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Another theoretical argument is that cultural, social and political contexts are
decisive when it comes to identity 76 . This is mainly because these three
aspects are important in each society, hence they are decisive as far as
identities creation is concerned. On this theoretical aspect of identity
formation, Dolby [1999] and Swain [2002] refer to the role of popular culture,
especially regarding the youth. Dolby argues that among the youth, music
tends to take on racial characteristics 77 . D. Posel singles out race as a
significant identity marker with a model referred to as “race as a common
sense” 78 . Here race, as a cultural aspect, is given prominence in identity
creation over other identity markers, especially by the South African authors
precisely because race has been a hotly contested and debated issue in
this country.
On this issue Asante-Darko (2002) explores the range of conceptual and
empirical implications of the manner in which space or nature or
environment affects socio-political identities. The author argues that space,
rather than race, class or language, is the ultimate determinant of identity 79 .
76 M. Castells, “Globalisation, Identity…”, p. 5.
77 N. Dolby, Youth and the Global Popular: The Politics of Practices and Race in South Africa”.
European Journal of Cultural Studies, 2(3), p. 11.
78 D. Posel, “Race as a Common Sense: Racial Classification in the Twentieth Century South
Africa”. African Studies Review, 44 (2), p. 50.
79 K. Asante-Darko, “Ecocriticism and the poetics of multiple identities”, Region, Nation, Identity:
The Ninth International Conference on the Literature of Region and Nation, 30 July – 2 August
2002, Durban, South Africa.
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