“One does not simply skip a braai” : Afrikaner identity, nostalgia and community through braai practice in the New Zealand diaspora : thesis presented in partial fulfilment of the requirements for the degree of Doctor of Philosophy in Social Anthropology, Massey University, Albany, New Zealand

Abstract

This study explores how diasporic Afrikaner identity is formed, reconfigured and maintained through braai practice among migrants in New Zealand. Drawing on nine months of ethnographic fieldwork, including participant observation and BNIM interviews, it investigates how Afrikaners reassert cultural memory, diaspora identity and a sense of belonging around the braai fire. The braai, beyond the superficial notion of being ‘just another barbecue’, emerges as a deeply rooted cultural phenomenon shaped by individual and collective histories, forging a multi-sensory realm of nostalgia, communal bonding and gendered social roles.

Through potjiekos, pap-en-smoor and braaied meats, participants articulate heritage and memory, while encountering new social contexts in their adopted homeland. This study demonstrates that braai is not solely about cooking but about forging communal ties, sustaining Afrikaner memory, re-enacting ancestral practice and negotiating contemporary diaspora tensions. The thesis adds to existing scholarship on diaspora identities and how migrant communities adapt historically meaningful practices to new environments.

The analysis reveals how the braai promotes a cyclical interplay of nostalgia, transformation and social affirmation, bridging historical narratives of Afrikanerness with the complexities of migrant life in New Zealand. In attending to the braai’s multisensory material culture (fire, food and speech, among others) this research reveals the intricate ways diaspora communities preserve, translate and reinvent cultural practices. The study contributes to broader anthropological debates on diaspora, identity formation and the interplay of memory and social practice, highlighting how everyday socio-cultural acts generate belonging in transnational contexts.

Finally, it offers a nuanced perspective on how Afrikaner migrants reinterpret their cultural heritage through the braai, ultimately showing that it is neither a static artifact of the past nor a mere barbecue, but a dynamic expression of Afrikaner identity, community and nostalgia in a foreign land.