Microsoft Word - PhD Thesis Final.pdf - University of Limpopo ...

contested, negotiable and constructed character of identities, in short, to
help draw our attention to it as an ongoing process of self-making and
dialogue (Hall 1992; Gilroy 1997; and Melucci 1997). When we discover our
culture as one among several cultures, we may, as Paul Ricoeur once
noted, realise the possibility that there are just “others”, that we ourselves
are an “other” among “others” (Ricoer 1965).
Expression and observation of identity
Another aspect on identities debate, which is closely related to the above
points, is that identities can be expressed, observed, perceived,
conceptualised, or denied. In other words, identities may be expressed by
an individual or a group out of choice. People have a tendency to express
what they think and feel they are. The example of such expressed identity is
when people prefer to be called Africans, rather than Blacks, and vice versa,
for instance. On the other hand, identities of a particular group or individual
may be observed by others, without necessarily being expressed by the
identified group. For instance, an individual or group may be called African
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