The DNA of the Democratic South Africa: Ancestral Maps, Family Trees, Genealogical Fictions.
This article focuses on the discourse of popular science - and particularly that of genetics and evolution - as it has been used in the democratic South Africa to develop and articulate a shared 'African' national identity. Analysing speeches by politicians and academics, as well as sites of popular...
| Publicado en: | Journal of Southern African Studies Vol. 35; no. 1; pp. 223 - 236 |
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| Formato: | Artículo |
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Taylor & Francis Ltd
Mar2009
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| Acceso en línea: | Ver este registro en EBSCOhost |
| fields | @attributes: recordID: 1 pdfLink: plink: https://search.ebscohost.com/login.aspx?direct=true&db=ssf&AN=37222556&site=ehost-live header: @attributes: shortDbName: ssf uiTerm: 37222556 longDbName: Social Sciences Full Text (H.W. Wilson) uiTag: AN controlInfo: bkinfo: jinfo: jid: 03057070 JSF jtl: Journal of Southern African Studies issn: 03057070 maglogo: N pubinfo: dt: Mar2009 vid: 35 iid: 1 pid: 377 pub: Taylor & Francis Ltd artinfo: ui: 37222556 10.1080/03057070802685668 ppf: 223 ppct: 13 formats: fmt: – @attributes: type: T db: hlh ui: 37222556 – @attributes: type: P db: hlh ui: 37222556 tig: atl: The DNA of the Democratic South Africa: Ancestral Maps, Family Trees, Genealogical Fictions. aug: au: Bystrom, Kerry affil: University of Connecticut, Storrs su: South Africa Gordimer, Nadine, 1923-2014 Wicomb, Zoë, 1948-2025 Get a Life (Book : Gordimer) Popular culture DNA Genealogy -- Social aspects South African social conditions South African history, 1994- sug: subj: Popular culture South Africa DNA Genealogy -- Social aspects South African social conditions South African history, 1994- Get a Life (Book : Gordimer) Gordimer, Nadine, 1923-2014 Wicomb, Zoë, 1948-2025 ab: This article focuses on the discourse of popular science - and particularly that of genetics and evolution - as it has been used in the democratic South Africa to develop and articulate a shared 'African' national identity. Analysing speeches by politicians and academics, as well as sites of popular culture ranging from television shows to the Maropeng centre at the Cradle of Humankind, I explore how a new 'evolutionary family narrative', in which all humans are understood to have an African 'mother', has been harnessed in an attempt to guarantee 'belonging' to citizens of all races. I further show how this specific genetic family narrative is one of a larger network of 'genealogical fictions' that have been fabricated and produced in part for the purpose of redefining the national community in the post-apartheid era, and which tend to reiterate the basic tropes of nineteenth- and early twentieth-century nation-building projects in the new millennium. Finally, I analyse two novels - Zoë Wicomb's David's Story and Nadine Gordimer's Get a Life - that debate the continuing usefulness of such genealogical fictions in the work of building a contemporary democratic nationalism. pubtype: Academic Journal doctype: Article src: R language: English refInfo: copyright: @attributes: flag: N holdings: @attributes: islocal: N |
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