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South African soap opera as the other: The deconstruction of hegemonic gender identities in four South African soap operas

Abstract This article examines the potential role of soap opera narratives in the construction (or deconstruction) of identities within the South African context. The narratives of four South African soap operas (Egoli – place of gold, Isidingo – the need, Generations and 7de Laan) are analysed. Although identities of race and class are also relevant in soap opera narrative, this article focuses on gender identities. It is argued that soap opera may be constituted as other, and that it might therefore be a possible site for the deconstruction of hegemonic identities. Brief reference is made to Edward Said and the origin of the term ‘Orientalism’. This is linked firstly to the concept of the other, and more precisely the concept of ‘women as other’ as theorised initially by Simone de Beauvoir, but more specific to this article, Luce Irigaray. The second section argues that soap opera may be gendered as feminine and female and consequently marked as other for various reasons. The final section accepts the hypothesis of soap opera as feminine and female, and thus other, and attempts to analyse the relevant soap operas in terms of the negotiating or deconstructing of gender identities and the consequent social relevance of these texts.