Identiteitskonstruksie en die rol van gender in twee outobiografiese tekste

M.A.Language, specifically the narrative use of language, is not only a medium through which people express and understand themselves. Language is the vehicle wherein and whereby personal identity is constituted. Thus, identity is not seen as fixed, but as a product-in-process of narrative discourse.The interrelationship between narrative and personal identity can be observed in a person`s almost inborn urge to mentally reconstruct his lifestory. Narratives supply personal identity with continuity and cohesion. Ricoeur`s description of the instance of “mimesis” – narratives are “mimesis” in the sense of being the representation of an action – is used to explain the construction of two selfnarratives (Griet Swart in Griet skryf `n sprokie and Stoffel Mathysen in Die lang pad van Stoffel Mathysen). Ricoeur`s two “functions” of narrative, i.e. to expose and to transform, are considered. Griet Swart`s narrative identity is constituted by her being situated in a tradition (mimesis 1 ) – that of being writer of fairy-tales as well as reader of literature. Drawing on conventions and prior knowledge, a plot is created (mimesis 2), in which Griet narrates her lifestory. The narration, the perspective on a patriarchal society as well as the continuous redefining of narrative identity by means of the writing process, are examined. The act of writing becomes metaphor for personal freedom. In Die lang pad van Stoffel Mathysen the use of the epic hero figure, travel prose, Western literature, hunting prose and the outobiography are examined in order to understand Mathysen`s narrative construction of personal identity. Both Griet and Mathysen reconfigure personal identity by means of narrative. It is this process of constant change in self-understanding that Ricoeur calls “narrative identity”