A Select Bibliography of South African Autobiography (original) (raw)
Chota Motala. The Making of a South African Political Biography
Politikon, 2019
Drawing on my experience of writing an account of Chota Motala, a Pietermaritzburg-based medical doctor and anti-apartheid activist, this article considers some of the historiographical and methodological challenges of writing biography in general, and South African political biographies in particular. On a general level, this includes whether biography is 'inferior' history, an 'illusion', and whether it can be written in a linear manner. Specific to my study, this article considers the theoretical and contextual issues relating to South African political biography; the role of the sources in shaping the narrative; the subjective process of writing a biography; and the variance in interpreting the character of Motala and his contribution in the political sphere.
African Studies Biography in post-apartheid South Africa: A call for awkwardness
African Studies, 2019
Biography (with autobiography) has become the most popular type of non-fiction in South Africa, but the recent expansion of works has not inspired commentary. Here we describe four ‘constellations’ of biographies: political biographies of the individual-as-leader; social history biographies of the individual-as-exemplar; literary biographies of the individual-as-vessel-of-self; and critical studies biographies of the individual-as-fragmented-subject. Reviewing the politics of biography in South Africa and the nature of the project, we conclude that biography is an inescapably awkward enterprise, because of the intimate and fraught politics between author and subject, author and sources about the subject’s internal life, and author and audiences. Together with the authors in this Special Issue, we hold that it is generative to face the inevitable difficulties of biography and that it is not a failing to expose them to view.
PhD Thesis in full, 2002
This thesis is about understanding social change and the role of, and influence upon, agency in ‘making history’. In which an overview of the contemporary South African liberation struggle, and the first term of the African National Congress (ANC) government between 1994 and 1999, is juxtaposed with primary life history data of a group of former Congress of South African Trade Unions (COSATU) activists, elected to government in 1994. It examines and analyses what their political participation means in practice and how this affects them and the inter-dependent interaction between individuals and the organisations of which they are members. The comprehension of these relationships, the basic ingredients of which are structural explanation and intentional understanding are situated in the debates around structure and agency and their inter-relationship. Drawing on ‘Marxist’ epistemology it shows how notions of class, conflict, exploitation etc facilitates an understanding of these relationships and the concomitant social relations. As agency and political ideas are an irreducible element of social change, these concepts, taken together with an historical outline of the ANC and the political beliefs that inform activists, aid our understanding of how structure and agency interacts and relates to activists experiences. Drawing on primary interviews, it also compares their experiences with that of more critical and contemporary COSATU activists, to establish if and how they differ and if the activists, turned politicians, have changed their views and ideas from those they were associated with before they went into government. In the process, it shows how these activists have come a long way in terms of what they have experienced and their political and ideological development – that in ‘making history’ they have changed in the process. It shows how they became organised and ideologically committed activists shaped to varying degrees by the mix of nationalist and socialist ideas and rhetoric, reflecting the politics of the ANC leadership and the constituent parts of its multi-class organisation, and how this continues to influence their political development.
2016
Introduction 1 Chapter One: Theoretical and methodological frameworks in knowledge production 25 This study, therefore, asks the following questions, among others: to what extent have different political systems given Matiwane's voice a 'platform' or silenced him, and why? Are there continuities or discontinuities in his representation? Are there trends in Matiwane's representation compared to the narratives of his contemporaries? What are the underlying reasons behind such trends, if any? What were the ambiguities embedded in their struggles? This analysis is applied to the material and collections held by the family, state archives and D.C.O. Matiwane Museum and Memorial Park. The last two are more 8 On the issues of biography and archives, see John Randolph, 'On the Biography of the Bakunin Family Archive', in A Burton (ed.
A History of the Present A Biography of Indian South Africans, 1994–2018
Oxford University Press, 2019
Through the long 20th century, Indian South Africans lived under the whip of settler colonialism and white minority rule, which saw the passing of a slew of legislation that circumscribed their freedom of movement, threatened repatriation, and denied them citizenship, all the while herding them into racially segregated townships. This volume chronicles the broad outlines of this history. Taking the story into the present, it provides an analysis of how they have responded to changes wrought by the remarkable collapse of apartheid and the first democratic elections in 1994. Drawing upon archival records, in-depth interviews, and ethnography, this book examines the ways in which Indian South Africans define themselves and the world around them, and how they are defined by others. It tells of the incredible journey of Indian South Africans, many of whom are of the fourth and fifth generation, towards being recognized as citizens in the land of their birth and how, while often attracted by and seeking to explore their roots in India, they continue to dig deeper roots on African soil.
Two of South Africa's untellable stories
The grand narrative of liberatory success in South Africa has made certain kinds of stories extremely controversial because they do not easily fit a neat black-white, evil-good, past-present dichotomy. These stories make more complex a present which is far from perfect and difficult to understand. In this study I look at two life stories told by two journalists in which they speak of life trajectories which are out of step with dominant themes and ideas in the prevailing South African narrative. Jacob Dlamini’s account of his childhood called Native Nostalgia tells the story of a happy black childhood under apartheid and for this he has been accused of making light of the criminal nature of apartheid. Nevertheless an unapologetic Dlamini is determined to have his experience recognised as valid and true, even if uncomfortable. Then City Press editor Ferial Haffajee, a beneficiary of post-apartheid affirmative action and the expansion of the black middle class, has told her positive, personal, post-apartheid story in What if there were no whites in South Africa. For her outspoken opinions, Haffajee has been denounced by the black intelligentsia for “wearing rose-coloured spectacles” and not understanding persistent privilege and exclusion in present-day South Africa. Both accounts insist on the value of an individual life and story. Both take on intellectually legitimate, but also hegemonic, attitudes about apartheid and post-apartheid. Both add facets and insights to our understanding of lives under transition. Both accounts ask us to rethink our certainties about black lives in South Africa.
