{"id":194,"date":"2011-11-06T18:30:00","date_gmt":"2011-11-06T18:30:00","guid":{"rendered":"http:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/2011\/11\/06\/memory-and-city\/"},"modified":"2025-01-17T13:25:06","modified_gmt":"2025-01-17T11:25:06","slug":"memory-and-city","status":"publish","type":"post","link":"https:\/\/www.ifas.org.za\/research\/events\/conferences\/memory-and-city\/","title":{"rendered":"Memory and City Conference"},"content":{"rendered":"\n

\"\"<\/a>13-16 September 2011
Johannesburg<\/h4>\n\n\n\n

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With a few exceptions (for example some cities on the Swahili coast, see Abungu 1998), the issue of heritage in Africa remains, in academic literature as well as among institutions in charge of the economic valorisation of heritage, very much attached to rural areas and societies. African cities, still widely considered alien in the landscape of a continent essentialized as rural ever since colonisation (Coquery-Vidrovitch 1993, Freund 2007), are nonetheless important spaces for the construction of memory and heritage (which are not necessarily interchangeable terms).<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The topic of urban memory and its meaning in the making of neighbourhood identities and development strategies (linked to tangible and intangible heritage) produced by local and municipal governments and international donors, has only recently come under investigation by researchers in Africa. What image of these neighbourhoods is promoted and for what purpose? What selections and processes operate, as far as representations of these neighbourhoods are concerned, so that they acquire, in the long run, distinctive traits and stereotypes? In cities experiencing rapid transformation, often connected to new patterns of migration and mobility, what is the role of memory and nostalgia in the making of local identities? To what extent does this nostalgia serve the purpose of regeneration\/gentrification policies \u2013 a phenomenon that has been particularly prevalent in Johannesburg?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

In South Africa, memorial efforts since the democratic transition have mainly focused on the evocation of the (mostly urban) battlegrounds of the struggle : emblematic areas and neighbourhoods wiped out during the forced removals and resettlement policies led by the Apartheid regime (such as Red Location, Sophiatown, District 6), are today the object of memory enterprises which are, arguably, intended to contribute to the construction of a national identity rooted in memories of violent abuses committed under Apartheid (Saunders & Kros 2004, Didier et al. 2007). The question of the link between these memorialised neighbourhoods and the population currently living in them has, however, not yet been explored in depth. Above all, not only do these evocations of memory tend to occlude contradictory voices (Nieftagodien 2009) but little space is left for \u201cordinary\u201d memories (as described by Hayden 1995). What space do ordinary, everyday or unspectacular memories have in the making of territorial identities? How do they articulate with grand memorial narratives promoted for the sake of national identity?<\/p>\n\n\n\n

The event will consist of a two day colloquium, organized at the University of Witwaterstrand (Wits) and University of Johannesburg (UJ); one day of site visits to some of emblematic neighbourhoods of Johannesburg as far as the subject of urban memory in South Africa is concerned; and a film screening and debate at the Alliance Francaise in Johannesburg. It is anticipated that the academic fields represented will range from urban history, geography, anthropology, heritage studies and urban sociology. The intention is to go beyond the frame of \u201cAfrican studies\u201d and to connect experiments and reflections from all corners of what is now a global issue: for instance, the recent progress of French memory collection works in the Paris suburbs, under the impetus of the DIV (Inter-ministerial Delegation for the City) since 2005, reflects the relevance of the theme even for cities that would appear to have come to terms with the issue of memory a long time ago. This would allow us to put into perspective the specificities of research work on memory in \u201cAfrican cities\u201d. We hope to initiate a real dialogue between researchers on this topic.<\/p>\n\n\n\n