The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

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history, which drew together texts, documents and chronologies in search of the ‘essence’ of leaders’ lives and politics. 38 In the mid‐1990s, even old museums jumped on to the new biographical bandwagon as a means of recovering hidden pasts and building the nation. The National English Literary Museum made a foray into resistance biography through the production of a travelling exhibition on the life of writer and early ANC leader, Sol Plaatje. 39 The exhibition was an opportunity to draw attention away from the Museum’s settler colonial legacy, and made use of photographs and texts to create a chronological narrative of Plaatje’s life. For the curators, this was the life of a man who overcame the limitations of his very basic education to become one of South Africa’s most distinguished writers and political leaders. It is also the story of a nation, for Plaatje lived his whole life as someone fully conscious of his place within society and his responsibility to it. 40 Through this exhibition, Plaatje’s life was chronicled as seamless and consistent in its resistance efforts, as a metaphor for national history, which could now be recovered after apartheid, and as worthy of being held up as pioneering and exemplary. To enable the nation to learn lessons of Sol Plaatje’s life, now inscribed into national heritage, the exhibition was taken to Cape Town where it opened at the District Six Museum on Human Rights Day, 21 March 1997. It was billed as an occasion to honour “a leader of the struggle” who “devoted his life to fighting apartheid oppression”. 41 38 Among the titles were The Essential Nelson Mandela, The Essential Steve Biko (both compiled by Robin Malan), The Essential Desmond Tutu (compiled by John Allen) and The Essential Robben Island (by Harriet Deacon), Bellville and Cape Town: Mayibuye Books and David Philip, 1997. Tourists could acquire these along with The Essential Guide to Rock Art (by Anne Solomon) and The Essential Evita Bezuidenhout (by Pieter‐Dirk Uys) and The Essential Guide to Whales in Southern Africa (compiled by Mike Bruton), as handy curios and mementoes of their visit to South Africa. 39 National English Literary Museum (Grahamstown), Sol Plaatje: Writer and Politician (Travelling Exhibition), 1997. 40 National English Literary Museum (Grahamstown), Sol Plaatje: Writer and Politician (Travelling Exhibition), 1997. 41 Cape Argus, 20 March 1997. 205
Biography also provided the basis of attempts by the McGregor Museum in Kimberley to add new histories on to their old exhibits as part of the process of “depict[ing] all the people in the province”. In this ‘add‐on’ approach to transformation, the museum “added snippets of information and occasional portraits of Kimberley’s blacks into existing displays of Kimberley’s Firsts and Kimberley’s Personalities”. 42 The Albany Museum in Grahamstown also tried to carve a post‐apartheid position for itself by producing a biographical directory of Eastern Cape African leaders as part of its “New History” series. 43 Instead of a focus merely on white history and “the glorification of one group and its heroes at the expense of others”, the objective of the new series was to introduce the “linked histories of all the people of the eastern Cape”. The biographical directory, the second publication in the series, was an initiative to “provide basic information about some of the Black people who have made a major contribution to South African society and who hail from the eastern Cape”, and to “document our leaders before they are forgotten”. The result was a focus on what was described as “Xhosa leadership”. 44 Trapped within these racial and ethnic premises for the production of history, the directory consisted of an alphabetised gallery of ANC leaders with a few PAC or Black Consciousness figures thrown in. The directory also contained profiles of “royal” leadership from precolonial times. In the view of then Eastern Cape Premier and former Rivonia trialist, Raymond Mhlaba, the publication was to be commended for “bridging the gap ... between the known leadership and the royalty and leadership of yester‐year”. 45 In order to place the biographical sketches in a “time framework and context”, a timeline was provided, showing “the major historical and political events from c.600 AD to 2 February 1990”. There is also a “general historical directory” which gave information on “the major organisations and ideologies” to which it referred. 46 42 Leslie Witz, Gary Minkley and Ciraj Rassool, ‘Who Speaks for South African Pasts?’, p 14. 43 David R Owen, Ubukhosi Neenkokeli: A Directory of Eastern Cape Black Leaders from c. 1700 to 1990, Grahamstown: Albany Museum, 1994. 44 David Owen, Ubukhosi Neenkokeli, front cover; pp 7‐13. 45 Foreward to David Owen, Ubukhosi Neenkokeli, p 5. 46 David Owen, Ubukhosi Neenkokeli, p 13. 206
Page 1 and 2:
The Individual, Auto/biography and
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ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation
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committee members selected me to ta
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TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements
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Authorship, individuation and the b
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ABBREVIATIONS AAC All‐African Con
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INTRODUCTION The research for this
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transformation in the Eastern Cape?
