From 'One Namibia, one Nation' towards 'Unity in Diversity'? Shifting representations of culture and nationhood in Namibian Independence Day celebrations, 1990-2010
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 2186702 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Michael Uusiku Akuupa (Bell (Canada)), Godwin Kornes (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz) |
| Year | 2013 |
| Volume | 36 |
| Issue | 1-2 |
| Pages | 34-46 |
| Publication date | 2013-01-01 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | No |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | Anthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256 |
| Publisher | Informa UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB) |
| DOI | 10.1080/23323256.2013.11500041 |
| OpenAlex | W2060042986 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 6 |
| References cited | 19 |
In 2010 Namibia celebrated its twentieth anniversary of independence from South African rule. The main celebrations in the \ncountry’s capital Windhoek became the stage for an impressively orchestrated demonstration of maturing nationhood, \nsymbolically embracing postcolonial policy concepts such as ‘national reconciliation’, ‘unity’ and ‘diversity’. At the same time, \nnation building in post-apartheid Namibia is characterised by a high degree of social and political fragmentation that manifests \nitself in cultural and/or ethnic discourses of belonging. Taking the highly significant independence jubilee as our vantage point, \nwe map out a shift of cultural representations of the nation in Independence Day celebrations since 1990, embodied by the two \nprominent slogans of ‘One Namibia, one Nation’ and ‘Unity in Diversity’. As we will argue, the difficult and at times highly \nfragile postcolonial disposition made it necessary for the SWAPO government, as primary nation builder, to accommodate the \ndemands of regions and local communities in its policy frameworks. This negotiation of local identifications and national \nbelonging in turn shaped, and continues to shape, the performative dimension of Independence Day celebrations in Namibia
Aesthetics · Art · Cultural policy · Ethnic group · Independence (probability theory · Negotiation · Performative utterance · Political science · Politics · Social science · Sociology · Anthropology · Gender Studies · German Colonialism and Identity Studies · Law
Culture
Namibia under South African Rule
The 2010 independence jubilees
Rehoboth Baster, Namibian or Namibian Baster? An analysis of national discourses in Rehoboth, Namibia
Madagascar's independence jubilee
Negotiating the Nation
Der Kampf um die Kultur
Swapo's Struggle for Namibia, 1960-1991
Making Sense of Cultural Nationalism and the Politics of Commemoration under the Third Chimurenga in Zimbabwe
State, Society and Democracy
Do Nations Have Stomachs? Food, Drink and Imagined Community in Africa
After Nature
Writing for Culture
We can be united, but we are different
Commemorating Heroes in Windhoek and Eenhana
| Unique citing works | 6 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,6 |
| Citation span | 2016 - 2026 (11) |
| Citation velocity | current |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 6 |