Untold Stories of a Group of Black South Africans about the Apartheid Era

Abstract

The aim of this research was to explore the alternative stories of a group of black adults who survived the apartheid years in South Africa. It was surmised that the lives of many of the black adults who experienced the atrocities of the apartheid years, might have been shaped by the dominant stories of hardship, and that alternative stories of survival may not have played as important a role in the shaping of their lives as should have been the case. Nine black participants (males = 7, females = 2, age range = 37 to 62 years) participated in the research project. Qualitative data were collected and analyzed using categorical content narrative analysis. Analysis of the data yielded eight prevalent themes, namely support, religion, role models, education, the “struggle,” culture, positive experiences with white people, and acceptance as aspects of participants' alternative stories.

Keywords:

• Untold stories
• narrative analysis
• apartheid
• South Africa