The importance of historical literacy

[Steve Hayes]

LAST Thursday the University of KwaZulu-Natal Special Collections Day
provided a showcase for the Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archive, the
Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, the Centre for African Literary Studies
and, the hosts of the event, the Campbell Collections.

My friend (and cousin-in-law) John Aitchison also spoke on the occasion.


academic and activist John Aitchison, who donated his archive to the APC,
spoke on the subject of historical literacy.

Aitchison said that “historical literacy­” in South Africa was currently
suffering from the three As — “aphasia, amnesia and aporia”.

Aphasia — a difficulty in remembering (and by extension, speaking)
because of some head injury or infection. In historical terms the head injury
took the form of the destruction of records during the apartheid period­.
There was also little writing and documentation undertaken — “it was
dangerous to do so” — resulting in a lack of internal writing on the struggle
and hence the dominant record was written by exiles with their own particular
ideological and political perspectives.

“We also have a tremendous fight against self-induced amnesia,” said
Aitchison regarding the second A. “The often self-service amnesia of whites
as well as the tendency to airbrush out the resistance from non-mainline ANC
supporters — Nusas and other student protest groups, the Black Consciousness
movement, the churches, NGOs, etc.”

Aporia is originally a Greek term denoting an impasse or state of
puzzlement, inconsistency, doubt or indecision, another feature of the
malaise­ affecting historical literacy. Aitchison said the cure could be
found in the special collections and other archives that “different story”
documents can be found that cast a new light on our history and deconstruct
the new myths appearing about our past.

Historical literacy, according to Aitchison, apart from obviously being
based heavily on our normal literacy, requires us to develop the skills to
overcome these difficulties of the brutal lack of historical texts, the self-
serving erasing of memories about the past, and the difficulty of
understanding the “difficult readings” and getting access to them.

Which is why special collections are special.



The full article is well worth reading, as it gives examples of some of the
hidden history that can be found.

The Witness: Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archives
http://www.witness.co.za/index.php?showcontent&global%5B_id%5D=69918


THE collection includes Alan Paton’s papers, the manuscripts of his
poetry and short stories and his correspondence; the archives of the South
African Liberal Party; the documents of organisations involved in the
struggle against apartheid in the KwaZulu-Natal midlands, such as the Black
Sash, the Detainees Aid Committee and the Five Freedoms Forum. The Special
Collections of the Natal Society, which includes books collected over the
past 150 years by the Natal Society, and the O’Brien and Hattersley
Collections. The oral history project: ‘Recording the anti-apartheid struggle
in KwaZulu-Natal’ recorded interviews with many activists. The centre also
houses the Sinomlando Project, the oral history project of the School of
Theology.

The link to the APC in the Witness article is wrong, however.

The correct link is:
http://paton.ukzn.ac.za/Home.aspx

Source: http://su.pr/2FSyKK

[Peter Brooks]

Post by Steve Hayes
LAST Thursday the University of KwaZulu-Natal Special Collections Day
provided a showcase for the Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archive, the
Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, the Centre for African Literary Studies
and, the hosts of the event, the Campbell Collections.

Campbell Collection? Soup? Warhole?

Post by Steve Hayes
    Aitchison said that “historical literacy­” in South Africa was currently
suffering from the three As — “aphasia, amnesia and aporia”.

Good points..

Post by Steve Hayes
    “We also have a tremendous fight against self-induced amnesia,” said
Aitchison regarding the second A. “The often self-service amnesia of whites
as well as the tendency to airbrush out the resistance from non-mainline ANC
supporters — Nusas and other student protest groups, the Black Consciousness
movement, the churches, NGOs, etc.”

I went to a NUSAS conference in Cape Town when a student. It was an
interesting and lively event. I remember, even then, that the black
students had broken away from NUSAS on the grounds that NUSAS wasn't
sufficiently keen on ending apartheid. They may well have had a
point. During the conference there was no tear gas, there were no
baton charges and I don't even recall anybody being arrested.

It's normal human behaviour to have post-atrocity amnesia. There were
no Nazi supporters to be found after WWII, no Stasi supporters after
German Unification and, just as after My Lai, the outcome of the
investigation of torturet at Abu Ghraib showed that only Lynndie
England, and a couple of Hill-billies who'd unaccountably ended up
there, were responsible for the whole thing.

