The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

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stronger theoretical grasp of the narration of lives. Indeed, for Norman Denzin, all writing about lives is fictional. 126 Likwise, for Raymond Williams, the dichotomy between fact and fiction, described very negatively as ‘myth’ as against ‘fact’ ‐ what did happen ‐ is crippling. Biography and autobiography, for Williams, should be seen as test cases, suggesting an overlap between fact and fiction. 127 Biographies, according to Denzin, are always “incomplete literary productions”. Conventionally, they use narrative devices, which conform to the presumption that lives have beginnings and the “cultural myth that lives have endings”. These devices convey the idea that complete stories about lives can be told. Indeed, according to Denzin, lives are not ‘real’. They are constructions, “constrained by the cultural writing practices of the time”. 128 For Marcus, the distinction between auto/biography and fiction needs to be effaced, by asserting the fictionality of all discourse. In auto/biography, the ‘life’ and ‘the subject’ are constructed in writing. Indeed, “[the] self does not pre‐exist the text but is constructed by it”. 129 Seeking an approach to biography that overcomes the untheorised, chronological narrative procedures of traditional biography does not mean rejecting narrative altogether. Indeed, this dissertation suggests that narrative should be taken more seriously in the construction of lives and in the production of history. Merely to impose a narrative structure on events in the reconstruction of the past, as a chronological ‘history of events’ or as a life history, in realist mode, placed in a ‘historical context’, is not enough. Rather, we should recognise the existence of multiple narrations intersecting and crosscutting each other, paralleling and contradicting each other as they compete for the creation of historical meaning. These narratives and representations constitute historicising projects differing between past and present, subject and 126 Norman K. Denzin, Interpretive Biography, pp 22‐24. 127 Raymond Williams, Marxism and Literature, Oxford: Oxford University Press, 1977, pp 146‐149. 128 Norman K Denzin, Interpretive Biography, pp 24‐26. 129 Laura Marcus, Auto/biographical Discourses, p 180. Marcus’s writing is a direct challenge to the much‐ cited work on autobiography by James Olney. Olney had argued for the concept of a unified human nature pre‐existing textual expression and stood by a fact ‐ fiction dichotomy. See James Olney, Metaphors of Self: The Meaning of Autobiography, Princeton: Princeton University Press, 1972. 49
historian, personal and political, and transcending the distinction between fact and fiction. Moving beyond conventional narrative means taking account of these various historicising projects and understanding the politics, sociologies and genealogies of their production. It also requires the recognition that the academic historian’s narrative is “one ‘voice’ among others”. 130 130 Peter Burke, ‘History of Events and the Revival of Narrative’, in Peter Burke, (ed), New Perspectives on Historical Writing. 50
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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
Page 11 and 12: ABBREVIATIONS AAC All‐African Con
Page 13 and 14: INTRODUCTION The research for this
Page 15 and 16: transformation in the Eastern Cape?
Page 17 and 18: South African society provided the
Page 19 and 20: manifest dishonesty. Through a case
Page 21 and 22: genealogy of biographic mediation w
Page 23 and 24: tribute to Tabata that Taylor const
Page 25 and 26: CHAPTER ONE AUTO/BIOGRAPHY, NARRATI
Page 27 and 28: self‐constitution and the “styl
Page 29 and 30: intercourse entailed in this metaph
Page 31 and 32: 1930s, with decreasing institutiona
Page 33 and 34: psychological characteristics” wh
Page 35 and 36: entextualised in diverse ways”, c
Page 37 and 38: While all mankind may be the subjec
Page 39 and 40: life’ and career as the focus hav
Page 41 and 42: development, a “narrative of inte
Page 43 and 44: denies the centrality of the subjec
Page 45 and 46: story, creating a ‘transferential
Page 47 and 48: een backward‐looking. Their commu
Page 49 and 50: [w]e need to attend to the historic
Page 51 and 52: enacted, lived in particular conjun
Page 53 and 54: ‘representivity’ would constitu
Page 55 and 56: through particular enunciative stra
Page 57 and 58: ones. 114 Modernity gave rise to li
Page 59 and 60: These, in turn, have a profound eff
Page 61: are also to be found in the ‘stor
Page 65 and 66: sites of the ‘memorial complex’
Page 67 and 68: These biographies of ‘great polit
Page 69 and 70: der Post family. 17 Even Bertolt Br
Page 71 and 72: While the limitations of Jones’ b
Page 73 and 74: and work had emphasised the serious
Page 75 and 76: accused Mother Teresa of promulgati
Page 77 and 78: Mother Teresa, “hoping some of he
Page 79 and 80: sainthood”, the amount of miracle
Page 81 and 82: This biographic world of saint vene
Page 83 and 84: dared to be that person”. She “
Page 85 and 86: and popular circuits of exchange an
Page 87 and 88: institutions that make up the exhib
Page 89 and 90: participation in annual heroic comm
Page 91 and 92: Biographic memorial productions hav
Page 93 and 94: myths, while radio and television p
Page 95 and 96: the monument was removed during the
Page 97 and 98: about the past, as “political eli
Page 99 and 100: suggesting that use was merely made
Page 101 and 102: and “The Annual Salute to Greatne
Page 103 and 104: the use of his image”. 106 Moreov
Page 105 and 106: In this radical biographic interpre
Page 107 and 108: In addition to this standard biogra
Page 109 and 110: National Civil Rights Museum in Mem
Page 111 and 112: 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
Page 127 and 128:
Since the 1970s, the terrain of res
Page 129 and 130:
In an obvious sense, these studies
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Under the conditions of deepening r
Page 133 and 134:
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
