Adam Small and specifically focusses on the phenomenon of the mulat. This element provides a suitable perspective because on the one hand it is something that Small touches on in his dramas and other writing and on the other hand there exists an extensive literature which explores the dramatic, philosophical and literary theoretical meaning of the term. The work of Langston Hughes and Derek Walcott, amongst others, is explored to develop a reading strategy that could be used to analyse the Small text. InleidingDie term mulat is ingeweef in die geskiedenis van wetenskaplike rassisme in die negentiende eeu. 1 Simplisties gestel, verwys dit na die afstammeling van 'n wit pa en 'n Negerma. Die betekenisse wat rondom hierdie biologiese feitelikheid gegenereer word, is egter uitgebreid en ambivalensie omgewe die term. Enersyds het dit die allure van bloedvermenging, skande en buiteegtelikheid en andersyds besit dit positiewe waarde omdat die mulat 'n beter sosiale posisie beklee as die Neger vanwee 'n nouer verbondenheid aan wit, wat weer positiewe waarde inhou.'n Verbandhoudende term is metissage wat soos die term hibriditeit gebruiksfrekwensie verkry het in die postkoloniale teorie. Francoise Verges se omskrywing van metissage kan ook van toepassing wees op die term mulat:

A return to the past has been a dominant feature of recent Afrikaans writing. This is evident in the many novels re-visiting the Anglo-Boer War or recounting incidents from the apartheid past. The approaches include the debunking of myths and a nostalgic longing for the good old days. Whether this is true of the small body of Black Afrikaans writing, given its ambivalent relationship to the canon, needs to be investigated. A number of texts that was published recently either had a clear autobiographical background or emanated from the desire and imperative to "tell our own stories from our communities". This paper explores the way that the past is narrated in a number of selected texts by i.a. Fatima Osman, Simon Bruinders, Ronelda Kamfer and Valda Jansen. In the case of the texts by the firstmentioned authors the narrative is about survival, determination and the triumph of the human spirit in the face of a dehumanising system like apartheid. In the latter texts one finds elements of dystopia and disillusionment with the past as an ydill. It also gives an unsentimental view of the state of mind and events playing out in communities in the present. The texts furthermore grapples with textual strategies to represent history and the inability at times to comprehend the past.