Negotiating Identity In-Between 2

My move to what was then the University of Port Elizabeth – two years before our first democratic elections in 1994 – would see me become part of a truly South African, multi-cultural institution. Visits to and extended stays in both The Netherlands (my linguistic roots) and Germany (my ancestral roots), in fact, reinforced my African identity. I have no other mother.

The involvement with Sharing Cultures Project was in many ways a "back to the roots" experience for me: I understood the challenge of a second language speaker in an English environment and could – with my students – revel in the text by Rodriques on a Spanish speaker in America. The exposure to such a rich variety of cultures in the virtual reality of the Internet called forth negotiating an identity whilst "living-in-between."

At a very deep level, I was confirmed by my students in this journey to a negotiated me: They bestowed the honour of an indigenous Xhosa name upon me: "Nwabisa," meaning "you make us happy." For me, this name was the final acceptance and filled me with a deep sense of homecoming and belonging. Elize Nwabisa Roodt. This is who I am.

I also observed changes in "white" South African students who previously lived under the impression that their lifestyle did not represent one possibility amongst many, and who assumed that their lifestyle is the secret ideal for many. They started to realise: I am relative to and not above others. "I now know I also have a culture," wrote one.