Oral History, Community, and Displacement: Imagining Memories in Post-Apartheid South Africa (Palgrave Studies in Oral History)

This book uses oral history methodology to record stories of people who experienced the brunt of racist forced removals in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Through life stories and community case studies, it traces the human impact of this disruptive, often violent feature of apartheid's social engineering. The impact of displacement is not simply the product of a racist and ethnocentric vision, but also the myriad of experiences of place, people, and communities, which are sustained in the present through remembering and imagining. "This book uses oral history methodology to record stories of people who experienced the brunt of racist forced removals in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Through life stories and community case studies, it traces the human impact of this disruptive, often violent feature of apartheid's social engineering. The impact of displacement is not simply the product of a racist and ethnocentric vision, but also the myriad of experiences of place, people, and communities, which are sustained in the present through remembering and imagining." Front Matter....Pages i-xviii Introduction: Imagining Memories....Pages 1-16 Front Matter....Pages 17-22 Remembering Experience, Interpreting Memory....Pages 23-36 Fragile Identities....Pages 37-51 From the “Peaceful Past” to the “Violent Present”....Pages 53-67 Disappointed Men....Pages 69-79 Front Matter....Pages 81-85 Imagining Communities....Pages 87-100 Sites of Memory in Langa....Pages 101-116 “There Your Memory Runs Like a Camera Back”....Pages 117-132 “Others Killed in My Eyes”....Pages 133-145 Front Matter....Pages 147-152 Beyond “Healing”....Pages 153-164 Disappointed Imaginings....Pages 165-177 Back Matter....Pages 179-221 "This book uses oral history methodology to record stories of people who experienced the brunt of racist forced removals in the city of Cape Town, South Africa. Through life stories and community case studies, it traces the human impact of this disruptive, often violent feature of apartheid's social engineering. The impact of displacement is not simply the product of a racist and ethnocentric vision, but also the myriad of experiences of place, people, and communities, which are sustained in the present through remembering and imagining"-- Provided by publisher