The term 'Rainbow Nation' leaves me feeling pleasantly confused; references to South Africa as a cultural melting potjie make me cringe.
The term 'Rainbow Nation' leaves me feeling pleasantly confused; references to South Africa as a cultural melting potjie make me cringe.
While I don't deny the sweet, inclusive sentiment, I think identity, culture and history is a lot more complicated than we like to believe.
When I wrote about Afrikaans culture last week, it was easy. It's what I'm about. I speak the language, I know the nuances, and the culture is mine to adopt or deny.
But what about South African English culture? Well, it’s hard to say.
They have enjoyed a quiet, privileged existence here.
While they reaped apartheid benefits, they had nothing to repent for when the time came to build a new SA.
The first English immigrants arrived in the Eastern Cape in 1820, and Grahamstown is one of their original settlements.
The Great Fish River, now the site of annual student jolliness and expensive municipal getaways, was once a turbulent frontier of the Cape Colony.
The English fought and fought and fought, until there really wasn’t a question of who had won.
Although Afrikaner hostility triumphed in 1961 with the declaration of the Republic of South Africa, the evidence of the Anglo-Saxon conquest is all around us.
In South Africa, ‘cultures’ are for anyone but English-speakers.
Afrikaners? Of course – we have bad singers to attest to it.
Traditional black cultures and exotic Asian fantasies fascinate these cultureless outsiders and drive them to hang things they don’t understand on their walls.
English people just don’t seem to think they have a culture.
Sure, they love to adopt some bits and baubles from other cultures they oppress, but don’t ask them to try and pin theirs down.
They usually have more in common with their class counterparts in Britain, America, Australia, and Canada than anyone else in SA.
They seem to belong to some kind of global culture – one of sushi eaters and film snobs who know more about New York than Bloemfontein.
This ‘mainstream’ culture was developed based on Eurocentric ideals and standards, and the part that should annoy you is that it is seen as the ultimate standard of civilisation and progress.
Cultures are supposed to provide us with a sense of belonging and help us form our identities. They help us connect with those around us and help us build cool things.
They should not separate us, or make us feel unworthy.
Own yours, English people, and make it something good! Norah Jones was just disappointing – and don't even get me started on your thing about organic food…