So it isn't that much of a surprise that few people admit supporting
the Nats.

To be fair, though, and it's a very important point, the last all-
White 1992 referendum was strongly (nearly 70%) in favour of ending
apartheid. That was, with an 85% turnout of the electorate, a quite
remarkable voting of, as some saw it, turkeys for Christmas. Something
that South Africa can, as with many other things, be justly proud of.
It certainly made me see white South Africans differently from the way
I'd seen them before.

[Steve Hayes]

On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:27:50 -0700 (PDT), Peter Brooks

Post by Peter Brooks

Post by Steve Hayes
LAST Thursday the University of KwaZulu-Natal Special Collections Day
provided a showcase for the Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archive, the
Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, the Centre for African Literary Studies
and, the hosts of the event, the Campbell Collections.

Campbell Collection? Soup? Warhole?

Killie Campbell L:ibrary, a special collection of UKZN in Durban.

Post by Peter Brooks

Post by Steve Hayes
    Aitchison said that “historical literacy­” in South Africa was currently
suffering from the three As — “aphasia, amnesia and aporia”.

Good points..

Post by Steve Hayes
    “We also have a tremendous fight against self-induced amnesia,” said
Aitchison regarding the second A. “The often self-service amnesia of whites
as well as the tendency to airbrush out the resistance from non-mainline ANC
supporters — Nusas and other student protest groups, the Black Consciousness
movement, the churches, NGOs, etc.”

I went to a NUSAS conference in Cape Town when a student. It was an
interesting and lively event. I remember, even then, that the black
students had broken away from NUSAS on the grounds that NUSAS wasn't
sufficiently keen on ending apartheid. They may well have had a
point. During the conference there was no tear gas, there were no
baton charges and I don't even recall anybody being arrested.

No. But there was probably someone taking car numbers, and others sending
reports of what was said.

Post by Peter Brooks
It's normal human behaviour to have post-atrocity amnesia. There were
no Nazi supporters to be found after WWII, no Stasi supporters after
German Unification and, just as after My Lai, the outcome of the
investigation of torturet at Abu Ghraib showed that only Lynndie
England, and a couple of Hill-billies who'd unaccountably ended up
there, were responsible for the whole thing.
So it isn't that much of a surprise that few people admit supporting
the Nats.
To be fair, though, and it's a very important point, the last all-
White 1992 referendum was strongly (nearly 70%) in favour of ending
apartheid. That was, with an 85% turnout of the electorate, a quite
remarkable voting of, as some saw it, turkeys for Christmas. Something
that South Africa can, as with many other things, be justly proud of.
It certainly made me see white South Africans differently from the way
I'd seen them before.

Perhaps they realised then, as Vorster had said about 15 years before, that
the alternative was too ghastly to contemplate.

[Peter Brooks]

Post by Steve Hayes
On Sun, 23 Oct 2011 07:27:50 -0700 (PDT), Peter Brooks

Post by Peter Brooks

Post by Steve Hayes
LAST Thursday the University of KwaZulu-Natal Special Collections Day
provided a showcase for the Alan Paton Centre and Struggle Archive, the
Gandhi-Luthuli Documentation Centre, the Centre for African Literary Studies
and, the hosts of the event, the Campbell Collections.

Campbell Collection? Soup? Warhole?

Killie Campbell L:ibrary, a special collection of UKZN in Durban.

Post by Peter Brooks

Post by Steve Hayes
    Aitchison said that “historical literacy­” in South Africa was currently
suffering from the three As — “aphasia, amnesia and aporia”.

Good points..

Post by Steve Hayes
    “We also have a tremendous fight against self-induced amnesia,” said
Aitchison regarding the second A. “The often self-service amnesia of whites
as well as the tendency to airbrush out the resistance from non-mainline ANC
supporters — Nusas and other student protest groups, the Black Consciousness
movement, the churches, NGOs, etc.”

