Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
Shane Moran - Alternation Journal
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'/lj.r(,t?f 7ktzds ill t/le ~'I*OCL~~C~;~~II cf.y(l,(l/l ,~[f<br />
Ile\v conditions of 'uncompleted revolutioll. l-emove a Illaterial ining and the mines in South African histo~y in a numbel of new works; a spate of<br />
~lflc~c~-Pin~li~g of ~viiionist ideas. A~iti-capitalii~~ and idcas ofclass become vely<br />
U1lfjshiollable ill official society. But what is to take their<br />
in historjogf-a13hy? D~~~<br />
'lot transition from the revolutionaly clilnate of the 1980~ to the bland cljlnate of<br />
'recollciliatioll' of the 1990s part way to explain why the trailsition has not (as yet<br />
m~iva~) beell associated with breaks or erplosiollS ill histol-iogl-aphy?<br />
c('mmcntalor on the 'Future ofthe Past' confererlce held at uwc last yearLVrote how:<br />
istorical and political biographies; and a growing literature on the lbr~ns of rule and<br />
ature ofopposition to apartheid, anlongst others. We can do little justice to the rarlge of<br />
pics, critiques and fields of attention that are visible within and about this growing<br />
outh African historiography. Instead we will focus on what are variously regarded as<br />
'The Mn~ihu~lc Ccntre was concerned to criticisc tire pl.olkssional llistol-yproducing<br />
cstahlishme~lt. including 111cil. collcagLles in !listoly<br />
r)c~~al'fn~elit. for not \criting tlie history of- b7~'l~c Struggle. and for<br />
laI?Ollt.il?g 3t tll~ 'rockfkce' oftlie political S~SLIS~[C (j{;lilli]t~~~ 1996: 146). The three books we wish to focus on are Charles van Onselen's The Secd is<br />
B~it what kind of lli~toly of the struggle is being delmnded in this critique1] ls it a<br />
1'o~~~ar histof7 'fi.oln bclo\~'? Or is it a triutnphalist nationalist llistoly? or a<br />
'11-econciliation' history?<br />
r1le1-e are certain cornlnon features between the approach of Sout], Afi-ican<br />
social 1lislorialls and the 'subaltern studies' school ill llldia. ~ 0th ]lave stressed ~l,istoly<br />
fionl below' popular agency. Both have expressed tllelllselves llostile to salne time, though, each of the three books moves beyond a social histo~y 'Srorn<br />
nationalism and to a triumphalist nationalist histow of 'great men3, say this,<br />
howevel; disguises their differences. 'Subaltern studies' arose ill a quite difkrent<br />
context. It represented a challenge from 'within the nation' to the hegelnony of<br />
nationalist (and 'Marxist' which were in fact nationalist) ideas in post-colonial Indian<br />
historiograp~~y". South African social history arose while society was still 'colonial3 to<br />
challenge first liberalism of the 'coloriisers' and the11 a nationalist prpselltatior, ofthe<br />
ofthe colonised It might be considered merely a brancl~ of the 'historiography<br />
arch and productioll (Nasson 1996). Despite having emerged earlier as a historical<br />
of the colonisers'. In this case, particularly under conditions of an 'uncompleted<br />
revolution', the historiographic break rnight express itself as a nationalist reaction to it.<br />
ect in the work of Nkadimeng and Relly (1 983), Kas Maine has been Put on *he<br />
At the same time, the challenge 'fro~n below' represented by social history to<br />
'nationalist ideas' cannot be wished away. To move fi-om a concerll lYith nationalism to<br />
a ca~cern with subalte1llity seems a logical progression. TO retun, from collcerll with<br />
In this sense The Seed is Mine represents a kind of 'flagship' of the social<br />
subaltemit~ and conflict to concern with nationalism and/or reconciliation seelns a<br />
rather harder road to travel: more difficult, perhaps ilnpossible.<br />
recent 'social history' writing: its strengths and limits<br />
At the same time academic histoly productioil in South Africa has continued to<br />
generate a range of and divergent works. In recent years there has been a<br />
revitalisatioll of 'precolonial' studies; intense debates aild ilew analyses of early<br />
colonia1 histories in southern Africa; reassessments of the role aild importance of<br />
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