Browsing by Subject "Oral History"

Now showing 1 - 3 of 3
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    Remembering Albasini
    (1998) Van Ryneveld, Teresa Ann; Harries, Patrick
    This dissertation uses the historical figure of Joao Albasini to explore some historiographical issues related to how people commemorate their past. Joao Albasini was a Portuguese trader who operated through the port of Delagoa Bay for a large part of the 19th Century. He was based in Portuguese East Africa in the1830's and early 1840's, and moved into what would become the Transvaal in the late 1840's, becoming a powerful political force in the region. This thesis looks at the strikingly different ways in which Albasini has been remembered by different individuals and groups. Part 1 deals with his South African family's memories of him, focusing in particular on the portrayal of Albasini in a celebration held in 1988 to commemorate the centenary of his death. This is compared with fragments of earlier family memories, in particular, with the testimony of his second daughter recorded in newspaper articles, letters and notes. This comparison is used to argue that the memories of Albasini are being shaped both by a changing social context, and by the influence of different literary genres. Part 2 looks at a doctoral thesis on Albasini written by J.B. de Vaal in the 1940's. This is placed in the context of a tradition of professional Afrikaner academic writing, which combined the conventions and claims of Rankean scientific history with the concerns of an Afrikaner Volksgeskiedenis, and which became powerful in a number of South African Universities in the early decades of this century. The text of de Vaal's thesis is examined in detail with a view to focusing on the extent to which it was shaped by this tradition. Part 3 looks at a group of oral histories collected from the former Gazankulu Homeland between 1979 and 1991, and focuses on the way in which a memory of Albasini has been used in the construction of the idea of a Tsonga/Shangaan ethnic group. One oral tradition is examined in detail, and used to argue for an approach to oral history that attempts to focus on the structure and commentary of oral history, instead of simply using it as a source of empirical fact.
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    The road to Mamre : migration, memory and the meaning of community c1900-1992
    (1992) Ward, Kerry; Worden, Nigel
    This thesis breaks new ground in oral history methodology in South African historiography. It applies an approach to research which evolved from participation in the Masters Students Programme of Community Education Resources at the University of Cape Town. The thesis investigates the process of historical research in Mamre, a mission village fifty kilometres north-west from Cape Town. CER's research methodology provided the basis of interaction between myself as an academic historian and members of the Mamre community interested in researching their own history. Through my participation as facilitator, sharing skills of oral history methodology and resource production, members of the Mamre History Project were able to research and present a new vision of Mamre's history to the community. This thesis documents the process of this interaction and interrogates the meaning of history in the Mamre community. It focuses on the experience of migration in the first half of the twentieth century based on oral testimony from life history interviews of Mamriers born in this era. It also probes how community identity in Mamre is forged over time, and transcends spatial boundaries. Mamriers' community identity incorporates both city and countryside because the common experience of migration to Cape Town began last century and the networks between the two milieux still persist. The study also raises issues of memory and nostalgia in the creation of both individual and collective identity. The aim of this thesis is to discover new ways of making history in the academy and in the community; and to break down barriers between the two audiences.
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    Wupperthal: listening to the past
    (1999) Bilbe, Mark; Penn, Nigel
    The community of the Wupperthal Mission Station and its satellite stations, forms the focus of this text. The mission is situated in the Tra-Tra River Valley in the Cederberg Mountains of the Western Cape. In this text, I have sketched a series of vignettes to portray the lives of certain individuals, characters in the community's past and certain events throughout the history of the mission. The work is largely an oral history project, combined with a certain degree of philosophy of history as well as incorporating secondary sources where applicable. Though post-modem in certain aspects, this work incorporates sound modernist thought and academic practice. It is intended to be accessible to a wide readership, and prove to be entertaining as well as insightful. The scholarly endeavour driving this text is as sincere, as the history is real. It is a journey I encourage the reader to take with an open mind, taking time to savour the richness of the peoples' experiences. It is their quest for legitimacy, a combined search for truth, and my personal adventure.