"A Besieged Tribe"?: Nostalgia, White Cultural Identity and the Role of Rugby in a changing South Africa

Abstract

South African society has been in a state of tremendous changes in recent years. These changes have been seen by many whites as a threat to their society and "way of life". South African rugby success through its national team, the Springboks, has been one of the most potent sites for the demonstration of white power and cultural identity. This paper explores actions of white rugby fans on South Africa's return to international rugby against their arch-rivals the New Zealand All Blacks in 1992 in the context of white cultural retreat into nostalgic representations of the past in resisting cultural assimilation within a black dominated new South Africa. For that moment inside the concrete bowl, it seemed like a besieged tribe had gathered to take strength in their numbers and to send, from the protected citadel, a message of defiance to their perceived persecutors. Shaun Johnson, Star, 17 August 1992. Let us, as loyal South Africans, rise in mass and shout loudly and clearly: We love our country, its flag and our national anthem, "Die Stem". We will not be forced by the ANC and its Communist associates into losing our identity. Mrs. M. Severin, Boksburg, Letter to Citizen, 20 August 1992.