Rainbow nation is a term coined by Archbishop Desmond Tutu to describe post-apartheid South Africa, after South Africa's first fully democratic election in 1994.
The phrase was elaborated upon by President Nelson Mandela in his first month of office, when he proclaimed: "Each of us is as intimately attached to the soil of this beautiful country as are the famous jacaranda trees of Pretoria and the mimosa trees of the bushveld - a rainbow nation at peace with itself and the world.."
Video Rainbow nation
Symbolic identity
The term was intended to encapsulate the unity of multi-culturalism and the coming-together of people of many different nations, in a country once identified with the strict division of white and black.
In a series of televised appearances, Tutu spoke of the "Rainbow People of God". As a cleric, this metaphor drew upon the Old Testament story of Noah's Flood, and its ensuing rainbow of peace. Within South African indigenous cultures, the rainbow is associated with hope and a bright future (as in Xhosa culture).
The secondary metaphor the rainbow allows is more political. Unlike the primary metaphor, the room for different cultural interpretations of the colour spectrum is slight. Whether the rainbow has Newton's seven colours, or five of the Nguni (i.e., Xhosa and Zulu) cosmology, the colours are not taken literally to represent particular cultural groups.
Maps Rainbow nation
Rainbow influence
Rainbow nation, as a spoken metaphor for South African unity is uniquely (although not deliberately) represented by the South African flag, which sports 6 different colours.
Rainbowism
South African political commentators have been known to speculate on "rainbowism", whereby true domestic issues such as the legacy of racism, crime, and the like are glossed over and "sugar-coated" by the cover of rainbow peace. South African politician, academic, and noted poet Jeremy Cronin cautions:
See also
- Proudly South African
- Rainbow Nation Peace Ritual
- Nation building
- Multiculturalism
- Rainbow Family of Living Light
- Rainbow flag
References
External links
- Identity and Nation building in post-Apartheid South Africa
- Myth of the Rainbow Nation
Source of the article : Wikipedia
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