African Journals Online
Historia

Volume 45, Issue 2, November 2000
Abstracts

Lo(o)s(en)ing the order of history : some aspects of historical studies at the intersection of modernity, postmodernity and the discussion on memory
Rusen, J. 255-270

Abstract: Historical studies are challenged by post modernist argumentations in the humanities radically criticizing the idea of method and objectivity and the concept of history as a comprehensive reality in the temporal change of the human world. The argumentation of this criticism is considered and partly accepted. On the other hand the specifically modern concept of history as it is realized in the tradition of historical studies as an academic discipline is picked up and critically directed against the criticism of post modernism. On the level of an explicit theory of historical studies both argumentations are mediated and synthesized. This is done in respect to the recent debate on the role of memory in the humanities in general and historical thinking in specific. So, finally, a new concept of historical studies as an academic discipline is proposed.

The linguistic turn, literary theory and historical theory
Ankersmit, F.R. 271-310

Abstract: This essay deals with the relationship between literary theory on the one hand and historical tehory (or philosophy of history) on the other. Since the publication of White's seminal Metahistory in 1973 an orientation on literary theory was recommended to historical theorists. And it is true that this conception of the nature and the tasks of historical theory has given us a wholly new kind of history of historical writing. This has been a great gain we should never allow to be given up again. The orientation on literary theory has, however, not deepened our insights in the relationship between the historical text and the past itself. A careful analysis of what the so-called linguistic turn should mean for historical theory can explain why it is as easy as dangerous to overstate the significance of literary theory for historical theory. The implication is that we should address again the old semantic and epistemological questions with regard to the nature of historical writing.

Eender en toch anders : Bilaterale Kongress : Historici van Nederland en Suid-Afrika Wassenaar 6-8 Julie 2000 : verantwoording
Schutte, G.J. 311-317

Abstract: Accounts for the Bilateral Conference on Historians of the Netherlands and South Africa held during July 2000 in Wassenaar. Explains the common history between the two countries. Shows the differences and similarities in the two countries' historical approaches.

Eender en toch anders : Bilaterale Kongress : Historici van Nederland en Suid-Afrika Wassenaar 6-8 Julie 2000 : Tweede Nederlands-Zuid-Afrikaans Historisch Congres - enkele indrukke
De Klerk, P. 318-320

Abstract: Accounts for the Bilateral Conference on Historians of the Netherlands and South Africa held during July 2000 in Wassenaar. Explains the common history between the two countries. Shows the differences and similarities in the two countries' historical approaches.

Handelsbetrekkinge tussen Suid-Afrika en Nederland in historiese perspektief, 1910-1990 : vryhandel en neutraliteit in die twintigste eeu
Verhoef, G. 321-346

Abstract: It was thought that extensive trade relations would develop between South Africa and the Netherlands in the twentieth century. These expectations were based on early Netherlands immigration to the Transvaal and the establish-ment of the Netherlands Bank in South Africa. This article notes the diver-gent structure of the two economies and the scale of trade between the coun-tries during the twentieth century. It deals with the historic expectations of extensive trade. Attention is then given to de facto trade. In the period up to 1960 the Netherlands was only a limited trading partner of South Africa, with less than 3% of total imports from the Netherlands and less than 3% of total exports to that country. After 1960 this relationship remained virtually unchanged, although volumes increased. This can be attributed to the differ-ence in factor endowment between the two countries and the international phenomenon of increasing international trade between countries of similar economic structure rather than between primary producer and first world countries.

Ad Fontes : over Samuel Elsevier, zijn vrouwen en zijn slaven : een voorstel tot herinterpretatie
Schutte, G. 347-369

Abstract: Samuel Elsevier (1653-1724), the senior official of the Dutch East India Company (DEIC) at the Cape in the period 1697 to 1707 closely associated with Willem Adriaan van der Stel, is traditionally perceived in historical writing as a typical senior company official. His temperament of arrogance, passion, ambition and greed syupposedly made him susceptible to corruption. It is a perception based on incomplete, dated or incorrectly interpreted details. It appears from all types of archival information, disclosed for the first time in this article. Tghe information has a bearing on his familial background, that of his wife, their respective life histories, the history of the family, his career, property and also slaves. In the light of new evidence the biographer is forced to revise the perception of Samual Elzevier in a number of respects.

'n Nederlandse vrywilliger by die Boere op kommando, 1899-1920 : Hendrik ver Loren van Themaat en die Afrikaner
Pretorius, F. 370-386

Abstract: This article examines jurist Hendrik ver Loren van Themaat`s (1874-1966) experiences as a Dutch volunteer in the Boer forces during the Anglo-Boer War of 1899-1902, and more specifically his views on the Afrikaner. He arrived in Pretoria in December 1899, and subsequently did duty at the head office of the Transvaal Red Cross in Pretoria and in the commissariat on the Natal front, before joining the commandos as a combatant in February 1900. He was a member of Commandant Danie Theron's Scouting Corps, and accompanied the commandos under General Christiaan de Wet in all three so-called De Wet hunts. At the end of April 1902 he was back in Holland and published his memoirs in Dutch, based on his diary, in the following year. Aspects that are covered in the article are Ver Loren van Themaat's views on the Boer leaders, characteristics of the Afrikaner, Afrikaans as a language, and Afrikaner-Dutch relations. Although strongly pro-Boer with a great appreciation of the better qualities of the Afrikaner, he does not shy away from the weaker qualities. Ver Loren van Themaat was a great believer in the future of the Afrikaner, and he emigrated to South Africa in 1920. He was responsible for laying firm foundations for Constitutional and International Law at the University of Stellenbosch.

A new past for a new nation? : historiography and politics in South Africa : a comparative approach
Verbeeck, G. 387-410

Abstract: The writing of history and the process of dealing with the past have always been influenced by social conditions and political transformations. Political changes have far-reaching consequences for the historical culture in the `New South Africa'. An enlarged image of history fits into a political strategy of the `Rainbow Nation', aiming to bring about a new national consensus and new political identities. Similar processes occur in European countries which underwent drastic political transformations. This article aims at a comparison between the historiographies and the politics of history in South Africa and Germany. The author describes trends in the development of historiography and mechanisms in political discourses but also wishes to warn against ideological over-simplifications and fruitless expectations.