Interpretation of Data
4.3 Analysis of Interviews
4.3.7 Conclusions
The subjects in the interviews constructed themselves in various ways, depending on how they reacted to issues in the various discourses that were raised. There is strong evidence of interdiscursive conflict between the home and the school, especially where parental discipline and guidance is lacking. What follows is a synopsis of selected subjects who symbolise some of the most important findings in the interviews.
Jackie (Interview 1) is a young woman who looks for validation and a sense of belonging in activities with her friends, despite the disapproval of her mother who appears helpless to change the actions of her daughter. What is particularly disturbing is the lack of vision and foresight, which Jackie reveals. She admits to doing wrong, she confesses to having an ambition, but she cannot put these admissions into any proactive planning to transform her current sense of instability into a sense of self which has purpose and direction.
Judy (Interview 2), on the other hand, is positioned as a lonely, cynical young woman who has no faith in anything that she herself cannot control. Despite her academic achievements, she has no self-esteem, lacks confidence and feels inferior to her peers.
Her parents' failure to support herself and her siblings is the main reason for this.
Added to this is the embarrassment and humiliation she feels concerning their alcoholism. All this has colluded to create a young woman who has not developed holistically. The importance of a supportive family environment is indicated yet again. In this case, the subject seeks escape from her parents through her studies.
Yet even here, her success does not help her to construct a positive sense of self - instead it is just a vehicle to escape from the drudgery of poverty and alcoholism created by her parents. She is different from lackie in the sense that she has the insight to realise that her medium of escape is important since it could impact on her quality of life in the future.
Nolan (Interview 3) positions himself powerfully in the discourse of the gangs, while avowing that he is not a gangster. His relationship with powerful gang members is what helps him to be constructed as a respected person by his peers at school. He acknowledges that this relationship would be frowned upon by the school
authorities, who would not understand it and would definitely not allow him to articulate his gangster identity within the parameters of the school. He has learnt to adapt to the different discourses in which he participates: at school, he is quiet and charming; at home he is a loving son and uncle, and is devoted to his pitbulls (this in itself reveals his desire to go against convention and be in control of what is regarded by most people as dangerous), but within the context of the gangs, he is treated with respect and deference. He cleverly ensures that he does not participate in drug abuse, realising that this will place him in a position of vulnerability. lames admits that Nolan "is a leader, not a follower". He represents a multiplicity of selves, and appears comfortable with the ways in which he positions himself in different contexts.
lames, on the other hand, is completely dominated by the discourse of gangsterism.
He is constantly teased by Nolan about his drug habits, and the fact that he will not be able to stop drugging. He is a follower, unlike Nolan. He attempts to
reinterpret the word 'gang' into something more positive, such as 'friends', but is unable to hold his own against Nolan who proves that lames' group is indeed a gang,
since they come to each other's defence when there is a fight. Furthermore, lames also positions the discourse of the school as other, since many of its conventions demand financial commitments, which he is unable to acquiesce to because of a lack of money at home. He is constructed as a sensitive young man who "would die" for his nephew, yet is unable to control his desire to smoke dagga constantly. This dependency places him in a position of weakness as far as Nolan is concerned. In addition, his inability to accede to some of the financial requests of teachers at school weakens his sense of self even more.
Damien's identity is a site of struggle. His obsession with race and cultural identity indicates a subject who is deeply engaged in the search for a sense of belonging. His shame at having an African mother who is uneducated overpowers him, and is a source of deep conflict within a young man who prefers to be Coloured, but rejects the connotations that come with this identity. He places himselfin a marginalised position, but cannot transform his insecurity into a powerful construction of identity or a place of resistance, unlike Tamara who unequivocally states that "It's your ability" that determines your success, and rejects any limitations which others might construe as part of Coloured identity. He is in a state of'in-betweeness"(Rutherford, 1990: 25), and it is only by continuing with this personal struggle through all the stages until he reaches resolution, and creates new and multiple ways of being that he will be able to escape from this 'indeterminate state of hybridity' (Rutherford, 1990: 25).
All the subjects in the interviews are engaged in a struggle for voice (Williams, 1977 in: Rutherford, 1990: 22) in the discourses of the home, school and friends or gangs.
They all achieve varying degrees of success or failure at mastery of one or more discourses, but it is clear that the discourse of the home has a powerful impact on the level of success that is achieved in the secondary discourses. Jackie, Judy, James and Damien project a sense of displacement, moving from one discourse to another with no firm conviction of belonging or empowerment in any of the discourses studied in this research. They, more than any of the others, symbolise what Mako meant when he referred to ghosts between two fires: they present themselves as insubstantial beings desperately trying to cling on to anything that will give them a sense of belonging, of coming home. Those who have achieved substance and a sense of belonging - Carol and George to some extent, the three young women in Interview 5, and more especially Tamara - reveal that their interaction in the discursive practices of the home has rooted them firmly in their construction of identity. The success of their enculturation in this primary Discourse permeates the nature of their
participation in the secondary Discourses of the school and friendship. They are projected as actively attempting to construct their identities in ways that are empowering and validating.