Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa
Commemoration of the Wars of Resistance in South Africa generally and the subsequent monuments in honour of Warrior Kings in Limpopo Province particularly raised recognition of African traditional leadership beyond the status it had previously enjoyed in South African historical memory. The figur...
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Online Access: | http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805 Thotse, M 2015, Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa, DPhil Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805> |
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ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-up-oai-repository.up.ac.za-2263-508052017-07-20T04:12:22Z Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa Thotse, Mahunele Grobler, John Edward Holloway mahunelet@gmail.com UCTD Commemoration of the Wars of Resistance in South Africa generally and the subsequent monuments in honour of Warrior Kings in Limpopo Province particularly raised recognition of African traditional leadership beyond the status it had previously enjoyed in South African historical memory. The figure of the king also provided a model of post struggle leadership. He represented the political posture, the collective responsibilities, and the ideals of personal appearance prescribed by the society that honoured him, including its vision of ethnicity. The king was particularly emblematic of ideas about masculinity in the wake of a war and amid the social upheavals that followed it. Limpopo‘s commemorative Wars of Resistance monument represents the physical points of collective remembrance and stand in South Africa‘s public spaces as a permanent reminder of the wars of resistance. The creation of a collective memory is very important to the cohesion of the people of Limpopo Province. The population of the province consists of several ethnic groups distinguished by culture, language and race. Thus, the decision by the Limpopo Provincial Government to launch the ‗Wars of Resistance against Colonialism and Imperialism‘ theme was meant not only to acknowledge the contribution of the selected kings that are being honoured, but also to bring about an element of cohesion and shared past out of the people of Limpopo. Indeed every society, whatever its ideological climate requires a sense of continuity with the past and its enduring memories maintain this continuity. Stable memories strengthen society‘s ―temporal integration‖ by creating links between the living and the dead and promoting consensus over time. This consensus is resilient because memories create the grounds for their own perpetuation. Memories are not credible unless they conform to an existing structure of assumptions about the past—an ―available past‖ that people accept as given and that possesses a self-sustaining inertia. Thus a true community is a ―community of memory,‖ one whose past is retained by retelling the same ―cognitive narrative,‖ by recalling the people who have always embodied and exemplified its moral values and in this case those are the warrior kings of the Limpopo Province. Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2015. tm2015 Historical and Heritage Studies DPhil Unrestricted 2015-11-25T09:53:41Z 2015-11-25T09:53:41Z 2015/09/01 2015 Thesis http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805 Thotse, M 2015, Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa, DPhil Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805> S2015 2513463 en © 2015 University of Pretoria. All rights reserved. The copyright in this work vests in the University of Pretoria. No part of this work may be reproduced or transmitted in any form or by any means, without the prior written permission of the University of Pretoria. |
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UCTD Thotse, Mahunele Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
description |
Commemoration of the Wars of Resistance in South Africa generally and the subsequent
monuments in honour of Warrior Kings in Limpopo Province particularly raised recognition
of African traditional leadership beyond the status it had previously enjoyed in South African
historical memory. The figure of the king also provided a model of post struggle leadership.
He represented the political posture, the collective responsibilities, and the ideals of personal
appearance prescribed by the society that honoured him, including its vision of ethnicity. The
king was particularly emblematic of ideas about masculinity in the wake of a war and amid
the social upheavals that followed it. Limpopo‘s commemorative Wars of Resistance
monument represents the physical points of collective remembrance and stand in South
Africa‘s public spaces as a permanent reminder of the wars of resistance.
The creation of a collective memory is very important to the cohesion of the people of
Limpopo Province. The population of the province consists of several ethnic groups
distinguished by culture, language and race. Thus, the decision by the Limpopo Provincial
Government to launch the ‗Wars of Resistance against Colonialism and Imperialism‘ theme
was meant not only to acknowledge the contribution of the selected kings that are being
honoured, but also to bring about an element of cohesion and shared past out of the people of
Limpopo.
Indeed every society, whatever its ideological climate requires a sense of continuity with the
past and its enduring memories maintain this continuity. Stable memories strengthen
society‘s ―temporal integration‖ by creating links between the living and the dead and
promoting consensus over time. This consensus is resilient because memories create the
grounds for their own perpetuation. Memories are not credible unless they conform to an
existing structure of assumptions about the past—an ―available past‖ that people accept as
given and that possesses a self-sustaining inertia. Thus a true community is a ―community of
memory,‖ one whose past is retained by retelling the same ―cognitive narrative,‖ by recalling
the people who have always embodied and exemplified its moral values and in this case those
are the warrior kings of the Limpopo Province. === Thesis (DPhil)--University of Pretoria, 2015. === tm2015 === Historical and Heritage Studies === DPhil === Unrestricted |
author2 |
Grobler, John Edward Holloway |
author_facet |
Grobler, John Edward Holloway Thotse, Mahunele |
author |
Thotse, Mahunele |
author_sort |
Thotse, Mahunele |
title |
Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
title_short |
Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
title_full |
Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
title_fullStr |
Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
title_full_unstemmed |
Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa |
title_sort |
constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in limpopo province south africa |
publishDate |
2015 |
url |
http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805 Thotse, M 2015, Constructing a collective memory : monuments commemorating warrior kings and name changes in Limpopo Province South Africa, DPhil Thesis, University of Pretoria, Pretoria, viewed yymmdd <http://hdl.handle.net/2263/50805> |
work_keys_str_mv |
AT thotsemahunele constructingacollectivememorymonumentscommemoratingwarriorkingsandnamechangesinlimpopoprovincesouthafrica |
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