The politics of historical memory and commemoration in Africa : essays in honour of Jan-Georg Deutsch

Essays in Memory of Jan-Georg Deutsch The volume observes some of the principles that drove Prof. Jan-Georg Deutsch's research: highlighting present-day politics for the way they shape historical remembrance, learning from people on the ground through fieldwork and oral history, and bringing various parts of the African continent into discussion with one another. From Cape Town to Charlottesville, many societies are grappling with historical consciousness and the production of public memory. In particular, how and why societies remember and forget, what should serve as symbols of collective memory, and whether there exists space for multiple memory cultures are questions being vigorously debated once again. These discussions present particular challenges not only to official memory bound to ideological constructions of nationhood but also to the teaching of history and its links to social justice movements. The volume re-centres Africa and African history in memory studies, with each chapter drawing parallels to comparable cases in Africa and the world. An underlying assumption is that what can be learned from the politics of historical memory in Africa will have relevance for contemporary politics globally and for understanding how memories can be mobilised for political ends. Acknowledgements Michelle M. Sikes, Cassandra Mark-Thiesen, Moritz A. Mihatsch Public Memorialisation and the Politics of Historical Memory in Africa Of Memory, Commemoration, and Monuments Chapter overviews The Politics of Historical Memory and Commemoration in Africa: A final note in honour of Jan-Georg Deutsch I Struggles with Heritage & Historicity Natacha Filippi Oral history, Closed Settings and the Formation of Narratives: A South African Example Oral History in Closed Settings: Issues of Consent and Authenticity A Confined Collective Memory Prisons, Heritage Sites and Official Memory Conclusion Casper Andersen A “Quest for Relevance”: The Memory Politics of UNESCO’s General History of Africa The Quest for Relevance and Wholeness: Nationalism and Pan-Africanism The UNESCO Context for the GHA A Scientific History of African Unity and Culture Written from the Inside Unity, Connections and Resistance Adu Boahen and the View from the Inside Conclusion II Political Commemoration & Memory Edward Goodman Remembering Mzee: The Making and Re-making of “Kenyatta Day,” 1958 – 2010 Colonial Origins The First Liberation: Proponents The Second Liberation: Critics Conclusion Mohamed Haji Ingiriis Southern Somalia’s “Glorious Days Are Our Nightmare”: The Performance of Political Memory and Contestations of Commemoration in Northern Somalia (Somaliland) Political Memory, Grievance and Commemoration Siad Barre and Somaliland Political Memory and Construction of Identity Challenges to Grievance-Based Separatism Conclusion III Nostalgia – between Social Connection & Social Ordering Rouven Kunstmann, Cassandra Mark-Thiesen The Memory Process in the Commemorations of the Dead in West African Newspapers Printing Industries and Journalism in Nigeria and Liberia between the 1940s and 1960s Printing Death in (West) Africa: A Brief overview of the Literature In-memoriams and Obituaries in Nigerian Newspapers Reading and Printing of Death: The Case of the Liberia Official Gazette Conclusion Nina S. Studer Remembrance of Drinks Past: Wine and Absinthe in Nineteenth-century French Algeria Frenchness in a Bottle Beyond “All Limits of Plausibility” Conclusion Epilogue Ruramisai Charumbira The Historian as Memory Practitioner Reckoning with the Long Cold Shadow of Feigned Racial Innocence Language as the Practice of History Language as the Practice of Memory Wangari Maathai of Kenya Linda Tuhiwai Smith of New Zealand/Aotearoa Robin Wall Kimmerer of the Citizen Potawatomi Nation/USA. Thanksgiving in Lieu of a Conclusion Figures List of Contributors Index of names Index of places

Essays in Memory of Jan-Georg Deutsch The volume observes some of the principles that drove Prof. Jan-Georg Deutsch's research: highlighting present-day politics for the way they shape historical remembrance, learning from people on the ground through fieldwork and oral history, and bringing various parts of the African continent into discussion with one another.

From Cape Town to Charlottesville, many societies are grappling with historical consciousness and the production of public memory. In particular, how and why societies remember and forget, what should serve as symbols of collective memory, and whether there exists space for multiple memory cultures are questions being vigorously debated once again. These discussions present particular challenges not only to official memory bound to ideological constructions of nationhood but also to the teaching of history and its links to social justice movements.

The volume re-centres Africa and African history in memory studies, with each chapter drawing parallels to comparable cases in Africa and the world. An underlying assumption is that what can be learned from the politics of historical memory in Africa will have relevance for contemporary politics globally and for understanding how memories can be mobilised for political ends.

From Cape Town to Charlottesville, many societies are grappling with historical consciousness and the production of public memory. In particular, how and why societies remember and forget, what should serve as symbols of collective memory, and whether there exists space for multiple memory cultures are questions being vigorously debated once again. These discussions present particular challenges not only to official memory bound to ideological constructions of nationhood but also to the teaching of history and its links to social justice movements. The volume re-centres Africa and African history in memory studies, with each chapter drawing parallels to comparable cases in Africa and the world. An underlying assumption is that what can be learned from the politics of historical memory in Africa will have relevance for contemporary politics globally and for understanding how memories can be mobilised for political ends. Essays in memory of Jan-Georg Deutsch.