Manning the braai : tracing the gendering of the braai in public discourse

Abstract

This research looks at the gendered nature of the braai that is reflected in public discourse. With the understanding of how food works as a medium of communication, thus possessing the ability to represent identity, ethnicity, class, nationality culture and gender, this research uses discourse analysis, analysing both textual and visual sources to explore how discourse around the braai gives it socio-cultural significance. This approach recognises language as a dynamic tool of social interaction. As such the study examines how discourses within text and images as well as cultural practices reveal broader societal structures. This study argues that the braai is ontologically masculine through an analysis of elements such as the outdoors, leisure, and meat consumption, positioning the braai as a gendered leisure activity. Tracing the evolution of the braai in heritage discourses, by situating it within post-apartheid nation building efforts, the research looks at the masculinisation of the braai through heritage discourse highlighting how this reconstructs and affirms masculinised national identities. A critical part of this research addresses the tension between Heritage Day and Braai Day by investigating the social and cultural emergence of the braai and how its social and cultural emergence, challenges and undermines social cohesion in South Africa. The marginalisation of women within the conceptualisation of the braai as heritage challenges the notion of the braai as common cultural heritage undermining the braai’s positioning as a unifying cultural icon in post-1994 South Africa. This research seeks to contribute to the understanding of how cultural practices and the discourses surrounding these practices influence gendered identities, social cohesion, and nation-building efforts in post-apartheid South Africa.