“Keeping the Flame Alive”

Commemoration in an ex-Rhodesian diaspora community in South Africa

Authors

• Katja Uusihakala University of Helsinki https://orcid.org/0000-0001-6432-6323

DOI: https://doi.org/10.30676/jfas.v33i3.116382

Abstract

In 1990 ex-Rhodesians—white former colonials who have emigrated from Zimbabwe after its independence in 1980—organized a commemorative event in South Africa in order to celebrate the Centenary of the founding of Rhodesia. In spite of the fact that Rhodesia no longer exists, it continues to have intrinsic weight in the present lives of former Rhodesians. It is held close by social memory practices, which are fundamental to how the diaspora community comes to understand itself and its place in the world. This article examines social memory practices in the context of the Centenary celebrations. The festivities involved the creation of an imaginary Rhodesianaland in a holiday resort in South Africa. The key event during the festivities was the re-enactment of the arrival of the Pioneer Column in Fort Salisbury (Harare) and the founding of colonial Rhodesia. The main objective of the commemorative event was the creation of a ceremonial site in which people could come together to recall and to reflect upon their shared past by re-telling the community’s origin narrative. However, the article also suggests that the mnemonic power and emotional affectivity of commemoration rests on the fact that culturally meaningful experiences are bodily enacted.

 

Keywords: Rhodesia, Zimbabwe, whites, social memory, commemoration