Transgressing the urban–rural divide alongside newly identifying Indigenous people in South Africa

Abstract

Rural ways of life are frequently upheld as the pinnacle of Indigenous authenticity. It is often argued that urban-based and newly identifying Indigenous people model their authenticity after these ideals, or, conversely, that they pursue hybridity and Indigenous modernity instead of authenticity. Crucially, however, how and why Indigenous people themselves regard authenticity, rural, and urban as meaningful social constructions and expressions of agency is being overlooked. I propose a new conceptual approach based on ethnographic fieldwork among Khoisan (the Indigenous people of South Africa) revivalists in Cape Town, South Africa, between 2014 and 2022. As an assertion of self-representation, subversive authenticity thrives on intermittently rejecting, reinforcing, and ignoring dominant representations of Indigenous authenticity. This perspective provides new insights on the role of authenticity in processes of Indigenous resurgence and highlights the importance of theorising alongside Indigenous people.