Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools

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dc.contributor.advisorMeeran, Jeanen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJones, Sarahen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2014-12-31T19:34:21Z
dc.date.available2014-12-31T19:34:21Z
dc.date.issued2008en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (p. 98-103).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractThis research is an interdisciplinary, qualitative study of youth identity in two coeducational secondary schools with diverse student populations, in central Cape Town. Combining sociological and psychological perspectives, it seeks to understand how young South Africans are making sense of their place in the world, and in the history of their country, through exploring the way in which identities are being constructed on the site of the individual. It seeks to identify what discursive and imaginative resources young South Africans are drawing upon in the construction of their identities, how the (racialised) discourses from the past are working through them, and how they are negotiating new ways-of-being. Discourse analysis was combined with narrative methods; the former determined the discursive environment in which the students are embedded, and the latter investigated how individuals are positioned within this environment, and how they interact with this positioning. Focus groups in the schools formed the first phase of the research, followed by intensive individual interviews with six key participants. In order to understand the complexity of identity processes, the identity narratives of six individuals are the main focus of this research. Narrative methods were used to interrogate actors' own meanings in the construction of their identities, and a principal concern was to explore how participants understood, and narrated, their own identities. The intersubjective, embodied, and imaginative construction of identities was incorporated into the research. What became apparent was the way in which racialised discourses continue to dominate the post-apartheid landscape. However, racial signifiers are becoming increasingly confused, and students are resisting the positions to which they are being called. These individuals are negotiating their way through complex fields of meaning to generate new identities and ways-of-belonging that subvert former categories.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationJones, S. (2008). <i>Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Sociology. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10712en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationJones, Sarah. <i>"Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Sociology, 2008. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10712en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationJones, S. 2008. Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Jones, Sarah AB - This research is an interdisciplinary, qualitative study of youth identity in two coeducational secondary schools with diverse student populations, in central Cape Town. Combining sociological and psychological perspectives, it seeks to understand how young South Africans are making sense of their place in the world, and in the history of their country, through exploring the way in which identities are being constructed on the site of the individual. It seeks to identify what discursive and imaginative resources young South Africans are drawing upon in the construction of their identities, how the (racialised) discourses from the past are working through them, and how they are negotiating new ways-of-being. Discourse analysis was combined with narrative methods; the former determined the discursive environment in which the students are embedded, and the latter investigated how individuals are positioned within this environment, and how they interact with this positioning. Focus groups in the schools formed the first phase of the research, followed by intensive individual interviews with six key participants. In order to understand the complexity of identity processes, the identity narratives of six individuals are the main focus of this research. Narrative methods were used to interrogate actors' own meanings in the construction of their identities, and a principal concern was to explore how participants understood, and narrated, their own identities. The intersubjective, embodied, and imaginative construction of identities was incorporated into the research. What became apparent was the way in which racialised discourses continue to dominate the post-apartheid landscape. However, racial signifiers are becoming increasingly confused, and students are resisting the positions to which they are being called. These individuals are negotiating their way through complex fields of meaning to generate new identities and ways-of-belonging that subvert former categories. DA - 2008 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2008 T1 - Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools TI - Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10712 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/10712
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationJones S. Emerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schools. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Sociology, 2008 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/10712en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Sociologyen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherDiversity Studiesen_ZA
dc.titleEmerging identities in contemporary South Africa : six individual identity narratives from central Cape Town high schoolsen_ZA
dc.typeMaster Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelMasters
dc.type.qualificationnameMPhilen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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