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Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2023.
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | en_ZA |
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2023
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| _version_ | 1867613741479100416 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith |
| author2 | Costandius, Elmarie |
| author_browse | Costandius, Elmarie Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith |
| author_facet | Costandius, Elmarie Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith |
| author_sort | Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith |
| collection | Thesis |
| dc_rights_str_mv | Stellenbosch University |
| description | Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2023. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/127134 |
| institution | Stellenbosch University (South Africa) |
| language | en_ZA |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:40:58.109Z |
| license_str | Other — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | SUNScholar — Stellenbosch University Repository |
| spelling | oai:scholar.sun.ac.za:10019.1/127134 Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith Costandius, Elmarie Stellenbosch University. Faculty of Arts and Social Sciences. Dept. of Visual Arts. Coloured people (South Africa)-- Race identity Coloured people -- Namibia -- Race identity Material culture -- South Africa -- Western Cape Material culture -- Namibia -- Rehoboth Assemblage (Art) Art, Modern -- 20th century Cultural property Cabinets of curiosities Art -- Private collections UCTD Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2023. ENGLISH ABSTRACT: In South Africa, coloured identities have been viewed from essentialist and instrumentalist perspectives. As a ‘group’, people racially categorised as coloured, hold a multiplicity of identities that share histories of enslavement, forced removals and various degrees of enforced reification. In this study, I propose that theoretically and practically, cultural creolisation provides a useful alternative from which to explore the complexities that exist within the life histories of people categorised as coloured. Instead of primarily focusing on peoples’ life histories, this study also considers the material dimensions of coloured identities. The exploration makes a case for creolisation being a flexible conceptual tool that is directly comparable to processes of bricolage - the experimentation with various material and cultural elements, to form assemblages. This is a practice I utilise in my artistic practice where I make use of found materials, that reflect the visual cultures I grew up with in Namibia and South Africa, to form sculptural assemblages. From this (semi)autoethnographic perspective, I position the material nature of the investigated objects as having embedded biographies and agency. I have focused on two fieldwork sites: Rehoboth in Namibia and Stellenbosch, with a focus on Cloetesville and Idas Valley, in South Africa. Both sites have a personal bearing on how I have made sense of my imposed coloured racial signifier. I look at both sites as places that have experienced some form of dislocation and how the people living in these locations have been categorised as coloured at various points in their histories. In particular, I investigated object-centred biographies present in select homes of residents in Rehoboth, Cloetesville and Idas Valley to identify how objects can symbolise identity formation and memory in unstable places. I focused on eight residents’ life stories and home possessions to determine the similarities and differences in their biographies and the material culture represented in their living rooms. The data were compared to determine how residents’ biographies and subsequently their material belongings related to contemporary theories about creolisation and coloured identity formation in a Southern African context. From this qualitative enquiry, I found that residents’ homes were a central object to their sense of belonging, with the sub-themes such as home/land, home ownerships (placement and displacement) and home extensions being identified as key concerns. I found that display cabinets became visual storytelling mechanisms from which residents could arrange and display the intimate and public biographical details of their lives and how this pertains to a larger construction of coloured identities in each localised area. Display cabinets were also identified as symbols of respectability and resistance. From a micro perspective, biographical objects, with the subthemes genealogies, status objects and nostalgic objects, were identified as individualising residents’ life stories and consequently their construction of self. Using a narrative approach assisted in unlocking details concerning the display objects found in these cabinets and an understanding of how display cabinets contributed to a particular material visualisation and visual pattern of each group and individual’s identity formation. AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: In