아프리카ㆍ중동

Afrikaans language politics has always been in a close relationship with the socio-political situation in South Africa. This paper discusses how Afrikaans (one of the official languages in South Africa) plays a role of a political agency for the re-positioning of Afrikaner identity in the new historical chapter of post-Apartheid South Africa. It is significant to discuss various case studies of socio-cultural phenomena where we could observe the politics of Afrikaans language and of Afrikaner identity in the multicultural context since 1990. Since 1652 the relationship between Afrikaans language politics and Afrikaner identity has developed according to the historical and socio-political situations. Under British colonial rule and during the Anglo-Boer War Afrikaans was an important medium for constructing the Afrikaner identity. Since 1994, under the new political atmosphere, the Afrikaners are trying to re-position their language- and ethnic identity. In this study, prosperous Afrikaans festivals, debates on the medium of instruction at the historical Afrikaans universities, De la Rey phenomenon, publications like 'Annelike Afrikaans', or attitudes of Afrikaans media and writers prove this. The socio-political condition of a society is inseparable from the national/ethnical identity, and again the naitonal/ethnical identity is closely related to the politics of language. According to this study, an expanding multicultural phenomena in South Africa goes with a strong will to preserve the Afrikaner identity. Facing multiculturalism on the one hand, and keeping their own identity on the other, is a dilemma for which Afrikaners should find a way to solve.