Afrikaans and Afrikaner nationalism

Abstract

One ofthe centralproblems in thepolitics of South Africa's many languages is their sociocultural meanings, which ränge from negative connotations to cases where a language is regarded äs a core element in the continued sociopolitical existence ofits Speakers. In both instances, but particularly in the latter case, such meanings couldprove to be obstades to nation building. This is especially so in the case of Afrikaans, which is a basic constituent of Afrikaner nationalism. This contribution discusses the interrelationship between Afrikaans and Afrikaner nationalism. The article begins with a brief overview of the sociolinguistics of the language and its sociopolitical history, and then, against the background of the notions nationalism, ethnic nationalism, and the role of language in ethnic nationalism and politics, the role of Afrikaans in the birth of Afrikaner nationalism and in apartheid policy is discussed. In the concluding paragraph, a number of preliminary thoughts are expressed about the present position of Afrikaans and Afrikaner nationalism.

Imagined identities: Preimmigrants' narratives on language and identity

“…Identities of Afrikaans speakers in South Africa have been firmly located within discourses of Afrikanerdom in apartheid and postapartheid South Africa (van Rensburg, 1999;Webb & Kriel, 2000). As some participants in this study demonstrate, they resist normative representations of what it means to be an Afrikaner with regard to proficiency in English and Afrikaans, political and religious beliefs, and inter-racial relations.…”

“…Since 1994 Afrikaans has become just one of 11 official languages, sharing equal status with nine African languages. There is growing evidence that the status of English is rising among South Africans (Louw, 2004;Webb, 2002;Wright, 2002) and that Afrikaans is experiencing a slight downward turn (Cluver, 1993;Kamwangamalu, 2001;Webb & Kriel, 2000), mainly due to its association with the apartheid regime.…”

Maintenance, identity and social inclusion narratives of an Afrikaans speaker living in New Zealand

“…In 1994 South Africa introduced a new language policy giving parity to 11 official languages (English, Afrikaans and nine African languages). Since then, there is evidence that the use of English is growing (de Klerk 2001;Kamwangamalu 2001) and that Afrikaans is experiencing negative shift (Webb and Kriel 2000), mainly because of its association with the apartheid regime, and probably also because of the implementation of a national language policy which explicitly promotes multilingualism as well as the status and corpus development of the African languages in the country. Most recent census data show that there are about 6 million people who speak Afrikaans as a home language (Statistics South Africa 2011) which constitutes about 13.5% of the population.…”

The Political Future of Afrikaans: The Viewpoints of an Ethnic Party

“…For example, Webb and Kriel (2000) discuss the National Party's self-serving use of language as a means for carving up the black community into different territorial units which weakened overall black resistance to apartheid, while Kamwangamalu (2000, p. 137) refers to how apartheid South Africa used 'language and ethnicity as the pillars of its divide-and-rule ideology'. Commentators on the role of Afrikaans in the new South Africa have also highlighted what they consider to be the power of language certainly to differentiate (and divide?).…”