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memory into a written academic prod
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Biography for social history was a
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esistance history sought to provide
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and La Hausse were completed by sch
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consciousness, conversations, and/o
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A foray into biography in the work
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ceased to be the major site for the
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study did not go far enough in the
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continued political role”. It was
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In exploring these issues of image,
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While Clingman’s study has posed
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state they contested”, as the col
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focusing on the creation of systems
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and survival against the onslaught
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and reconciliation in South Africa.
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accustomed to clear hierarchies bet
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South African public history. This
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unifier and a liberator of the mind
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these ways, the Mayibuye Centre was
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together, these booklets attempted
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Biography also provided the basis o
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As part of these transformations, M
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leader, Bill Andrews. 58 Written fr
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It is this biographic impetus which
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the post‐apartheid present, and t
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Ngcelwane, whose family had had bee
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of softnesses and roughnesses” of
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extended to other arenas of public
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These images of the Business Day re
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once stood in central Pretoria, was
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declared a national monument on 12
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University’s Mark Haywood felt th
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Ministry of Water Affairs and Fores
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to the present. This project would
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was missed to develop a complex her
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contemplation and celebration were
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Morris Isaacson High School, Regina
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The Museum was really inaugurated,
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through biographic presentation. Bu
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2003. Thabo Mbeki expressed the poi
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In contrast, Ronnie Kasrils, Modise
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narratives and moral trajectories o
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visual terms as part of a president
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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
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single sitting”. 191 However, it
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In 1999, Anthony Sampson, who had b
Page 277 and 278:
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
Page 311 and 312:
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
Page 339 and 340:
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
Page 357 and 358:
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
Page 375 and 376:
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,
Page 381 and 382:
During 1949 and 1950, amid mounting
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“colour and strength” were impo
Page 385 and 386:
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
Page 391 and 392:
making them “more careful about w
Page 393 and 394:
teachers qualified to speak on matt
Page 395 and 396:
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
Page 401 and 402:
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
Page 409 and 410:
CHAPTER SEVEN DORA TAYLOR AND THE N
Page 411 and 412:
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
Page 419 and 420:
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
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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
Page 461 and 462:
identification”. This identity cl
Page 463 and 464:
need for leadership”. Tabata invi
Page 465 and 466:
Likewise, concepts of strategic val
Page 467 and 468:
was also invited to join along with
Page 469 and 470:
fundamental and genuine manner and
Page 471 and 472:
them. Sihlali’s presidentship of
Page 473 and 474:
expressed had been “essentially h
Page 475 and 476:
By the 1950s, increased internal bl
Page 477 and 478:
way of their own greatness?” 76 A
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“suspended” from the movement,
Page 481 and 482:
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
Page 491 and 492:
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
Page 501 and 502:
A man … surrounded by a sea of pe
Page 503 and 504:
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
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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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