Heritage Portfolio Task Rainbow Nation Cultural Studies Essay Free Essay Example

The apartheid authorities believed that South Africa should be represented preponderantly by the beliefs and civilizations of the white race group, decreasing the others. Tutu ‘s address straight challenges this by stating that the South African state is a rainbow state, with its national individuality affecting the different civilizations, faiths and beliefs of any and every group. This goes against the apartheid belief of a white supremacist province, stating that South Africa is a place to a diverse population, all of which portion equal rights.

It clearly states that, as a rainbow state, South Africa embraces diverseness in any signifier, whether it is racial, cultural, spiritual or cultural. This means that anyone can be anything they desire and still be considered an equal citizen with equal rights. At the same clip, nevertheless, it says that the states people will beat up together against any resistance, united by the common apprehension that we are all South Africans. This one common tableland is what makes South Africa a incorporate state, while at the same clip observing its diverseness in its people.

No, he says the something wholly different. He clearly says that different cultural groups must be, but that there must be a common and common tolerance and regard for each group. This differences in society demand to stay, and a adult male ‘s positions must remain integral, but people need to understand that we all autumn under the rubric of South African, and it is this that will unify us and do us a peaceable and tolerant state.

If this apprehension can be spread, harmonizing to Sparks, this is what will animate our national individuality.

‘Rainbow state ‘ is the construct that South Africa accepts all races and beliefs, sing them as equal under a legal fundamental law, therefore doing South Africa a state of many colorss, with the individuality of a diverse state, i.e. a “ rainbow ” state.

‘Mosaic society ‘ is a metaphor that compares the national individuality of South Africa with a mosaic, a piece of art ( normally a image ) made up of many otherwise shaped and coloured pieces of slate, slotted together. In the same manner, each different civilization, belief, faith, ethnicity, etc. must be accepted as portion of society, but be separate from other groups ( like the slate pieces ) .

‘Melting pot ‘ refers to the antonym of what is considered to be the national individuality. It suggests that like a pot in which ingredients are melted together into one entity, so is the South African society brining in its diverse people to be “ melted ” together to go the same, with the same beliefs and apprehensions.

Harmonizing to Source C, the hope was that a new South Africa would convey about racial integrating and the enjoyment of wealth by all, as seen by looking at the image provided by the advertizement. This is clearly a false representation of world, as today it is good known that those who were oppressed by apartheid ( chiefly black people, but besides Indians and colored people ) found it difficult to retrieve in footings of instruction and finance after apartheid ended, ensuing in the persisting divides we see in this state today, in which the huge bulk of affluent people are white and hence unrecorded offprint from the economically underprivileged. This proves that the thought of a national individuality provided by the beginning is wholly unreal. Source D besides explains to us an of import fact ; that the divides created by apartheid, across faith, race, ethnicity and gender, intend that people experient really different ways of life during the apartheid epoch. These differences and divided experiences are non something that can be broken down over old ages, allow entirely over dark, ensuing in what has antecedently been explained as different groups preferring to be in their ain comfort zones of society, doing the impression of a national individuality about absurd. Finally, Source E shows us that the construct of a national individuality is one that belongs to the “ starry-eyed dreamers ” , i.e. non something that could go on in world. It besides provides another return on this, by proposing that South Africa was ne’er truly a incorporate state, but instead the merchandise of 100s of old ages of colonialism, significance that because this land was influenced so drastically by the external imperial powers, that the groups and societal divides created by this influence resulted in the present thought of a incorporate and chauvinistic South Africa being non-existent.

A national symbol demands to be at least one of the undermentioned three things. First, it must be created from the Black Marias of the people, from something that they feel strongly about and can therefore rally behind. Second, it needs to be created with respect to the experiences and agony of those it will stand for, as people who need to endorse this symbol must experience that it stands for everything they have gone through in order to do it possible to hold such a symbol. Last, it must be something that people identify with, something easy recognizable and universally accepted so as to appeal to a diverse population.

I would back up the 3rd attack, which says that a national symbol should be something that every individual can place with to the full, as this encompasses the other two attacks. In order for person to place with a representational symbol, they must accept it into their Black Marias, as it needs to be something that they feel close to and that reaches them on a emotional and personal degree, while still standing for their political persuasion. Equally good as this, it needs to be something that represents the experiences and enduring that one has been through in order to see the creative activity of the symbol itself. This means that it must make them on an external, physical degree, every bit good as a personal 1. Therefore, we understand that in order for something to be identifiable to a individual, it needs to embrace all the three attacks mentioned above, which are brought together by the 3rd attack.

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The fact that Thabo Mbeki implies that every group in our culturally diverse state stems from the same beginning and should hence hold the same belief and apprehension of a national individuality that represents every South African. This is most decidedly non the instance, and therefore wholly idealistic. To claim that every black adult male and adult females has the same reading of what it means to be South Africa as the mean white South African is absurd, as the formative experiences of these different groups during both the apartheid and post-apartheid epoch ‘s are, the huge bulk of the clip, wholly different. This idealistic and inflated tone of the address besides emphasises its forced nature. It about seems as if he is seeking to convert both himself and others of his “ preferred ” world instead than confirm what the true world.

This address was made during the creative activity of the South African Constitution, widely considered to be the best in the universe on an idealistic degree, while being hard to continue in practise. This means that the address fits with the fundamental law in footings of the belief that all South Africans feel united by the common nationhood, but besides falls in line with the fundamental law in footings of being unrealistic. In other words, the context of the address emphasises the idealistic nature of the content.

