This book is published as part of the Multilingual Matters ‘Encounters’ series, which explores diversity in language from theoretical and applied perspectives. The author focuses on the life histories of four white South African men—George, Riaan, Brendon and Ernie—to study how they became fluent in the isiXhosa language during their youth, and the effects this had on their identity in the context of the complicated race and power relations of South African society (p. xvii). Chapters 1 and 2 constitute Part 1 and chapters 3 to 7 constitute Part 2.
In chapter 1, the author investigates the sociohistorical context of the four subjects, all of whom are descended from members of the earliest groups of white settlers in the province of Eastern Cape, where isiXhosa is spoken by around 80% of the population and Afrikaans by around 10% (Census 2011).
Chapter 2 outlines relevant theories of language acquisition and identity, describes research methodologies used by the author and provides background information on several theories referenced in her analysis of the subjects' life narratives (presented in part 2).
Chapter 3 scrutinises the childhood narratives of the four men from a second language acquisition (SLA) perspective in order to identify changes in identity during the process of acquiring the isiXhosa language through interaction with native speakers.
Chapter 4 examines the subjects' accounts of their traditional rites of passage into manhood, such as entering university and enlisting in the military, and focuses on the ways their fluency in isiXhosa influenced their development and eventual life choices.
Chapter 5 investigates how language ability influences the men's choice of professional direction in their adult lives: technical (George), academic (Brendon), commercial (Ernie), and agricultural (Riaan). In analysing the men's narratives, the author identifies four types of discourse: deconstructing discourse, discipline discourse, enlightened discourse, and discourses of the margins (which is subdivided into broker discourse and ambivalent discourse). The author concludes that while the men's fluency in isiXhosa—together with their social privilege as whites—enabled them to play valuable roles in society, it also presented challenges and was occasionally a source of conflict.
In chapters 3 to 5, Botha follows the four subjects' histories chronologically. In chapter 6, however, the author organises data around the theme of space (geographical, political, social, and personal) in order to study instances in which these men positioned themselves—and thereby constructed their identity—as they moved through the ‘spaces’ of apartheid and postapartheid South Africa.
Chapter 7 summarises the findings described in the previous chapters and presents insights derived through the study's framework for discourse analysis.
This book will be of interest to students, teachers, and researchers investigating the relationship of language acquisition to identity construction, and to readers interested in the subjects of South African history, multilingualism, and race studies (p. xix).