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South African society provided the
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manifest dishonesty. Through a case
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genealogy of biographic mediation w
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tribute to Tabata that Taylor const
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CHAPTER ONE AUTO/BIOGRAPHY, NARRATI
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self‐constitution and the “styl
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intercourse entailed in this metaph
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1930s, with decreasing institutiona
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psychological characteristics” wh
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entextualised in diverse ways”, c
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While all mankind may be the subjec
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life’ and career as the focus hav
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development, a “narrative of inte
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denies the centrality of the subjec
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story, creating a ‘transferential
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een backward‐looking. Their commu
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[w]e need to attend to the historic
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enacted, lived in particular conjun
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‘representivity’ would constitu
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through particular enunciative stra
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ones. 114 Modernity gave rise to li
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These, in turn, have a profound eff
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are also to be found in the ‘stor
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historian, personal and political,
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sites of the ‘memorial complex’
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These biographies of ‘great polit
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der Post family. 17 Even Bertolt Br
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While the limitations of Jones’ b
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and work had emphasised the serious
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accused Mother Teresa of promulgati
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Mother Teresa, “hoping some of he
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sainthood”, the amount of miracle
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This biographic world of saint vene
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dared to be that person”. She “
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and popular circuits of exchange an
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institutions that make up the exhib
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participation in annual heroic comm
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Biographic memorial productions hav
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myths, while radio and television p
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the monument was removed during the
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about the past, as “political eli
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suggesting that use was merely made
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and “The Annual Salute to Greatne
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the use of his image”. 106 Moreov
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In this radical biographic interpre
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In addition to this standard biogra
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National Civil Rights Museum in Mem
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Although Mao’s image had been use
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more varied … [and] far more exci
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esistance hero in general, of hope
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issues about image‐making and aut
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Lumumba who could stand in oppositi
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CHAPTER THREE RESISTANCE STUDIES AN
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in “a wide range of inventive pol
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marginalised, grassroots people [an
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Since the 1970s, the terrain of res
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In an obvious sense, these studies
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Under the conditions of deepening r
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Crucially, this feature found expre
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established through his professiona
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scepticism, 35 the use of this noti
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“glimpse into the inner mind of o
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Higgs and Steven Gish also followed
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understand the background, politica
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national and land questions” conc
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Higgs’ study was largely a chrono
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South Africans to protest against t
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In these traditional ‘masculinist
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1980s in South African scholarship,
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academic institutions involved in t
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struggles over municipal controls d
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that during the 1950s, a period see
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away from biographic images of cons
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orthography with “self‐appointe
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middle section had vacillated. Anot
Page 167 and 168: Biography has also been a vehicle f
Page 169 and 170: After collecting oral testimony fro
Page 171 and 172: and ‘jumping the fence’ led to
Page 173 and 174: whose value depended on their accur
Page 175 and 176: (probably Nkadimeng) in a resettlem
Page 177 and 178: determine the voice and style in wh
Page 179 and 180: memory into a written academic prod
Page 181 and 182: Biography for social history was a
Page 183 and 184: esistance history sought to provide
Page 185 and 186: and La Hausse were completed by sch
Page 187 and 188: consciousness, conversations, and/o
Page 189 and 190: A foray into biography in the work
Page 191 and 192: ceased to be the major site for the
Page 193 and 194: study did not go far enough in the
Page 195 and 196: continued political role”. It was
Page 197 and 198: In exploring these issues of image,
Page 199 and 200: While Clingman’s study has posed
Page 201 and 202: state they contested”, as the col
Page 203 and 204: focusing on the creation of systems
Page 205 and 206: and survival against the onslaught
Page 207 and 208: and reconciliation in South Africa.
