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

y others, while that individual or group does not express such an identity.
What one expresses does not always mean that others observe it in that
way. Rehana Ebr.-Vally argues that “identities formation is a two way
dynamic process in which the presence of the other is an essential
component” 59 . In this case, obvious identity markers such as race, gender,
age and class apply here. For instance, for someone to express his/her
identity as Black, somewhere there must be a White identity as opposed to
the Black one expressed.
On this point, Jenkins argues that what people think about us is no less
important than what we think about ourselves 60 . Identity must also be
validated (or not) by those with whom we have dealings. Identity is never
unilateral. Although people have (some) control over signals about
themselves which they send to others, we are all at a disadvantage in that
we cannot ensure either their correct reception or interpretation, or know
how they are received or interpreted. Hence the importance of what
Goffman (1969) calls “impression management strategies” in which
individuals consciously pursue goals seeking to “be” – and to be “seen to
be” – “something” or “somebody”, to assume successfully particular social
identities 61 . Not only do we identify ourselves, of course, but we also identify
59 R. Ebr.-Vally , Kala Pani. Caste and Colour in South Africa, p. 28.
60 R. Jenkins, Social Identity, p. 21.
61 Ibid, p. 22.
58