I went to a NUSAS conference in Cape Town when a student. It was an
interesting and lively event. I remember, even then, that the black
students had broken away from NUSAS on the grounds that NUSAS wasn't
sufficiently keen on ending apartheid.  They may well have had a
point. During the conference there was no tear gas, there were no
baton charges and I don't even recall anybody being arrested.

No. But there was probably someone taking car numbers, and others sending
reports of what was said.

No doubt. I know my brother was asked if he'd spy for the Secret
Police when he was a lecturer at 'Maritzburg University.

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Peter Brooks
It's normal human behaviour to have post-atrocity amnesia. There were
no Nazi supporters to be found after WWII, no Stasi supporters after
German Unification and, just as after My Lai, the outcome of the
investigation of torturet at Abu Ghraib showed that only Lynndie
England, and a couple of Hill-billies who'd unaccountably ended up
there, were responsible for the whole thing.
So it isn't that much of a surprise that few people admit supporting
the Nats.
To be fair, though, and it's a very important point, the last all-
White 1992 referendum was strongly (nearly 70%) in favour of ending
apartheid. That was, with an 85% turnout of the electorate, a quite
remarkable voting of, as some saw it, turkeys for Christmas. Something
that South Africa can, as with many other things, be justly proud of.
It certainly made me see white South Africans differently from the way
I'd seen them before.

Perhaps they realised then, as Vorster had said about 15 years before, that
the alternative was too ghastly to contemplate.

Probably, some of them, anyway. I'd hope that more were hoping for a
more equitable country.

No matter their motivation, though, they did achieve something
wonderful that, in other places, has only arrived through bloody
revolution and civil war - not, of course, that I'm suggesting that
the apartheid years were not bloody and terrible, but the transition
was quite amazingly peaceful.

The constitution is also an impressive outcome. I think that PR was a
mistake, but it was an understandable reaction to the previous system
- a pity that it wasn't left more flexible.

[Steve Hayes]

On Thu, 27 Oct 2011 10:13:22 -0700 (PDT), Peter Brooks

Post by Peter Brooks

Post by Steve Hayes
Perhaps they realised then, as Vorster had said about 15 years before, that
the alternative was too ghastly to contemplate.

Probably, some of them, anyway. I'd hope that more were hoping for a
more equitable country.

Some were, certainly.

Post by Peter Brooks
No matter their motivation, though, they did achieve something
wonderful that, in other places, has only arrived through bloody
revolution and civil war - not, of course, that I'm suggesting that
the apartheid years were not bloody and terrible, but the transition
was quite amazingly peaceful.
The constitution is also an impressive outcome. I think that PR was a
mistake, but it was an understandable reaction to the previous system
- a pity that it wasn't left more flexible.

I don't think PR was a mistake. It has its shortcomings certainly, but I think
the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages.

The disadvantage is that MPs are more accountable to their party whips than to
their constituents.

Among the advantasges is that there are no wasted votes -- your vote counts,
because there are no unopposed constiuencies, and no gerrymandering of
constituencies etc.

[Peter Brooks]

Post by Steve Hayes

Post by Peter Brooks
The constitution is also an impressive outcome. I think that PR was a
mistake, but it was an understandable reaction to the previous system
- a pity that it wasn't left more flexible.

I don't think PR was a mistake. It has its shortcomings certainly, but I think
the advantages still outweigh the disadvantages.
The disadvantage is that MPs are more accountable to their party whips than to
their constituents.

Also that it discriminates strongly against individual candidates in
favour of parties. I'm no lover of political parties, and I think
independent MPs should be valuable correctors of errors resulting from
groupthink.

Post by Steve Hayes
Among the advantasges is that there are no wasted votes -- your vote counts,
because there are no unopposed constiuencies, and no gerrymandering of
constituencies etc.

True, but there's also the problem of a lack of genuine local
representation. An unopposed constituency only occurs because of a
decision by everybody else not to oppose. I see that it
disenfranchises people in that constituency, but they have the obvious
remedy of standing or getting somebody they like to stand.

To me the arbitrary appointment of party toadies is a form of
gerrymandering. People end up in parliament who are absolutely not the
sort that anybody would vote for. If you value democracy, then this
can't be a good thing. If you value a smooth party machine, on the
other hand, it clearly is a great advantage. This being another plank
of my objection.