CALL FOR BOOK CHAPTERS FOR AN EDITED VOLUME – HISTORICAL STATUES AND MONUMENTS IN AFRICA
Statement of aims and rationale
In recent years, the field of historical statues and monuments or colonial statues and monuments in Africa and South Africa have become one of the most hotly contested terrains in postcolonial studies. Most of the studies in this area, however, have been concerned with historical statues and monuments as instruments of domination. This kind of discourse tends to interpret historical statues and monuments as colonial heritage that belongs to the past and has no place in contemporary society. As useful as this argument may sound, such a focus also distorts the history behind historical statues and monuments in many ways. It ignores the fact that historical statues and monuments do not just represent colonial heritage or are instruments of domination, but they stand as a metaphor for hidden social issues that can be traced both to the past and present; they leave out international instruments, such as the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation – UNESCO 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as a legal framework that see historical heritage differently; they also leave out national instruments that are charged with cultural heritage preservation in most African postcolonial nations. As a result, not only a vast amount of information behind historical statues and monuments, but also important historical, epistemological and semantic aspects of historical heritage resources and their place in the present and the future are eliminated from our discussions.
This collection of essays/chapters seeks to take stock of:
In recent years, the field of historical statues and monuments or colonial statues and monuments in Africa and South Africa have become one of the most hotly contested terrains in postcolonial studies. Most of the studies in this area, however, have been concerned with historical statues and monuments as instruments of domination. This kind of discourse tends to interpret historical statues and monuments as colonial heritage that belongs to the past and has no place in contemporary society. As useful as this argument may sound, such a focus also distorts the history behind historical statues and monuments in many ways. It ignores the fact that historical statues and monuments do not just represent colonial heritage or are instruments of domination, but they stand as a metaphor for hidden social issues that can be traced both to the past and present; they leave out international instruments, such as the United Nations Educational and Scientific Organisation – UNESCO 1972 Convention Concerning the Protection of the World Cultural and Natural Heritage as a legal framework that see historical heritage differently; they also leave out national instruments that are charged with cultural heritage preservation in most African postcolonial nations. As a result, not only a vast amount of information behind historical statues and monuments, but also important historical, epistemological and semantic aspects of historical heritage resources and their place in the present and the future are eliminated from our discussions.
This collection of essays/chapters seeks to take stock of:
- The complexity of historical statues and monuments in Africa
- The place of contested statues and monuments such as the #Rhodes Must Fall Movement in South Africa, for example
- The different stories that historical statues and monuments can tell both about the past, present and future
- The policies associated with the preservation of historical statues and monuments in Africa
- The challenges associated with the preservation of historical statues and monuments
- The future of historical of historical statues and monuments in Africa.
In doing this, the volume aims to:
- determine the place of historical statues and monuments in a changing Africa
- to lay the groundwork for a new cultural landscape for Africa
- to propose policy guides for the preservation of Africa’s cultural heritage resources
- to build and foster scientific partnerships among the scholars/institutions contributing in the volume.
Requirements for abstracts
Interested researchers/scholars should send abstracts of not more than 300 words to malubafi@hsrc.ac.za on or before 10th March 2024. Please indicate, in addition to the title of the abstract, your name(s) and affiliation(s).
Deadline: 10th March 2024
We shall let you know whether we are able to accept your proposed chapter by the end of March 2024. Completed chapters would need to be submitted by end of July 2024. This will be followed by a period of review and revision, with an envisaged submission of the full manuscript to the publishers by end November.