The Individual, Auto/biography and History in South Africa

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Henrichsen, Wolfram Hartmann, Livia Nomvuyo Tyam, Dan Yon, Josi Frater, Paul Landau, Rob Gordon, Livio Sansone, Birgitta Svensson, Helen Bradford, Christopher Saunders, Shamil Jeppie, Uma Dhupelia‐Mesthrie, Suzie Newton‐King, Terri Barnes, Dave Scher, Madeleine Fullard, Paul Johnson, Carolyn Hamilton, Omar Badsha, Bogumil Jewsiewicki, Allison Drew, Selim Gool, Balasubramanyam Chandramohan, Neville Alexander, Luli Callinicos, Pumla Madiba, Dumisani Sibayi, Lesley Townsend, Sifiso Ndlovu, Yazir Henri, Zayd Minty, Luvuyo Dondolo, Marcus Solomon, Ute Lehman, Gesine Kruger, Eve Bertelsen, Mahmood Mamdani, Noëleen Murray, Deirdre Prins, Noel Solani, André Marais, Gwen Wilcox, Roger Galant, Wonga Mancoba, Benita Parry, Phyllis Ntantala Jordan and R.O. Dudley. During the 1980s, I was educated in the analysis of social texts in clandestine reading groups. I owe enormous debts to my comrades of old, who taught me to think and to read. They know who they are. Over the years, I have had support and encouragement from my sisters and brothers, Fazilét, Michail, Denley and Alia, other members of my family, Nasim and Joe Rassool, Reza and Ruth Rassool, Joan and Wyness Jardine, Russell Bell, Kay, Feyruz and Zarina Rassool, Zenariah Barends, and family friends, the Edelbergs. I would like to express my deepest appreciation to my partner and colleague Patricia Hayes for her patience and sacrifices over many years, for her wisdom and generosity and for supporting me unstintingly without foregoing rigorous criticism. And I should not forget my chief companion and muse, Bart, who often gave up more important duties and desires to be at my side. This dissertation is dedicated to my parents, Fazil Rassool and Biddy Crowe Rassool, who nurtured in me an enquiring mind, and to the memory of my grandfather, Daniel Michael Crowe (security surveillance file number 888), who was a member of the Communist Party, and who first stimulated my imagination about the cultural history of radical politics. iv
TABLE OF CONTENTS Acknowledgements i List of Images viii Abbreviations ix Introduction 1 PART ONE: BIOGRAPHY, HISTORY AND SOUTH AFRICA: THEORETICAL AND METHODOLOGICAL QUESTIONS Chapter One: Auto/biography, Narrative and the Production of *** History 12 The individual and biography in the Social Sciences and History 17 Conventional biography and the ‘biographical illusion’ 27 Biography’s history 30 Beyond individualism: life histories and studies of the social 33 Biography and narrative 42 Auto/biography and the production of history 45 Chapter Two: Public History, Great Lives and Biographic Contestations 51 Great lives, history lessons and exposé biography 52 ‘Devouring’ Frida Kahlo on film 69 The biographic landscape of memory 73 Heroic biography and exhibitionary interventions 96 Chapter Three: Resistance Studies and Political Biography in South African Historical Scholarship 108 Documentary history, political biography and the legacy of Karis and Carter 115 Documentary narration, resistance history and political biography 126 v
Page 1 and 2: The Individual, Auto/biography and
Page 3 and 4: ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS This dissertation
Page 5: committee members selected me to ta
Page 9 and 10: 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 and 62:
are also to be found in the ‘stor
Page 63 and 64:
historian, personal and political,
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
Page 113 and 114:
more varied … [and] far more exci
Page 115 and 116:
esistance hero in general, of hope
Page 117 and 118:
issues about image‐making and aut
Page 119 and 120:
Lumumba who could stand in oppositi
Page 121 and 122:
CHAPTER THREE RESISTANCE STUDIES AN
Page 123 and 124:
in “a wide range of inventive pol
Page 125 and 126:
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
Page 131 and 132:
Under the conditions of deepening r
Page 133 and 134:
Crucially, this feature found expre
Page 135 and 136:
established through his professiona
Page 137 and 138:
scepticism, 35 the use of this noti
Page 139 and 140:
“glimpse into the inner mind of o
Page 141 and 142:
Higgs and Steven Gish also followed
Page 143 and 144:
understand the background, politica
Page 145 and 146:
national and land questions” conc
Page 147 and 148:
Higgs’ study was largely a chrono
Page 149 and 150:
South Africans to protest against t
Page 151 and 152:
In these traditional ‘masculinist
Page 153 and 154:
1980s in South African scholarship,
Page 155 and 156:
academic institutions involved in t
Page 157 and 158:
struggles over municipal controls d
Page 159 and 160:
that during the 1950s, a period see
Page 161 and 162:
away from biographic images of cons