Page 209 and 210: accustomed to clear hierarchies bet
Page 211 and 212: South African public history. This
Page 213 and 214: unifier and a liberator of the mind
Page 215 and 216: these ways, the Mayibuye Centre was
Page 217: together, these booklets attempted
Page 221 and 222: As part of these transformations, M
Page 223 and 224: leader, Bill Andrews. 58 Written fr
Page 225 and 226: It is this biographic impetus which
Page 227 and 228: the post‐apartheid present, and t
Page 229 and 230: Ngcelwane, whose family had had bee
Page 231 and 232: of softnesses and roughnesses” of
Page 233 and 234: extended to other arenas of public
Page 235 and 236: These images of the Business Day re
Page 237 and 238: once stood in central Pretoria, was
Page 239 and 240: declared a national monument on 12
Page 241 and 242: University’s Mark Haywood felt th
Page 243 and 244: Ministry of Water Affairs and Fores
Page 245 and 246: to the present. This project would
Page 247 and 248: was missed to develop a complex her
Page 249 and 250: contemplation and celebration were
Page 251 and 252: Morris Isaacson High School, Regina
Page 253 and 254: The Museum was really inaugurated,
Page 255 and 256: through biographic presentation. Bu
Page 257 and 258: 2003. Thabo Mbeki expressed the poi
Page 259 and 260: In contrast, Ronnie Kasrils, Modise
Page 261 and 262: narratives and moral trajectories o
Page 263 and 264: visual terms as part of a president
Page 265 and 266: especially one who had been a long
Page 267 and 268: applications had to make a biograph
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In April 2003, the Nelson Mandela F
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ooklet was organised as a chronolog
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single sitting”. 191 However, it
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In 1999, Anthony Sampson, who had b
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eating breakfast and even shaving a
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(Mandela’s birth place), on the b
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“triumph of the human spirit”,
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sought to contest the tendency for
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deepening in Robben Island’s cult
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follow the advice of Anthony Sampso
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was asked to speak about the accuse
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new conditions of exile was the con
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importance of relations of cultural
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construction of Nelson Mandela has
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iography in public and commercial s
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artist, Jacob Khumalo, who had exhi
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epresentatives on the Nelson Mandel
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eliance, self‐respect and self‐
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PART TWO BEYOND MODERNIST HISTORY:
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marginality. Among the materials in
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Gradually, in drips and drabs, the
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While Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape
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for the field of political biograph
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microfilm collection contained a su
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and Karis may have received from Ta
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and reserve dwellers, arguing that
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Indeed, in this genealogy, the most
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and was conducted as part of a wide
Page 325 and 326:
In making these assessments, Hirson
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policy that had envisaged redivided
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formation of APDUSA in January 1961
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“effectively … smashed within t
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opportunities that presented themse
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and verbal performances, which have
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political leadership was exercised
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CHAPTER SIX FROM COLLECTIVE LEADERS
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special protest meetings in convene
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upture was coming to a head, when h
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principles”. 18 Another aspect of
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included on the back cover of such
Page 349 and 350:
political training did not take pla
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pertinent to the themes of this cha
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cause, rather than the leader”. T
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341
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343
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345
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347
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asic passport‐type pen picture sa
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their prominent placement in public
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353
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of individualised leadership may ha
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political positions which rejected
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interesting that Taylor’s first w
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handwriting, which had been prepare
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ehabilitation. 96 This did not stop
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ooted in the past”, he suggested,
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During 1949 and 1950, amid mounting
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“colour and strength” were impo
