From 'One Namibia, one Nation' towards 'Unity in Diversity'? Shifting representations of culture and nationhood in Namibian Independence Day celebrations, 1990-2010

Datos Bibliográficos

ID2186702
AutoresMichael Uusiku Akuupa (Bell (Canada)), Godwin Kornes (Johannes Gutenberg University Mainz)
Año2013
Volumen36
Número1-2
Páginas34-46
Fecha de publicación2013-01-01
Peer ReviewedSí
Open AccessNo
TipoARTICLE
RevistaAnthropology Southern Africa (JOURNAL)
Identificadores de la revistaISSN: 2332-3264 • E-ISSN: 2332-3256
EditorialInforma UK Limited (PUBLISHER • GB)
DOI10.1080/23323256.2013.11500041
OpenAlexW2060042986
IdiomaEN
Citas recibidas6
Referencias citadas19

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