The Huguenots of South Africa in documents and commemoration

Date
2011
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
Pieter de Waal Neethling Trust
Abstract
This article is about the image of the Huguenots of South Africa that we find in documents and how they were commemorated in South Africa. The article proposes inter alia to investigate when the first anniversary of the Huguenots in South Africa occurred and when the name “Huguenot” gained acceptance in South Africa. It also tries to answer the question what the real contribution of the Huguenots to South Africa was. This is done against the background of the statement that Afrikaans speaking people merely created the “myth” of the Huguenots for their own identity, notably in 1994 after losing the leadership in the government of the country. The article shows that the contribution of the Huguenots to South Africa and its people is much more comprehensive and material.
Hierdie artikel is oor die beeld van die Hugenote van Suid-Afrika wat ons in dokumente vind en oor hoe hulle in Suid-Afrika gedenk is. Die artikel stel ondermeer ondersoek in na wanneer die eerste herdenking van die Hugenote in Suid-Afrika plaasgevind het en ook wanneer die naam “Hugenoot” inslag gevind het in Suid- Afrika. Daar word ook probeer om die vraag te beantwoord wat die wesenlike bydrae van die Hugenote tot Suid-Afrika was. Die ondersoek word gedoen teen die agtergrond van die stelling dat die Afrikaners eintlik maar net die “mite” van die Hugenote geskep het om hulle eie identiteit te versterk, veral nadat hulle in 1994 hulle leierskap in die regering van die land verloor het. Die artikel toon aan dat die bydrae van die Hugenote tot Suid-Afrika en al sy mense baie meer omvattend en wesenlik is.
Description
CITATION: Coertzen, P. 2011. The Huguenots of South Africa in documents and commemoration. Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 52(3):301-324, doi:10.5952/52-3-42.
The original publication is available at http://ngtt.journals.ac.za
Publication of this article was funded by the Stellenbosch University Open Access Fund.
Keywords
Huguenots
Citation
Coertzen, P. 2011. The Huguenots of South Africa in documents and commemoration. Nederduitse Gereformeerde Teologiese Tydskrif, 52(3):301-324, doi:10.5952/52-3-42.