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Elsewhere on the left, Tabata’s b
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occurred in which Tabata was subjec
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Tabata, as an individual, bore a po
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making them “more careful about w
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teachers qualified to speak on matt
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Education for Barbarism marked Taba
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fulfil the same function” as ‘T
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state of anonymity to their true st
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of persecution and state harassment
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While Tabata’s presidency may hav
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final choice between the subterfuge
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circulated as the embodiment of its
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CHAPTER SEVEN DORA TAYLOR AND THE N
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Soon after Tabata arrived in Cape T
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historical understandings, Taylor
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was “tolerably easy”. In fact,
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her text had been “written in its
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the eastern Cape about which she wr
Page 421 and 422:
While she was writing The Rôle of
Page 423 and 424:
out of the strains and pressures of
Page 425 and 426:
who were involved in the movement c
Page 427 and 428:
moved into Gool’s newly rented ho
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off by expressing his “envy” of
Page 431 and 432:
They had a full life and she a full
Page 433 and 434:
emotional and sexual desires as the
Page 435 and 436:
Fashioning Tabata’s biography Vir
Page 437 and 438:
continued to rework and re‐edit T
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us”. Goolam Gool, he had argued,
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political practice”. Tabata assur
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Nine that the AAC and Unity Movemen
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authored pamphlets aimed at “clar
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production of I.B. Tabata made a mi
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political work in the movement, in
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political leadership. By that time,
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unleashing different forms of biogr
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their political exchanges. 9 Later,
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where “fierce debates and discuss
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education as well as mechanisms of
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identification”. This identity cl
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need for leadership”. Tabata invi
Page 465 and 466:
Likewise, concepts of strategic val
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was also invited to join along with
Page 469 and 470:
fundamental and genuine manner and
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them. Sihlali’s presidentship of
Page 473 and 474:
expressed had been “essentially h
Page 475 and 476:
By the 1950s, increased internal bl
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way of their own greatness?” 76 A
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“suspended” from the movement,
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Thereafter, Alexander and his comra
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“mounting to a climax”. Jane Go
Page 485 and 486:
From around 1960, leaders of the Un
Page 487 and 488:
The movement’s ‘architect’ al
Page 489 and 490:
with the other liberation movements
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The ADC was a means of Tabata “ri
Page 493 and 494:
ureaucratic abuse and of trying to
Page 495 and 496:
econstituted APDUSA represented an
Page 497 and 498:
NUM. They found instead a hostility
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significance of deceased ‘heroes
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A man … surrounded by a sea of pe
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and Alie and Ursula Fataar had assi
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491
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in “his contribution” to the li
Page 509 and 510:
Almost unexpectedly, at his funeral
Page 511 and 512:
497
Page 513 and 514:
community of Lesseyton interred one
Page 515 and 516:
The final entry of Tabata’s body
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heritage sites and collections. I w
Page 519 and 520:
discovered heritage constructions o
Page 521 and 522:
national heritage, even when those
Page 523 and 524:
elevant information from my researc
Page 525 and 526:
disrespectful. And the fact that th
Page 527 and 528:
what I offer here is more than a st
Page 529 and 530:
(e) Central Archives Depot, Pretori
Page 531 and 532:
Ilizwi leSizwe, Vol. 1, No 2, 18 Oc
Page 533 and 534:
(b) Other Videos Hell’s Angel: Mo
Page 535 and 536:
(f) CD‐Roms Nelson Mandela: The s
Page 537 and 538:
Hector Pieterson Memorial and Museu
Page 539 and 540:
7. INTERVIEWS AND RECORDINGS OF SPE
Page 541 and 542:
William Beinart and Colin Bundy, Hi
Page 543 and 544:
Stephen Clingman, The Novels of Nad
Page 545 and 546:
Jurgen Habermas, The Structural Tra
Page 547 and 548:
Dominic LaCapra, Writing History, W
Page 549 and 550:
David Morley and Ken Worpole (eds),
Page 551 and 552:
James D Sexton (ed), Son of Tecum U
Page 553 and 554:
Susan G Wynne (Compiler), South Afr
Page 555 and 556:
Elizabeth S Cohen, ‘Court Testimo
Page 557 and 558:
Brian Elliot, ‘Biography, Family
Page 559 and 560:
Baruch Hirson, ‘Ruth Schechter: F
Page 561 and 562:
Desiree Lewis, ‘Winnie Mandela: T
Page 563 and 564:
Bill Nasson, ‘A Sharecropper’s
Page 565 and 566:
Hilary Sapire, ‘African Political
Page 567 and 568:
Dora Taylor, ‘They Speak of Afric
Page 569 and 570:
Kwame Anthony Appiah, ‘Cosmopolit
Page 571 and 572:
Twentieth Century’, Paper present
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