Department of Philosophy

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Browsing Department of Philosophy by browse.metadata.advisor "Degenaar, Johan"

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    Stereotypes in contemporary South African cultural discourses
    (Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University, 1990) Coetzee, Erika; Degenaar, Johan; Gouws, Andries; Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Philosophy.
    ENGLISH ABSTRACT: The aim of this study is to explore some of the roles stereotypes play in the construction of social relations and everyday interaction in South Africa. It is argued that these images a.re neither trivial simplifications nor unambiguously 'inaccurate' misrepresentations, but that they profoundly affect our understanding of and participation in South African 'society', and the positions and roles we occupy in relation to one another. In order to construct an interpretive framework, the concept of 'culture' is itself first investigated. The dominant notion of 'culture' in South Africa. Is described as one which assumes the existence of a. range of pre-defined, mutually exclusive 'fully bounded wholes', ea.eh with its 'own' traditions and members. With the help of various contributions from contemporary cultural theory, an alternative understanding is developed of 'culture' as a. variety of discourses in and through which diverse ideological elements a.re constantly being articulated, dis-articulated and re-articulated in order to maintain, challenge or transform the socio-political relations between groups, classes and individuals. Against this background, stereotyping is interpreted as a form of ideological articulation, involving the construction of particular popular 'images of difference'. Stereotypes a.re shown to contain selective and evaluative information presented as 'obvious' facts of nature. These ideological images that both construct and confirm 'common sense' notions about 'appropriate' behaviour and differential social positions, statuses and roles, a.re then regarded as powerful tools of socialization that contribute to the structural reinforcement (if social inequality. Further investigation is located within a. South African context. The broad categories of 'race', 'ethnicity', 'gender' and 'class' a.re used as a. basis for identifying a range of different (yet inter-related) cultural discourses, each. of which becomes a sub-context for the interpretation of a. particular range of stereotypes. Stereotypes of race and ethnicity a.re discussed as ideological images that form part of the construction of exclusive 'cultural' group identities and evaluative schemes of cultural 'ranking'. Stereotypes of gender are seen to play a prominent role in the discourses of patriarchy and the corresponding politics of sexuality. Stereotypes of class are interpreted in relation to both the discourses of consumerism as well as those of a people’s culture. In each case, the discussion includes a variety of examples from the media, educational textbooks and/or children’s' literature. The study of stereotypes in particular South African cultural discourses is concluded with a brief investigation into the deliberate use of stereotypical associations in some subcultural articulations of style. Finally, the relationship between stereotypes and cultural change is considered. The dis-articulation and re-articulation of existing ideological elements within the discourses of 'a New South Africa' is described as a process that opens up a variety of possibilities and dangers. Some exploratory suggestions are made about the potential contributions Post-modern and Gramsc1an approaches to 'culture' may be able to make within such a process.