New Premises for Public History in South Africa

Hall, Andrew J.; Kros, Cynthia

doi:10.2307/3378803

Cited by 6 publications

(2 citation statements)

References 6 publications

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“…9 By all definitions this was robust public history, described as 'exhilarating' with 'an air of daring', remembered for opening up new realms of complexity in speaking of the past, while using it to empower people to find the courage to overthrow the oppressive regime of the present. 10 In Cape Town, people deeply concerned with the history of District Six formed a foundation in 1989 to tell its story in their own way. This was a racially-mixed residential area, bulldozed because it did not fit in with the apartheid plans for total segregation.…”

Section: Historians In the Shadow Of Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

Wells

2018

Public History Review

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Public history practise in South Africa holds out much promise of further things to come. It can close the gulf between history and heritage. This chapter argues that the role of the public historian should not be conflated with the dynamics of the heritage sector, but suggests how trained academics can indeed put their skills to work in a society that is passionately interested in understanding itself and how its pasts created the present. The student movement sharply raised the image of universities in crisis, requiring a whole new, relevant curriculum and rethinking the ways that universities relate to their publics. Public historians can work towards creating invented spaces for co-production of knowledge, moving beyond the traditional oral history interview. The divide between academia and communities is huge and needs to be constantly tackled, providing access to the secluded information of the professional world. I suggest that due to their privileged place in society, many historians have been unable or unwilling to engage with the recovery agenda – the massive need for affirmation of African identity, capacity and culture. A handful of dedicated public historians do not fit this mould and have been exemplary in rolling up their sleeves and boldly engaging with the messy complications of dealing with non-academic communities to produce new forms of historical knowledge, based on inclusiveness.

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Section: Historians In the Shadow Of Heritagementioning

confidence: 99%

‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

Wells

2018

Public History Review

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“…The role of museums in South Africa has generated some heated discussions recently, and the future of the Castle is inextricably tied into this debate (Hall and Kros 1994). 1 Museums have long been criticized as institutions serving the interests of the state; dominated by displays made long ago based on dubious ethnographic preconceptions; ideologically compromised by apartheid; hampered by the myriad divisions of administration and legislation which govern them; and alienating to the majority of people within this society.…”

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The “300 years: The making of Cape muslim culture” exhibition, Cape Town, April 1994: Liberating the castle?

Ward

1995

Social Dynamics

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L’« effet Derrida » en Afrique du Sud: Jacques Derrida, Verne Harris et la notion d’archive(s) dans l’horizon post-apartheid

Fouéré

2019

Annales. Histoire, Sciences Sociales

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RésumésCet article interroge la rencontre entre le monde des archives de l’État sud-africain et la philosophie de Jacques Derrida par l’intermédiaire de l’archiviste Verne Harris. Il apporte plus largement un éclairage original sur la fortune de l’ouvrage Mal d’archive et de la notion derridienne d’« archive », au singulier, au sein du tournant archivistique et dans l’espace intellectuel internationalisé contemporain. Son objectif est d’élucider les conditions de possibilité du transfert et de la réinterprétation de la notion d’« archive », telle qu’exposée dans Mal d’archive, afin d’élaborer un outil épistémologique de refondation des archives sud-africaines. Au-delà, il s’est agi, pour les passeurs d’« archive », de tenter de réinventer la nation sud-africaine au moment historique de la sortie de l’apartheid dans les années 1990. Dans un pays aux prises avec des archives qui documentent avant tout les politiques d’un État raciste, « sinistre boursouflure sur le corps du monde » selon Derrida, l’« archive » paraissait à même de raccorder des champs habituellement dissociés – l’archivistique, la politique et l’éthique. Les liens que Derrida tisse entre archive(s), savoir, pouvoir et mémoire et l’engagement politique précoce du philosophe contre l’apartheid expliquent l’attention portée à Mal d’archive à l’horizon des enjeux de mémoire, de réconciliation et de pardon, mais aussi d’oubli, auxquels l’Afrique du Sud était alors confrontée.

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New Premises for Public History in South Africa

Cited by 6 publications

References 6 publications

‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

‘deep wounds… left… in hearts and minds’: South African Public History

The “300 years: The making of Cape muslim culture” exhibition, Cape Town, April 1994: Liberating the castle?

L’« effet Derrida » en Afrique du Sud: Jacques Derrida, Verne Harris et la notion d’archive(s) dans l’horizon post-apartheid

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