Open AccessGang culture, Identity and Kaaps: Using Adam Small’s Krismis van Map Jacobs in Cape Flats schools
Author(s) -
Michael Le Cordeur
Publication year - 2018
Publication title -
multilingual margins
Language(s) - English
Resource type - Journals
eISSN - 2663-4848
pISSN - 2221-4216
DOI - 10.14426/mm.v3i2.44
Subject(s) - drama , sociology , constructivism (international relations) , identity (music) , curriculum , poverty , social constructivism , aesthetics , social science , pedagogy , art , visual arts , law , political science , international relations , politics
In this paper the focus is on the impact of gang culture on schoolchildren. Theresearch question investigated here is whether teaching the drama Krismis van MapJacobs offers any solutions to learners in gang-infested areas, given the framework ofthe Curriculum Assessment Policy Statement (CAPS). Two sub-questions consideredwhether the teaching of the drama should take place in Kaaps and whether the themeof Map Jacobs is still relevant within the CAPS curriculum 30 years after it was writtenby Adam Small. Theoretically, the paper is based on Pierre Boudieu’s (1991) view thata speaker’s ‘position’ in society determines whether he is heard, Bernstein’s (1990) ideathat social interaction influences your relationship with language and Vygotsky’s (1978)theory of social constructivism. The study concludes that a life with gangs provides nosolution for issues like poverty and unemployment, and that the youth should escapefrom a featureless existence through striving for good education and engaging withliterature. The paper is published with the kind permission of the SA Academy forScience and the Arts, as it originally appeared in the book Adam Small: Denker, Digter,Dramaturg; ‘n Huldingingsbundel (2017, SAWK).