E Pluribus Unum? The Significance of the Pre-colonial Timeframe (1840-1890) for Namibia's Past and Present

The period between 1840 and 1890 was a tumultuous era for Damaraland society (present-day Central Namibia). In this pre-colonial timeframe, strife over resources determined the prevailing status quo between local groups, while foreigners increasingly started to exert influence over sociopolitical and socio-economic arrangements as well. There are important continuities between this timeframe and the subsequent eras (1885–1915, when the territory was part of the German colony of Deutsch Südwestafrika; and 1919–1990, when the territory was known as the South African-controlled Mandate State of South West Africa); and numerous structures and traditions that are rooted in the pre-colonial period, still have an impact on Namibian society today. Even so, the pre-colonial timeframe (1840–1890) is largely being neglected in the historical representations in Namibian society today. Instead, Namibians and foreign visitors alike get confronted with an incomplete and manipulated image of...Show moreThe period between 1840 and 1890 was a tumultuous era for Damaraland society (present-day Central Namibia). In this pre-colonial timeframe, strife over resources determined the prevailing status quo between local groups, while foreigners increasingly started to exert influence over sociopolitical and socio-economic arrangements as well. There are important continuities between this timeframe and the subsequent eras (1885–1915, when the territory was part of the German colony of Deutsch Südwestafrika; and 1919–1990, when the territory was known as the South African-controlled Mandate State of South West Africa); and numerous structures and traditions that are rooted in the pre-colonial period, still have an impact on Namibian society today. Even so, the pre-colonial timeframe (1840–1890) is largely being neglected in the historical representations in Namibian society today. Instead, Namibians and foreign visitors alike get confronted with an incomplete and manipulated image of Namibian national history: a ‘preferred image’ that is tightly connected to the nation building project of the SWAPO Party, Namibia’s ruling political party. In this thesis, the (pre-colonial) past is being connected to the current state of historical and sociopolitical affairs in the Republic of Namibia, to discover how and why the situation described above came into being.Show less

Leiden University Student Repository

Documents

In Collections

E Pluribus Unum? The Significance of the Pre-colonial Timeframe (1840-1890) for Namibia's Past and Present