Liberation Through Language: Kaaps-Speakers, Bible Translation, and Identity Creation

A people-group that has ‘hung in the balance’ in South Africa is the Coloured community. They have battled to find their identity, being told they are not black enough nor white enough and don’t speak ‘proper Afrikaans’. The majority speak Kaaps, which is the original language spoken by those living and working in the Cape during the time of the Dutch and British colonial era. For over a century, it has been considered to be just a ‘variant’ of Afrikaans and one that is denigrated in many contexts. But now, with Bible translation beginning in Kaaps, they are discovering that their speech-form has a richness of expression to capture the profundity of the biblical text. They are also rediscovering the roots of Kaaps and its contribution to South African history. This enables them to reclaim their identity and find liberation from a sense of inferiority. In this chapter, the history of Kaaps and the present situation of its speakers are described. Then, the work of various activists (including Coloured writers, academics, and performing artists) is reviewed. These initiatives all seek to redress the faulty identity that plagues the lives of many Coloured people. The contributions of various artistic endeavours (including several stage-productions) are assessed for their contribution to an emerging identity spurred by a reclaiming of the creative resource of their language. The author is part of a team of Bible-translators working with Kaaps-speakers in Cape Town. Through social media and the Alive in Kaaps productions, the team’s work is becoming known. This chapter seeks to share the impact of having biblical text in Kaaps (which has been checked by qualified consultants). It indicates the power of reclaiming one’s language in the most sacred of domains to affirm the worthiness of its speakers.