ABSTRACT
The focus of this chapter is on the identities that the young people presented. They drew on four main interpretative repertoires labelled as: 1) identity in transition; 2) one ethnic identity; 3) interethnic identity; and 4) situational/chameleon-like identity. They were categorised in this way because these are the representations of identities that participants’ accounts revealed. These identities will be explored here using the discourse analysis approach (see chapter on how the research was done for more detail). Analysis of the transcripts revealed that the adolescents used interpretative repertoires in a range of different settings to carry out particular functions. It should be noted that the interpretative repertoires discussed in this chapter are based on the participants’ cognitive language – they did not label these repertoires themselves. Also a number of subsequent contradictory constructions were employed in the narratives both in the diary and in the interviews.
