Ignorance-making in 7de Laan: A Critical Whiteness Studies perspective

ABSTRACT

Steyn (2012, 22) contends that at the heart of societies structured in racial hierarchies, such as South Africa, lies an ‘ignorance contract’ described as a ‘tacit agreement to entertain ignorance’. Building on Kellner’s (1996) assertion that media texts highlight the values, social issues and trends of the context in which they are produced, this article interrogates the manifestation of Steyn’s ‘ignorance contract’ in one form of symbolic expression in the media, namely, the Afrikaans television soap opera 7de Laan. Seen against the background of the South African public service broadcasting’s (PSB) commitment to nation-building, 7de Laan is a rich text to analyse with reference to constructions of whiteness, and the perpetuation of white ignorance. The article conducts a narrative analysis of a sample of 7de Laan episodes focusing on the nature of the community and setting; the use of language; and the treatment of diversity within the theoretical framework of Critical Whiteness Studies (CWS), a discipline working to ‘destabilize the assumptions behind whiteness as a cultural norm’ (Foster 2003, 1) with the ultimate goal of contributing to voluntary, critical engagement with normative white subjectivities.

Keywords:

• ‘ignorance contract’
• Critical Whiteness Studies
• 7de Laan
• soap opera
• public service broadcasting
• South Africa
• television
• whiteness
• identity
• national identity
• representation
• imagined community