Theresa Edlmann | University of South Africa (original) (raw)

Uploads

Papers by Theresa Edlmann

Storytelling: Global Reflections on Narrative, 2019

For a 25-year period during the apartheid era in South Africa, all school-leaving white men were ... more For a 25-year period during the apartheid era in South Africa, all school-leaving white men were issued with a compulsory call-up to national military service in the South African Defence Force. It is estimated that 600 000 men were conscripted between 1968 and 1993, undergoing military training and being deployed in Namibia, Angola and South Africa. The purpose of this system of military conscription was to support both the apartheid state's role in the "Border War" in Namibia and Angola and the suppression of anti-apartheid resistance within South Africa. It formed part of the National Party's strategy of a "total

The terms “victim” and “perpetrator” have become an integral part of human rights-based language ... more The terms “victim” and “perpetrator” have become an integral part of human rights-based language about systemic, political, sexual and interpersonal violence. This paper will argue that the terms “victim” and “perpetrator” reflect social constructs whose meaning and impact have shifted and changed over time, but that these evolutions have seldom been adequately interrogated or understood. In developing this argument, the paper will provide a brief historical outline of the emergence and use of these terms in social justice work since the mid-twentieth century, and explore the extent to which they comprise what narrative inquiry would call “discursive resources” which are often “troubled”. The paper will highlight the need for greater critical refection about the psychological, social and political discourses of identity that constellate around terms such as “victim” and “perpetrator”. It will also reflect on the conceptual underpinnings of contemporary mechanisms to address violence...

Historia, 2009

This remarkable account of the colonisation of the Western Cape begins with an evocative sense of... more This remarkable account of the colonisation of the Western Cape begins with an evocative sense of place: the source of the Olifants River in the Cedarberg Mountains. The river is the geographical, social and political frontier in relation to which Mitchell constructs her account of the colonisation of the early eighteenth century.

Just as stories about the past are constructed in particular ways, so too are silences about hist... more Just as stories about the past are constructed in particular ways, so too are silences about historical events. Silences about what happened in the past are catalysed by a range of factors including expedience, fear, perceptions of threat, a need to protect, political amnesia, trauma and moral injury. Historical silences are constructed within social spaces and in people's own accounts of their personal histories and identities. Silences are thus both personal and relational constructs that do not remain static, but rather shift and evolve, and can be disrupted. This article reflects on work conducted by the Legacies of Apartheid Wars Project between 2012 and 2014 at Rhodes University. The aim of these reflections is to explore the theoretical implications of work that sought to intervene in realms of silence and constrained memory, and invite public dialogical engagements with the past. The aim of these engagements was to acknowledge the complexities of apartheid's legacies...

Emerging from a series of conferences during 2004, this collection of articles provides a diverse... more Emerging from a series of conferences during 2004, this collection of articles provides a diverse, incisive and insightful series of papers on issues relating to South Africa's efforts to realise the dreams and aspirations of 1994. It is a complex and dense volume of diverse and inspiring scholarship.

Storytelling: Global Reflections on Narrative, 2019

Intervention, 2017

Peacebuilding processes operate within a nexus of historical events, contemporary dynamics and fu... more Peacebuilding processes operate within a nexus of historical events, contemporary dynamics and future possibilities. This paper explores the possibilities presented by narrative based historical memory work in enabling an understanding of con£icting stories and perspectives needed to build an understanding of contemporary dynamics of a society or context. The narrative repair created by hearing contrasting stories has the potential to facilitate shifts from previously divisive and exclusionary modes of remembering to more collective ways of moving forward, with lower levels of enmity and violence. The personal insights, as well as the social and relational networks that can emerge out of this work, have the potential to support and undergird the more systemic dimensions of a peace process aimed at addressing legacies of violent con£ict.

Psychology in Society, 2017

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

Ex-Combatants’ Voices

This chapter explores the problems faced by male conscripts into the former South African Defence... more This chapter explores the problems faced by male conscripts into the former South African Defence Force. While conscripts came from English-speaking and Afrikaans-speaking communities, this chapter isolates the specific legacy issues of male Afrikaner conscripts. Conscripts exercise little choice in going to war and the forced nature of their military engagement as state veterans provokes unusual legacy issues compared to other state veterans. These legacy issues are thrown into particularly high relief by having fought on the losing side.

One of the longest and most complex themes of human existence is the personal, relational and env... more One of the longest and most complex themes of human existence is the personal, relational and environmental impacts of warfare. From ancient myths and rituals to contemporary theatres of conflict, military leaders, soldiers themselves, and all those with whom they share their lives inevitably grapple with the intensity of the battlefield, the scale of personal and systematic violence required, and the moral demands and contradictions of military life. Warfare in Africa has been particularly complex, given the roles of historical phenomena such as colonialism (and related issues like slavery, mining operations and the Cold War), and the contemporary nature of African conflicts and peacekeeping initiatives.

... and supported by a network of women through many evenings of debate, banter and cajoling. Jan... more ... and supported by a network of women through many evenings of debate, banter and cajoling. Janet, Anthea, Linda, Gill, Leela and Vanessa I ... violation of rights was carried out in the past. (Zegeye 2001: p.3) The issue of rights realisation is deeply complex not least because of ...

Storytelling: Global Reflections on Narrative, 2019

Historia, 2009

Storytelling: Global Reflections on Narrative, 2019

Intervention, 2017

Psychology in Society, 2017

Journal of Contemporary African Studies

Ex-Combatants’ Voices

The apartheid era in South Africa was defined by various theatres of violence and conflict, both ... more The apartheid era in South Africa was defined by various theatres of violence and conflict, both within the country and in neighbouring states. The generation of young South Africans who lived through this time faced complex decisions about their level of involvement in this violence. Choosing to join non-statutory forces involved in the struggle for freedom meant going into exile, while joining internal resistance movements meant being branded a terrorist and potentially being subjected to detention without trial. For young white men, there were choices to be made about the compulsory conscription of all school-leavers into the apartheid military. Conscientious objection was not an option until the final few years the system was in place; resistance meant imprisonment for up to six years or exile.