Language, expected as core to Afrikaner identity, was instead devalued and distanced from.

Evidence

It surprised us that participants also devalued the cultural importance of the Afrikaans language. Since Afrikaners often use ‘Afrikaans’ as a synonym for ‘Afrikaner’, we expected the language to be central to Afrikaner identity. We were therefore surprised that some participants were eager to distance themselves from the language, or at least from the taalstryd (the struggle for language). — Cornel Verwey and Michael Quayle, Whiteness, racism, and Afrikaner…, 95

Categorization

• QUESTION: Devaluation of the language as a marker — does this track a broader decoupling of ethnolinguistic identity from political grievance after defeat?
• ADDENDUM: Parallel to my other pieces on identity-signaling post-displacement; the language distancing contrasts with dress/scarcity markers that persisted in moral-panic form.
• XREF: connects to: Afrikaner national identity dissolved into existential confusion once political power was lost. — Cornel Verwey and Michael Quayle, Whiteness, racism, and Afrikaner…, 27; Afrikaner grievance identity persisted after displacement by reattaching to whiteness rather than dissolving. — Cornel Verwey and Michael Quayle, Whiteness, racism, and Afrikaner…, 187

Broader Connections

• Afrikaner grievance identity persisted after displacement by reattaching to whiteness rather than dissolving. #qualifies (0.80) — Cornel Verwey and Michael Quayle, Whiteness, racism, and Afrikaner…, 187
• Afrikaner national identity dissolved into existential confusion once political power was lost. #corroborates (0.75) — Cornel Verwey and Michael Quayle, Whiteness, racism, and Afrikaner…, 27