Palimpsest African urbanity: connecting pre‐colonial and post‐apartheid urban narratives in Durban

Abstract

Durban, a city situated on the east coast of South Africa in the province of KwaZulu‐Natal, has always been marked by layered, imbricative and intricate meanings. Through narrative slices, this paper considers the interwoven relationships between identity and urbanity and presents Durban as a palimpsest space. The paper illustrates the co‐constituting nature of pre‐colonial Durban's form and society, highlighting the manner in which the context of contact left an impression on identity, urbanity and cultural memory. It thereafter suggests that contemporary attempts, through arts and culture, to contour the city in a more inclusive manner, have a long embedded precedent and history.

Keywords:

• African cities
• identity
• culture
• Durban

Acknowledgements

This paper is based on Bass (2006) and has evolved through presentation at different events. I am grateful for the comments received in these forums, as well as from various readers (including two anonymous reviewers). The financial assistance of the National Research Foundation (NRF) towards this research is hereby acknowledged. Opinions expressed and conclusions arrived at are those of the author and are not necessarily to be attributed to the NRF, or any other body.

Notes

1. Following Mbembe (2002) and Appiah (1992), the notion of ‘Africanity’, or African identity, used here is not bound by geography or race; rather, it is open, variable and constituted through multiple practices.

2. Stuart's original notes and transcripts are collated in the Stuart Papers at the Killie Campbell Africana Library in Durban.

3. Shaka kaSenzangakhona. See Hamilton (1998), Wylie (2000, 2006) and Bass (2006) for discussions of representations of Shaka and the notion of Shaka as a construct.

4. Ongoing observation points to a decrease in the intensity of cultural production. Provisional thinking around this, in addition to attention to continuities and disjunctures in artistic practice, indicates the need for further research.

5. Durban falls under the jurisdiction of the eThekwini Municipality.

6. Completed in 1910, it was built to replace the previous structure which became devoted to postal services; its ‘design was submitted by Stanley G. Hudson who was inspired by the City Hall of Belfast, Northern Ireland and replicated it’ (eThekwini Online 2010, p. 1).

7. The recent attempt by the local municipality to construct a mall in Warwick Junction undermines this sensibility (see for example Comins 2009, Tolsi 2009).