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Periodical article | Leiden University catalogue | WorldCat |
Title: | A Lack of Nation? The Evolution of History in South African Museums, c. 1825-1945 |
Author: | Gore, J.M. |
Year: | 2004 |
Periodical: | South African Historical Journal |
Issue: | 51 |
Pages: | 24-46 |
Language: | English |
Geographic term: | South Africa |
Subjects: | museums nationalism historiography history Ethnic and Race Relations History and Exploration Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) |
External link: | https://www.tandfonline.com/doi/abs/10.1080/02582470409464828 |
Abstract: | This article traces the history of museums in South Africa from their formation in c. 1825 to around 1945. Focusing on the development of historical collections, and the motives behind what was and was not collected, it questions why museums developed with little interest in, or at most a narrow focus on, the human history of their own country. Arguing that museums evolved in a manner that perpetuated narrow images such as the masculine and European nature of the nation, ignoring the relevance of indigenous or everyday histories, the article also considers how various burgeoning nationalisms affected the development of nonindigenous history in the different areas and provinces in considerably diverse ways. Highlighting a gradual widening of historical consciousness, it illustrates why this has contributed to the problematic nature of national identity in postcolonial South African society. Notes, ref. [ASC Leiden abstract] |