Contradictions and Challenges in Representing the Colonial Past: Herero Memory Activism in Namibia

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Hana Horáková

Abstract

This paper attempts to investigate recent urban space-making practices and imaginaries of two different civic actors: Swakopmund City Tour, operated by Namibian Germans depicting the history of Swakopmund linked to German heritage, and a group of Herero activists around Swakopmund Genocide Museum, challenging the monopoly in framing representations of urban heritage and history, and presenting alternative memory narratives. The aim is to explore how the official memory is dealt with in present day-remembrance policies and practices, and how it is challenged by alternative memory driven by Herero activists. Conceptually, the notion of a mnemoscape (Kössler, 2012) is used, including both intangible and tangible aspects of the remembrance of collective experience. Methodologically, the paper is largely based on the outcomes of a short fieldwork in the urban environment of Swakopmund in 2022.

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How to Cite
Horáková, H. (2024). Contradictions and Challenges in Representing the Colonial Past: Herero Memory Activism in Namibia. Modern Africa: Politics, History and Society, 12(1), 59–89. https://doi.org/10.26806/modafr.v12i1.241
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Articles
Author Biography

Hana Horáková, Palacky University in Olomouc, Czechia

She is Associate Professor of Social Anthropology at Palacky University in Olomouc, Czechia. She holds a PhD in African Studies from the Institute of the Near East and Africa, Charles University. Currently, she is Head of the Scientific Committee organizing a biennial ECAS 2025 in Prague. Her research activities include anthropology of tourism and rural studies, anthropology of sub-Saharan Africa focusing on politics of identity, nationalism, and cultural tourism in Namibia. E-mail: hana.horakova@upol.cz