Landscape of Memory. Commemorative monuments, memorials and public statuary in post-apartheid South-Africa

Abstract

Under the aegis of post-apartheid government, much emphasis has been placed on the transformation and democratisation of the heritage sector in South Africa. The emergent new landscape of memory comprises a host of commemorative monuments, memorials and statues installed since 1994 to create a shared public history with the purported aim of reconciliation and nation-building. This book critically investigates the flourishing monument phenomenon, notably the political discourses that fuel it; its impact on identity formation, its potential benefits, and most importantly its ambivalences and contractions. Sabine Marschall, Dr.Phil. (1992) in History of Art, Eberhardt-Karls Universität Tübingen, is Associate Professor of and programme director of Cultural and Hertitage Tourism at the University of KwaZulu-Natal in Durban, South Africa. She has published extensively on South African art, architecture, cultural heritage and commemoration.