The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

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All three stories have had further life in the District Six Museum. Fortune and Ebrahim continued to narrate aspects of their stories as part of their guided tours of the Museum. 75 Fortune, Ngcelwane and Ebrahim’s ‘stories’ were a focus of a special exhibition, Three Stories, curated in the Museum’s temporary location at the Moravian Chapel in 1999 while its Buitenkant Street building was being renovated and restored. In 2000, Ngcelwane’s descriptions formed the basis of an installation, Nomvuyo’s Room, created as part of a new permanent exhibition, Digging Deeper. All three books became bestsellers in the Museum’s bookshop with Fortune and Ebrahim’s books printed many times over. Indeed, in the late 1990s and early 2000s, it seemed as if these three life histories, in the form of the book, the exhibition and the guided narrative competed with each other for the attention of visitors as part of the daily transactions that occurred in the District Six Museum. The Digging Deeper exhibition, which opened in 2000, signalled a more complex approach to museum display and public culture. This exhibition sought to tell the story of District Six with greater nuance. Whereas Streets tended to focus on public spaces and lives constructed in public, Digging Deeper examined the private and interior spaces of people’s lives. The approach in the new exhibition avoided taking a single, safe narrative, and set out consciously to disrupt and unsettle certain conventions about District Six’s past, especially the idea that social life in District Six was without conflict and contradiction. The Memorial Text at the entrance to the refurbished Museum reflected this desire to ask difficult questions: ‘we seek to work with our memories, our achievements and our shames, our moments of glory, courage and love for one another, and also the hurts we inflicted upon each other’. 76 Museum trustee and artist Peggy Delport had referred to the aesthetic features of Digging Deeper, of its “materiality, transparency, flexibility and layering” and to the “particularity 75 See Noor Ebrahim, ‘Guided Moments in the District Six Museum’, in Ciraj Rassool and Sandra Prosalendis (eds), Recalling Community in Cape Town. 76 Memorial Text, in Ciraj Rassool and Sandra Prosalendis (eds), Recalling Community in Cape Town, p vi, emphasis added. 217
of softnesses and roughnesses” of its material surfaces, which offset the photographic and digitally created elements. Enlarged wallpapered and painted photographic images were presented in lifelike recreations while historical panels, timelines, and a sequence of maps presented District Six’s cultural, intellectual and political growth with attention to complexity and nuance. Handmade appliquéd and embroidered banners reflected the wide range of institutions in the public sphere of District Six in which identities and life histories were constructed: the religious and the political, the educational and the cultural. The map, cloth, street signs remained central elements of the exhibition, but with greater attention to conservation and spatial issues. 77 Once again, life history featured as a central feature of the exhibition. Historical panels incorporated biographical texts drawn from oral history research. ‘Nomvuyo’s Room’ presented an installation of an interior of a District Six room, much like the lived spaces of many of the District’s poor. It drew on Nomvuyo Ngcelwane’s auto/biography as well as on life history research to convey a sense of the lived environment of the multi‐use, adaptable family room. Biographic representations also began to transcend the methodological bounds of social history. Soundscapes transmitted through sound domes in Nomvuyo’s Room and other museum spaces echoed with the voices and narrations of life histories. Here the oral was a genre of historical narration, and not merely a source of evidence to be appropriated into written text. 78 The enlarged portraits which hung over the upper balconies of the Museum were created this time from prints on a delicate but durable trevira fabric, a light and transparent material. Unlike previous enlarged portraits, these enabled a quality of airiness that did not block the flow of light or interfere with the unity of the museum space. Enlarged images of political leaders, Abdullah Abdurahman, Ben Kies, Cissie Gool, I.B. Tabata, Goolam Gool, James and Alex La Guma, John Gomas and Clements Kadalie, mingled with 77 Peggy Delport, ‘Digging Deeper in District Six: Features and Interfaces in a Curatorial Landscape’, in Ciraj Rassool and Sandra Prosalendis (eds), Recalling Community in Cape Town; ‘A Guide to the District Six Museum and the Digging Deeper Exhibition’ (District Six Museum Brochure, 2000). 78 Valmont Layne and Ciraj Rassool, ‘Memory Rooms: Oral History in the District Six Museum’, in Ciraj Rassool and Sandra Prosalendis (eds), Recalling Community in Cape Town. 218
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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
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Biography has also been a vehicle f
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After collecting oral testimony fro
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and ‘jumping the fence’ led to
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whose value depended on their accur
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(probably Nkadimeng) in a resettlem
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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 and 218: together, these booklets attempted
Page 219 and 220: Biography also provided the basis o
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: Ngcelwane, whose family had had bee
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
Page 269 and 270: In April 2003, the Nelson Mandela F
Page 271 and 272: ooklet was organised as a chronolog
Page 273 and 274: single sitting”. 191 However, it
Page 275 and 276: In 1999, Anthony Sampson, who had b
Page 277 and 278: eating breakfast and even shaving a
Page 279 and 280: (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
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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
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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
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out of the strains and pressures of
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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
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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
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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
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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
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econstituted APDUSA represented an
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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
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Almost unexpectedly, at his funeral
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497
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community of Lesseyton interred one
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The final entry of Tabata’s body
Page 517 and 518:
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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