The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

sites of the ‘memorial complex’ being the locus of disputes and contests at different
times, perhaps the most challenging approaches to biography in the realm of public
history have emerged in a number of museum exhibitions curated in the 1990s,
through which issues about the relationship between biography and image making,
and lives as cultural productions have been explored. Not only did these exhibitions
study biographical narration through visual representation, they also began to step
outside nationalist and realist frames, which have dominated approaches to lives and
their histories in the public domain.
Great lives, history lessons and exposé biography
Two biographical series found outside the academy, offering readers short, readable
chronological narratives of “history makers” and “dominating individuals who have
shaped the modern world”, are ‘The Great Lives Series’ and ‘Makers of the Twentieth
Century’. 2 The former seeks to present ʺfascinating biographies to captivate, educate,
and inspireʺ. 3 The life stories constructed are those of “courageous men and women
from all walks of life, in every corner of the globe, who have challenged the way
society thinks, stood up for their rights, and changed the world”. 4 With subjects in the
series ranging from Abraham Lincoln, John F Kennedy and Jesse Jackson to Lech
Walesa, Nelson Mandela and Mikhail Gorbachev, lives have been stripped to the
barest minimum, presented in simple story form and given catchy slogans as titles. 5
The objectives of the series are to “pay tribute to the character, determination, and
personal courage of heroes who have made a difference in all our lives”. Each
heritage of a given community through tangible and intangible forms. They can be distinguished
from mere lieux d’histoire in their intention to remember, and in their deliberate ‘archival’ character
of visibility or immediacy. See also Nancy Wood, Vectors of Memory: Legacies of Trauma in Postwar
Europe (Oxford: Berg, 1999), Ch. 1 and John R Gillis, ‘Memory and Identity: The History of a
Relationship’, in John R Gillis (ed), Commemorations: The Politics of National Identity (Princeton:
Princeton University Press, 1994).
2 The ‘Great Lives Series’ is published by Fawcett Columbine (Ballantine Books) in New York and
‘Makers of the Twentieth Centuryʹ is published in the Cardinal series by Sphere Books in London.
3 Rebecca Stefoff, Nelson Mandela: Hero For Democracy (Revised Edition), New York: Fawcett
Columbine by Ballantine Books, 1994, p 154.
4 Rebecca Stefoff, Nelson Mandela, p i.
5 Titles in the series ranging from Abraham Lincoln: The Freedom President, John F Kennedy: Courage in
Crisis, Jesse Jackson: A Voice For Change, Lech Walesa: The Road to Democracy, Nelson Mandela: Hero For
Democracy and Mikhail Gorbachev: The Soviet Innovator.
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