Displaying Anglophile Whiteness: A Case-Study of a South African Exhibition

Abstract

After the fall of apartheid, white South African heritage came to acquire negative connotations, mostly because of the role that white, especially Afrikaner heritage, played during apartheid. This was mostly due to the fact that for black South Africans, whites and whiteness was regarded as homogenous, with few exceptions. Afrikaner heritage has been subject to considerable research and self-criticism, but anglophile heritage has been overlooked. I seek to make a contribution in that regard by exploring the shifting attitude to anglophile whiteness as exemplified in the exhibition The History Hall at the KwaZulu-Natal Museum (Pietermaritzburg, KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa). The research will pair large scale heritage negotiations with local ones, and will explore how anglophile whiteness was constructed in the museum as well as how it has changed. The research is based on qualitative methodology, and draws on participant observation and qualitative interviews, visual analysis, and archive materials.