Biography of a vanished community : South End, Port Elizabeth

Date
2017-03
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Stellenbosch : Stellenbosch University
Abstract
ENGLISH ABSTRACT: This study attempts to construct a biography of the community of South End, Port Elizabeth, in space and time. This project arises from a need to understand the birth, growth, zenith, decline and demise of this community. The need also exists to capture aspects of the heritage, history, experiences and perceptions of South End. A biographical approach will be used rather than a historical one because aspects of the lives of individuals are reconstructed as part of the life of a place. Furthermore, the study will deal with lives collectively of former residents of South End in its different facets, namely emotional, experiential, political, social and others. The community will thus be viewed as a complex and multi-faceted being. The intention here is to gather as much relevant information as possible on the historical, social, geographical and cultural context of the life of the community. This study will also explore what constitutes biographical writing and in what respect this biography differs from the traditional understanding of the term biography. A number of aspects namely history, the subjects and the subjects in relation to the community are explored in reconstructing this community. History forms an important aspect of this study, therefore it deals with issues such as what constitutes history and how it is written; a brief overview of the history of Port Elizabeth and the emergence of South End as a community and key legislation that affected the community. In addition to this the focus will also be on geographical space and specifically on the relationship between space and identity and space and community. The emphasis will be on the question of identifying how the individual identity is constituted in relation to community and how the individual assumes complex subject positions. Lastly, this study will focus on the discoveries I have made in the course of the research, it will reflect on the difficulties encountered in this project and the significance of the study and what the study has yielded.
AFRIKAANSE OPSOMMING: Dié studie sal poog om ‘n biografie – in ruimte en tyd – te skep van die gemeenskap van Suideinde, Port Elizabeth. Die projek het ontstaan uit die behoefte om die geboorte, groei, bloeityd, agteruitgang en ondergang van hierdie gemeenskap te verstaan. Daar is ook ‘n behoefte om die geskiedenis, nalatenskap, ondervindings en persepsies vas te lê. ‘n Biografiese eerder as ‘n historiese benadering word gevolg, omdat dele van die lewens van individue herskep word as deel van die lewe van ‘n plek. Die studie sal daarbenewens kollektief handel oor die lewens van eertydse inwoners van Suideinde in hul verskillende fasette, naamlik emosioneel, eksperiënsieel, polities, sosiale druk en so meer. Die gemeenskap sal dus as ‘n komplekse en veelgefasetteerde wese beskou word. Die voorneme is om soveel as moontlik relevante inligting bymekaar te bring oor die historiese, maatskaplike, geografiese en kulturele kontekste van die gemeenskapslewe. Hierdie studie sal ook verken wat biografiese skryfwerk behels en in watter opsig hierdie biografie van die tradisionele begrip van die term biografie verskil. ‘n Aantal aspekte, naamlik die geskiedenis, die subjekte en die subjekte in verhouding tot die gemeenskap, word verken in die herskepping van die gemeenskap. Die geskiedenis maak ‘n belangrike deel van hierdie studie uit, en dit handel daarom oor kwessies soos wat geskiedenis behels en hoe dit geskryf word; ‘n bondige oorsig van die geskiedenis van Port Elizabeth; die ontstaan van Suideinde as ‘n gemeenskap; en sleutelwetgewing wat die gemeenskap raak. Daarbenewens sal die fokuspunt ook wees op ‘n geografiese ruimte en spesifiek op die verhouding tussen ruimte en identiteit en ruimte en gemeenskap. Die klem sal wees op die kwessie hoe daar bepaal kan word hoe die individuele identiteit sy beslag in verhouding tot die gemeenskap vind en hoe die individu komplekse subjekposisies inneem. Die studie sal laastens handel oor my ontdekkings in die loop van die navorsing, die probleme wat in die projek teengekom is, die waarde van die studie, en wat die studie opgelewer het.
Description
Thesis (PhD)--Stellenbosch University, 2017.
Keywords
South End (Port Elizabeth, South Africa) -- History, Coloured people (South Africa) -- Relocation, South End community -- Biography, Forced removals -- South Africa, Apartheid -- South Africa, UCTD
Citation