Suid-Afrika is ‘coloured’ identiteite vanuit essensialistiese en instrumentalistiese perspektiewe beskou. As ‘n ‘groep’ mense , wat rasgewys as ‘coloured’ gekategoriseer is, deel hulle ‘n verskeidenheid van identiteite wat geskiedenisse van slawerny, gedwonge verwyderings en verskeie grade van gedwonge reifikasie behels. In hierdie studie stel ek voor dat kulturele kreolisering, teoreties en prakties, ‘n nuttige alternatief bied om die kompleksiteite wat binne die lewensgeskiedenis van mense wat as ‘coloured’ gekategoriseer is, te verken. In plaas daarvan om hoofsaaklik op mense se lewensgeskiedenis te fokus, oorweeg hierdie studie ook die materiële dimensies van ‘coloured’ identiteite. Die verkenning maak ‘n saak daarvuit dat kreolisering ‘n buigsame konseptuele instrument is wat direk vergelykbaar is met prosesse van ‘bricolage’ - die eksperimentering met verskeie materiële en kulturele elemente, om samestellings te vorm. Dit is ‘n praktyk wat ek in my kunspraktyk gebruik, waar ek van gevonde materiaal gebruik maak om die visuele kulture waarmee ek in Namibië en Suid-Afrika grootgeword het, te weerspieël om beeldhouwerksamestellings te vorm. Vanuit hierdie (semi) outo-etnografiese perspektief, posisioneer ek die materiële aard van die ondersoekte objekte as ingebedde biografieë en agentskap. Ek het op twee veldwerkterreine gefokus: Rehoboth in Namibië en Stellenbosch, met ‘n fokus op Cloetesville en Idasvallei, in Suid-Afrika. Albei lokale het ‘n persoonlike invloed op hoe ek sin gemaak het van my opgelegde ‘coloured’ aanwyser. Ek kyk na beide terreine as plekke wat een of ander vorm van ontwrigting ervaar het en hoe die mense wat op hierdie plekke woon, op verskeie oomblikke in hul geskiedenis as ‘coloured’ gekategoriseer is. Ek het veral objekgesentreerde biografieë wat teenwoordig was in geselekteerde huise van inwoners in Rehoboth, Cloetesville en Idasvallei ondersoek om te identifiseer hoe voorwerpe identiteitsvorming en geheue in onstabiele plekke kan simboliseer. Ek het op agt inwoners se lewensverhale en huisbesittings gefokus om die ooreenkomste en verskille in hul biografieë en die materiële kultuur wat in hul sitkamers verteenwoordig word, te bepaal. Die data is vergelyk om te bepaal hoe inwoners se biografieë en vervolgens hul materiële besittings verband hou met kontemporêre teorieë oor kreolisering en ‘coloured’ identiteitsvorming in ‘n Suider-Afrikaanse konteks. Uit hierdie kwalitatiewe ondersoek het ek gevind dat inwoners se huise ‘n sentrale objek tot hul gevoel van behoort was, met die subtemas soos huis/ grond, huiseienaarskap (plasing en misplasing) en huisuitbreidings wat as sleutelkwessies geïdentifiseer is. Ek het gevind dat vertoonkaste visuele storievertelmeganismes geword het, waaruit inwoners die intieme en publieke biografiese besonderhede van hul lewens kon rangskik en vertoon en hoe dit verband hou met ‘n groter konstruksie van ‘coloured’ identiteite in elke gelokaliseerde area. Vertoonkaste is ook geïdentifiseer as simbole van ordentlikheid en weerstand. Vanuit ‘n mikroperspektief is biografiese objekte, met die subtemas geslagsregisters, statusobjekte en nostalgiese objekte, geïdentifiseer as individualiserende van inwoners se lewensverhale en gevolglik hul selfkonstruksie. Die gebruik van ‘n narratiewe benadering het gehelp om besonderhede rakende die vertoonvoorwerpe wat in hierdie kaste gevind word, te ontsluit en ‘n begrip van hoe vertoonkaste bygedra het tot ‘n bepaalde materiële visualisering en visuele patroon van elke groep en individu se identiteitsvorming Doctoral 2023-03-06T05:15:56Z 2023-05-18T07:05:57Z 2023-03-06T05:15:56Z 2023-05-18T07:05:57Z 2023-03 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/127134 en_ZA Stellenbosch University xi, 203 pages : illustrations application/pdf |
| spellingShingle | Coloured people (South Africa)-- Race identity Coloured people -- Namibia -- Race identity Material culture -- South Africa -- Western Cape Material culture -- Namibia -- Rehoboth Assemblage (Art) Art, Modern -- 20th century Cultural property Cabinets of curiosities Art -- Private collections UCTD Huigen-Conradie, Stephane Edith Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title | Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title_full | Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title_fullStr | Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title_full_unstemmed | Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title_short | Creolised objects: A study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| title_sort | creolised objects a study of material culture as marker of coloured identity |
| topic | Coloured people (South Africa)-- Race identity Coloured people -- Namibia -- Race identity Material culture -- South Africa -- Western Cape Material culture -- Namibia -- Rehoboth Assemblage (Art) Art, Modern -- 20th century Cultural property Cabinets of curiosities Art -- Private collections UCTD |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/10019.1/127134 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT huigenconradiestephaneedith creolisedobjectsastudyofmaterialcultureasmarkerofcolouredidentity |