Taal en kulturele identiteit in Adam Small se poësie: ’n Fokus op Kitaar my kruis (1961) en Klawerjas (2013)

Abstract

This study examines how Adam Small employs language and cultural references in Kitaar my kruis (1961) and Klawerjas (2013) to construct and negotiate cultural identity within marginalised communities. Small’s poetry is analysed as a site of epistemic resistance in which Kaaps Afrikaans operates as a legitimate linguistic, cultural, and philosophical code. The research demonstrates that Small’s poetic subject is multiple, historically situated, and liminal, moving continuously between personal experience, collective memory, and socio-political critique. The thesis draws on postcolonial theory (Bhabha, 1994; Said, 1994; Spivak, 1988), intersectionality (Crenshaw, 1989), sociolinguistics, and the Cultural-Historical Activity Theory (Vygotsky, 1978) to provide an integrated framework for analysing language as a vehicle of identity, power relations, and communal practice. Small’s use of Kaaps Afrikaans is interpreted as an act of “epistemic disobedience” (Mignolo, 2009), through which dominant hegemonic knowledge structures are challenged and alternative epistemologies emerge. The study highlights how his poetry constructs spaces where Coloured identity is reclaimed, reimagined, and critically interrogated. Through close textual analysis of selected poems from both collections, the thesis illustrates how rhythm, register, symbolism, and narrative operate as mechanisms of resistance and cultural self-definition. Comparative analysis between the 1961 and 2013 collections underscores the development of Small’s philosophical insights, his sustained commitment to community issues, and the shifting socio-political landscape of apartheid and post-apartheid South Africa. The study concludes that Small’s poetic oeuvre makes a significant contribution to Afrikaans literature by transforming language into a tool of liberation, recognition, and cultural agency. Ultimately, Small’s poetry functions as an alternative cultural archive that preserves and amplifies the voices, worldviews, and lived realities of marginalised communities.