Mandela’s Long Walk with African History – Part 3
2013
Paul Tiyambe Zeleza explores the role of reconciliation in the political discourse of transition to independence among some African leaders. This is the last of three posts in which the historian posits South Africa’s founding father alongside some of the major events of the 20th century.
South Africans Telling Their Stories: James April
James April, from Cape Town, became active in the Coloured People’s Congress in 1961. April underwent a brief spell of military training at Mamre in 1962, and was detained, together with Basil February in 1962 for painting political slogans, and re-detained and charged for attending the Mamre training camp in 1963. He subsequently left the country with February for military training. April participated in the Wankie campaign.
Appendix: A Select Guide to Published South African Soldier Narratives of the Second World War
Sights, Sounds, Memories: South African Soldier Experiences of the Second World War, 2020
APPENDIX particularly after the Border War as a topic steadily gained ground, and latterly, of course, by the coming of the digital age. FIGURE 1: The changing avenues for the publication of South African Second World War personal narratives. Many of these narratives are now rare collectors' items. Written mostly for family and former comrades-in-arms, they were not intended for sale to a wider readership. Many had low print runs, sometimes no more than one or two hundred. And, once carelessness, poor storage, bookworm and termite have taken their toll, the surviving titles become even more rare. That there is often little correlation between scarcity (the collectors' value) and the deeper historiographical contribution of some of these works is therefore true. What follows is a select list. 1. Anderson, John, Escape in the Apennines (Windhoek: Gamsberg Macmillan, 1992). John Anderson was born in Windhoek and joined the SAAF shortly after the outbreak of war in September 1939. After a period of air training, he and others seeking guaranteed, active participation in the war, were seconded to the RAF. In this narrative Anderson touches on his life under training and in the transit camps in the Union, and later in Egypt and Italy, as well as the short breaks enjoyed visiting some of the tourist spots in these countries. Attached to the 145 th Squadron RAF (nicknamed the 'Quarter-to-Two's'), he flew with the Desert Air Force in North Africa and, later from Italy, over the northern region of the Central Mediterranean theatre. Shot down twice over enemy-held territory, Anderson managed to escape on both occasions. This is essentially the story of those escapes. It was written to record his gratitude to the Italian people who hid him and gave him succour during his escape and evasion of capture across Italy. After an abortive move to turn the manuscript into a film, the manuscript lay dormant until Anderson was pressed by his family to have it published, which he did in 1992.
2000
A brief outline of the black revolutionary syndicalist Industrial Workers of Africa union in Johannesburg. Includes a leaflet by the union. Lucien van der Walt, 2000, “’Fight for Africa, Which you Deserve’: The Industrial Workers of Africa in South Africa, 1917-1921”, Bulletin of the Kate Sharpley Library, number 24, pp. 2,5,6.
Liberation Diaries - Reflections on 20 Years of Democracy in South Africa.pdf
The book Liberation Diaries: Reflections on 20 Years of Democracy by was published by Jacana Media in April 2014. The book has 50 chapters including contributions from prominent scholars like Professors Raymond Parsons, Hebert Vilakazi, Ntongela Masilela and Metz Thaddeus. We also have chapters by social activists like Mugabe Ratshikuni and Wayne Duvenage, journalists like Nozipho Mbanjwa, business women like Khanyisile Kweyama of Anglo American as well as university students like Mhlengi Ngcaweni and Mpho Tshivhase. These writers give different critiques of what it means to live in South Africa @ 20. Many of those who categorize the book as a spin in favor of the ruling party and government are immediately disappointed when they navigate the first chapters of the book. This is a critical reflection of the journey we have traveled as a nation, the victories scored and dreams differed. However, even among the worst critics like Wayne Duvenage of OUTA (opposition to urban tolling), the book’s overall conclusion is that South Africa is a country on the move, making strides towards creating a better life for all. Although the book was meant to contribute to the discourse on 20 years of democracy, it has actually achieved more. Most chapters as well as book reviews have moved beyond a critical reflection of the state of the nation @ 20 to pose the question: given what we know about South Africa @ 20 (both negative and positive), using historical and current trends, where will South Africa be @ 30, 40 and so on. Whilst some of the chapters to speculate about our prospects, others challenge us to think hard about the future we chose and the extent to which it will influence the future we choose. This rhetorical exposition suggests that choices made in 1994 have influenced the outcomes 20 years later. Concomitantly, the choices we make today, like introduction of the National Development Plan, will determine the kind of society South Africa will be in the year 2034. The book was among the best sellers of 2014 and has gone through a reprint. It is available in major bookstores internationally. Timeline and Milestones 1. Publication date: April 2014 2. First launch: Oxford University, United Kingdom 3. Featured in the City Press, April 2014 4. Featured in the Sunday Times Autumn Hot Reads, April 2014 5. Second launch: May 2014 at Wits University 6. Featured on CNBC Africa: May 2014 7. Reviewed on Power FM, June 2014 8. Featured on the Mail and Guardian, June 2014 9. Reviewed by Chai FM (Jewish Radio Station), June 2014 10. Reviewed by the Cape Times, June 2014 11. Reviewed in the Public Sector Manager Magazine, July 2014 12. Reviewed on Ukhozi FM in July 2014 13. Reviewed by the Centurion ANC Youth League Branch, July 2014 14. Launch at North West University by Progress Professionals Forum, August 2014 15. Reviewed on Metro FM in August 2014 16. Featured at Jozi Book Fair in September 2014 17. Reviewed at Poppy’s Café, September 2014 18. Reviewed at The Presidency, December 2014 19. Special Reconciliation Day Feature, SABC, 16 December 2014