Taal en die magsdinamika van die Afrikaner: ’n antropologiese perspektief

Abstract

This article deals with the relation between language and power in the (re)production of Afrikaner culture. Against a historical background the author first considers current Afrikaners’ uncertainty about a suitable way to understand “themselves”. Secondly, the use of Afrikaans to establish and maintain the Afrikaner’s position of power is reviewed. Thirdly, it is argued that it is anthropologically important to realise that people themselves give active content to their destiny; they are not passive victims of inevitable, arbitrary processes of assimilation, identification or the abuse of power.