It reveals that heritage is constructed from the history. While history is the historical fact of what happened and how it happened, heritage is non as heterosexual. It is built on the footing of history, but on a more subjective and interpretative degree. An illustration is given by the address, by how Thabo Mbeki chose to utilize certain historical facts as a foundation for his building of a alleged common South African heritage, besides connoting that heritage can be about pick, what you want to be and how you want it to be. Therefore, while history is about the digest of factual events, heritage is about the creative activity of what we feel represents us from our yesteryear.

Beginning K suggests that the job with the usage of the term “ African ” as a signifier of national individuality is that cipher seems to cognize what they it genuinely stands for, whether its inkinesss, people born in Africa or those committed to the African continent. This is a good identified job, as it is non possible to utilize a term to unite a state when one can non clearly define those who the term represents. It is non possible to let anyone to make a definition, neither a individual nor a authorities, as this may conflict with the definition of another individual or group and it will be impossible to compromise. It hence stands to ground that Source L should convey up the statement that those who choose to confer Africanness on others are out of topographic point and should foremost seek to come to footings with what it means before labelling it as an honorary rubric and utilizing it to make a national individuality. It besides brings up the fact that the continual usage of the term as a agency of national designation will merely take to farther confusion of those who do n’t understand its significance ( if any ) .

If we look at the vacations celebrated during the apartheid twelvemonth of 1986, we clearly see that they are preponderantly white/Afrikaner, Christian holidays. There is nil that celebrates any sort of equality or democracy, nil to mark the anti-apartheid battle. However, when we look at post-apartheid 1996, we instantly see the alteration. There are now yearss that celebrate human rights, freedom, workers, adult females, heritage, etc. and yearss such as 16 June that remember those who died to convey about the terminal of apartheid. Therefore, the types of vacations celebrated changed drastically over the decennaries, between 1986 and 1996.

The alteration in vacations shown between 1986 and 1996 besides shows us the alteration in national individuality in South Africa. The individuality starts in 1986 being clearly white, Christian, Afrikaner, advancing merely the beliefs that one would anticipate from such a individual. This shows the narrowness of the apartheid individuality, which neglects the civilizations and rights of other racial, spiritual and cultural groups. Then in 1996, it changes to integrate the jubilation in adult females ‘s rights, freedom, human rights, workers rights, etc. hence demoing us a more diverse cultural, spiritual and political individuality that fits closer with the post-apartheid South Africa.

The twenty-four hours that most resembles independence twenty-four hours from 1986 is Republic Day, as this celebrate the twenty-four hours South Africa became a democracy and therefore a independent state, and from 1996 is Freedom Day, a jubilation of South Africa ‘s first non-racial elections and therefore of a new sort of release and independency emerging, every bit good as a new South African individuality. Therefore, we can state that the most of import thing, the one facet that has been preserved over the decennary, is the feeling of independency from external forces, whether it is your ain authorities or that of another state.

The eight episodes referenced refer to polar countries of South Africa ‘s history. They are all struggles which shaped the nature of the hereafter South Africa and as such demand to be given a topographic point in the celebrating of a “ freedom ” that is supposed to be at the nucleus of modern South Africa. Their commonalty is illustrated by the fact that each one of these events is characterised by force stemming from unfairness of one kind or another, be it racially charged as in Genocide and bondage or politically and nationalistically motivated as in the Anglo-Boer and universe Wars. In each of these there is the battle for freedom from some threatened or existent signifier of repression. They differ in the nature of their fights- some are internal battles for freedom spliting people within borders- Slavery, Wars of opposition, The battle for release and some are external, normally uniting different people within the state against a common enemy as in the World Wars. Together they represent an chance to draw people together by animating a common sense of pride and individuality by underscoring that the state as a whole has defeated so many signifiers of ferociousness and repression to finally derive it ‘s freedom and as such the freedom of each and every one of its citizens across all cultural barriers.

The Freedom park was created for one specific intent, as stated in the beginning: to assist South Africans reconnect with the lost liquors that died in war, who fell for South Africa, in the manner that their civilization dictates, i.e. a land for the common regard of the dead by all South Africans, irrespective of cultural belief. Therefore, harmonizing to the logic provided by the beginning, it stands to ground that such a topographic point would be perceived to play an of import portion in the Restoration and greening of the autochthonal, South African civilizations that were diminished by the apartheid country, non to advert assisting to reconstruct the Bridgess between civilization burnt off during the long old ages of apartheid separation.

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The 2 beginnings discuss the intent of Freedom Park, that is the demand to make a topographic point of recollection which will let people to retrieve the fallen, those that have shaped the state, and hence animate a deeper feeling of committedness to constructing it in the hereafter. In making this they show how priceless it is to dig into the complex cultural belief systems of different groups within the state. If one honours these suitably e.g. by painstakingly leting the visiting of the topographic points of decease and transporting out relevant rites and hence guaranting the return of the liquors of dead battlers, the experience of the life is resolved and completed and their ability to hold a positive mentality on a South African hereafter restored. It is hence critical that one have a deep apprehension and sensitiveness towards each different groups peculiar apprehension and rites environing decease and recollection, as if you validate and honour these separately you allow each group self-respect and this will in bend surrogate regard of each other and a common want to construct a state where the hereafter can be shared by all.