Contesting the 'Born Free' Identity: A Postcolonial Perspective on Mzansi Stories 1

Employing postcolonial approach, this article analyses the recent stage play script called Mzansi stories to demonstrate that despite the lack of space in the political mainstream, post-apartheid young generation have created alternative spaces for engaging in deconstructing and reconstructing the notion of Born Free and its implications for their sociopolitical participation in South Africa. The findings suggest that the Born Free notion as a broader framework for young people’s identity is still under construction. The article concludes that plays and other related social network spaces such Mzansi stories have potential to enable society understand how young South Africans are engaging the meaning of Born Free identity in relation to prevailing socio-political circumstances within the nation.