Page 163 and 164:
orthography with “self‐appointe
Page 165 and 166:
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 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 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
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
Page 281 and 282:
“triumph of the human spirit”,
Page 283 and 284:
sought to contest the tendency for
Page 285 and 286:
deepening in Robben Island’s cult
Page 287 and 288:
follow the advice of Anthony Sampso
Page 289 and 290:
was asked to speak about the accuse
Page 291 and 292:
new conditions of exile was the con
Page 293 and 294:
importance of relations of cultural
Page 295 and 296:
construction of Nelson Mandela has
Page 297 and 298:
iography in public and commercial s
Page 299 and 300:
artist, Jacob Khumalo, who had exhi
Page 301 and 302:
epresentatives on the Nelson Mandel
Page 303 and 304:
eliance, self‐respect and self‐
Page 305 and 306:
PART TWO BEYOND MODERNIST HISTORY:
Page 307 and 308:
marginality. Among the materials in
Page 309 and 310:
Gradually, in drips and drabs, the
Page 311 and 312:
While Fort Hare in the Eastern Cape
Page 313 and 314:
for the field of political biograph
Page 315 and 316:
microfilm collection contained a su
Page 317 and 318:
and Karis may have received from Ta
Page 319 and 320:
and reserve dwellers, arguing that
Page 321 and 322:
Indeed, in this genealogy, the most
Page 323 and 324:
and was conducted as part of a wide
Page 325 and 326:
In making these assessments, Hirson
Page 327 and 328:
policy that had envisaged redivided
Page 329 and 330:
formation of APDUSA in January 1961
Page 331 and 332:
“effectively … smashed within t
Page 333 and 334:
opportunities that presented themse
Page 335 and 336:
and verbal performances, which have
Page 337 and 338:
political leadership was exercised
Page 339 and 340:
CHAPTER SIX FROM COLLECTIVE LEADERS
Page 341 and 342:
special protest meetings in convene
Page 343 and 344:
upture was coming to a head, when h
Page 345 and 346:
principles”. 18 Another aspect of
Page 347 and 348:
included on the back cover of such
Page 349 and 350:
political training did not take pla
Page 351 and 352:
pertinent to the themes of this cha
Page 353 and 354:
cause, rather than the leader”. T
Page 355 and 356:
341
Page 357 and 358:
343
Page 359 and 360:
345
Page 361 and 362:
347
Page 363 and 364:
asic passport‐type pen picture sa
Page 365 and 366:
their prominent placement in public
Page 367 and 368:
353
Page 369 and 370:
of individualised leadership may ha
Page 371 and 372:
political positions which rejected
Page 373 and 374:
interesting that Taylor’s first w
Page 375 and 376:
handwriting, which had been prepare
Page 377 and 378:
ehabilitation. 96 This did not stop
Page 379 and 380:
ooted in the past”, he suggested,
Page 381 and 382:
During 1949 and 1950, amid mounting
Page 383 and 384:
“colour and strength” were impo
Page 385 and 386:
Elsewhere on the left, Tabata’s b
Page 387 and 388:
occurred in which Tabata was subjec
Page 389 and 390:
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
Page 397 and 398:
fulfil the same function” as ‘T
Page 399 and 400:
state of anonymity to their true st
Page 401 and 402:
of persecution and state harassment
Page 403 and 404:
While Tabata’s presidency may hav
Page 405 and 406:
final choice between the subterfuge
Page 407 and 408:
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
Page 413 and 414:
historical understandings, Taylor
Page 415 and 416:
was “tolerably easy”. In fact,
Page 417 and 418:
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
Page 425 and 426:
who were involved in the movement c
Page 427 and 428:
moved into Gool’s newly rented ho
Page 429 and 430:
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
Page 439 and 440:
us”. Goolam Gool, he had argued,
Page 441 and 442:
political practice”. Tabata assur
Page 443 and 444:
Nine that the AAC and Unity Movemen
Page 445 and 446:
authored pamphlets aimed at “clar
Page 447 and 448:
production of I.B. Tabata made a mi
Page 449 and 450:
political work in the movement, in
Page 451 and 452:
political leadership. By that time,
Page 453 and 454:
unleashing different forms of biogr
Page 455 and 456:
their political exchanges. 9 Later,
Page 457 and 458:
where “fierce debates and discuss
Page 459 and 460:
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
Page 479 and 480:
“suspended” from the movement,
Page 481 and 482:
Thereafter, Alexander and his comra
Page 483 and 484:
“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
Page 499 and 500:
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
Page 505 and 506:
491
Page 507 and 508:
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
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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