1st Edition

The Frightened Land Land, Landscape and Politics in South Africa in the Twentieth Century

By Jennifer Beningfield Copyright 2006
    368 Pages 30 Color & 83 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    352 Pages 30 Color & 83 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    352 Pages 30 Color & 83 B/W Illustrations
    by Routledge

    An investigation into the spatial politics of separation and division in South Africa, principally during the apartheid years, and the effects of these physical and conceptual barriers on the land. In contrast to the weight of literature focusing on post-apartheid South Africa, the focus of this book includes the spatial, political and cultural landscape practices of the apartheid government and also refers to contemporary work done in Australia, England and the US. It probes the uncertainty and ambiguity of identities and cultures in post-apartheid society in order to gain a deep understanding of the history that individuals and society now confront.

    Drawing on a wealth of research materials including literature, maps, newspapers, monuments, architectural drawings, government legislation, tourist brochures, political writing and oral histories, this book is well illustrated throughout and is a unique commentary on the spatial politics of a time of enormous change.

    Section 1: Veld  1. Wilderness & Veld  2. Memory & Inscription  3. Map & Monument  Section 2: Farm  4. A Failed Eden  5. ‘Natural’ Identity  6. The Fertile Desert  Section 3: ‘Native’ Lands  7. ‘Native’ Lands  8. Language, Nation & Landscape  9. Tribal Landscapes  Section 4: Invisible Landscapes  10. Desire & Distance  11. Veld & City  12. Invisibility & Silence  Section 5: Erasures  13. Landscapes & Erasures  14. Landscapes of the Imagination  15. Transforming Landscape.  Bibliography.  Unpublished Sources.  Appendix  A: South African Time Line   B: Key Pieces of Apartheid Legislation

    Biography

    Jennifer Beningfield