Half a century of South African "Border War" literature: a historiographical exploration
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Date
2017
Authors
Wessels, Andre
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Faculty of Humanities, University of the Free State
Abstract
Half a century ago, in 1966, the so-called “Border War” broke out in
what was then called South-West Africa (SWA) – known as Namibia
after gaining independence in 1990. It was the most comprehensive,
costly and traumatic of all the apartheid wars, and although it focused
on SWA/Namibia, the conflict spilled over into Angola and Zambia,
and should also be viewed in relation to the role played by the then
South African Defence Force (SADF) in Rhodesia/Zimbabwe and in
Mozambique. While the War for Southern Africa (1966-1989) was
being fought, a number of books on the conflict were published. In the
1990s, while South Africa experienced a decade of dramatic political
changes and concomitant transformation, not many books on the
war “up north” and “on the border” were published, but from about
the dawn of the new millennium, there has been a steady stream
of publications (mostly in South Africa) that deal with the abovementioned
conflict. Why this renewed interest? Who are the authors?
What do they write about? This article endeavours to provide
answers to these and related questions by analysing half a century
of “Border War” literature, primarily focusing on books published
in South Africa. The way in which these publications can influence
people and thus, also the extent to which the legacy of the apartheid
era is continued, will also be addressed. For obvious reasons, the
issue of memory and violence, the legacies of trauma, the legacies
of conscription, and the challenges with regard to researching the
apartheid wars, as well as related matters, will also be interrogated.
Description
Keywords
Border War, Military history, Namibia, Angola, South African literature, National service/conscription, War memoirs, South African Defence Force
Citation
Wessels, A. (2017). Half a century of South African "Border War" literature: a historiographical exploration. Journal for Contemporary History, 42(2), 24-47.