Icons of the old regime : challenging South African public memory strategies in #RhodesMustFall

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dc.contributor.author Holmes, Carolyn E.
dc.contributor.author Loehwing, Melanie
dc.date.accessioned 2017-02-02T10:32:03Z
dc.date.issued 2016-12
dc.description.abstract Students engaged in the spring 2015 protests on the University of Cape Town campus demanded the removal of the statue of Cecil John Rhodes, prompting renewed debate over the appropriate treatment of colonial and apartheid-era statuary in contemporary South African public spaces. While the students’ protests were often dismissed in public discourse and media coverage as misguided or misinformed, this article situates them in the broader context of symbolic reparations central to the transition to multiracial democracy. We introduce the terms ‘monologic commemoration’ and ‘multiplicative commemoration’ to describe the two dominant phases of South African public memory initiatives during and after apartheid. Monologic commemoration promotes a singular historical narrative of national identity and heroic leadership, whereas multiplicative commemoration requires the representation of as many diverse experiences and viewpoints as possible. We examine the #RhodesMustFall campaign as an eruption of discontent with both the monologic and multiplicative approaches, potentially signalling a new ‘post-transitional’ phase of South African public culture. en_ZA
dc.description.department Sociology en_ZA
dc.description.embargo 2018-06-30
dc.description.librarian hb2017 en_ZA
dc.description.uri http://www.tandfonline.com/loi/cjss20 en_ZA
dc.identifier.citation Carolyn E. Holmes & Melanie Loehwing (2016) Icons of the Old Regime: Challenging South African Public Memory Strategies in #RhodesMustFall, Journal of Southern African Studies, 42:6, 1207-1223, DOI: 10.1080/03057070.2016.1253927. en_ZA
dc.identifier.issn 0305-7070 (print)
dc.identifier.issn 1465-3893 (online)
dc.identifier.other 10.1080/03057070.2016.1253927
dc.identifier.uri http://hdl.handle.net/2263/58844
dc.language.iso en en_ZA
dc.publisher Routledge en_ZA
dc.rights © 2016 The Editorial Board of the Journal of Southern African Studies. This is an electronic version of an article published in Journal of Southern African Studies, vol. 42, no. 6, pp. 1207-1223, 2016. doi : 10.1080/03057070.2016.1253927. Journal of Southern African Studies is available online at : http://www.tandfonline.comloi/cjss20. en_ZA
dc.subject #RhodesMustFall en_ZA
dc.subject Memory strategies en_ZA
dc.subject Old regime en_ZA
dc.subject Protests en_ZA
dc.subject South African public spaces en_ZA
dc.subject Multiracial democracy en_ZA
dc.subject South African public memory en_ZA
dc.subject South African public culture en_ZA
dc.title Icons of the old regime : challenging South African public memory strategies in #RhodesMustFall en_ZA
dc.type Postprint Article en_ZA


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