Digital heritage and community

Niall McNulty co-opted as a member of the Executive Committee of OHASA

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At a recent meeting in Kimberley, Niall McNulty was co-opted as a member of the Executive Committee of the Oral History Association of South Africa (OHASA). Niall has considerable experience using oral histories in digital media projects and will advise the Committee in this area, as well as assist with OHASA’s own digital communication initiatives.

Niall McNulty running an oral history workshop with the Rural Women’s Movement

OHASA promotes oral history initiatives in South Africa that engage in a collective effort to re-envisage the past in a way that encompasses all people, irrespective of race, culture, genders, sexual orientation and social status.

Reading the city : analysing literary space in selected postapartheid urban narratives

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Space can be read through text. Space is also constructed through text. Literary and critical theory has, however, emphasised time over space. However, space, place and location are crucial determining factors in any literary study. Through reference to theories of construction of place as well as writings on spatial history and the city I will discuss how place is created through text and how the urban environment affects literary production. Using the work of Michel Foucault (1986, 2002) on space and power, Michel de Certeau’s approach to cities (2002) and WaIter Benjamin’s (2002) theories on space, time and the city, as well as South African theoretical approaches to space and the city, I will attempt an analysis of place in chosen pieces of literature set in the postapartheid city by selected writers. I have chosen to focus on the cities of Durban and Johannesburg, and in particular the innercities, because it is here that major transformation in the use and representation of space has occurred. By looking at selected apartheid and postapartheid texts I will be able to analyse how the representation of literary space has altered with political and socio-economic changes. The time period I will look at primarily will be the postapartheid period. The interdisciplinary nature of this project means I will draw from literary criticism, critical theory, geography, sociology and economic history as well as elements of postcolonial and postmodem theory. The South African city today is a post-city; postcolonial and postapartheid. So too, the texts I have selected are post-texts, postmodem and post-struggle and I will conduct my analysis with this in mind. The concept of ‘city’ in literature is much more than just buildings and streets. It exists also in social relationships and links between people, both in the city and places outside of the city. The city is a set of social, political and cultural conditions that manifests itself in space and it is this aspect of ‘city’ which is represented in these texts that I will investigate. Through focusing on the autobiography Man Bitch (2001) by Johan van Wyk together with Never Been At Home (2001) by Zazah P. Khuzwayo and No Way Out (2001) by Zinhle Carol Mdakane all set in Durban, and Welcome to Our Hillbrow (2001) by Phaswane Mpe and the short story “Autopsy” (1996) by Ivan Vladislavic set in Johannesburg, I will investigate the representation of urban space in these texts of postapartheid literature. By way of introduction, I will examine relevant selected apartheid texts that deal with the cities of Durban (Lewis Nkosi’s novel Mating Birds (1987)) and Johannesburg (selected poems of Mongane Wally Serote) and I will attempt to construct a literary image of the space of these cities under apartheid. A close reading of the texts selected will construct a clear picture of the current (and past) urban space through the medium of literature. It will be seen that major issues affecting South Africa’s city inhabitants emerge as themes: AIDS, crime, migration and architectural degradation drive these narratives as does access to once restricted space.

Thesis

Ulwazi Programme on The Soul Beat Africa Network

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The Ulwazi Programme is an online media project established in 2008, which is collecting and disseminating local knowledge in English and Zulu. It is run from the eThekwini Municipality’s Libraries and Heritage Department in Durban, South Africa, in partnership with McNulty Consulting. The vision of the programme is not only to preserve and disseminate local Zulu knowledge, but to encourage local communities to take ownership of the website and to become actively involved in the developing of a resource of local knowledge.

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Memories of Inanda: Lulu Dube

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https://vimeo.com/11861694

Mwelela Cele interviews Lulu Dube as part of the Memories of Inanda documentary, produced for the eThekwini Municipality’s Ulwazi Programme. Lulu discusses her father John Langalibalele Dube, the founding of the African National Congress and life in Inanda.

John Dube (1871 – 1946) was a South African essayist, philosopher, educator, politician, publisher, editor, novelist and poet. He was the founding president of the African National Congress

Shot at the Dube family home in Inanda in April 2010.

Memories of Inanda: Baba Zondi

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https://vimeo.com/11679052

Mwelela Cele interviews Baba Zondi as part of the Memories of Inanda documentary, produced for the eThekwini Municipality’s Ulwazi Programme. Shot at Inanda Seminary, Zondi describes his time as headmaster and archivist of the school.

Inanda Seminary, founded by the American Board of Missions (ABM) in 1869 forms an integral part of the history of Inanda. Situated 25 kilometres north west of Durban, it became the first secondary school exclusively for African girls in southern Africa. Its reputation grew rapidly and the school soon attracted students from across the continent.