Power in Absurdity
In the heart of South Africa lies Pretoria: a contested space wherein the exclusionary visions of Dutch colonialists negotiate an existence with modern sentiments of unity and reconciliation. The arrival of 17th century colonial powers onto South Africa’s shores would serve as a watershed in the country’s history. Their arrival would exacerbate preexisting conflicts and introduce entirely new ones within South Africa’s borders and beyond. My project homes in on Pretoria as a microcosm of South Africa, to deconstruct the utopic conceptions the Voortrekkers had for the city and South Africa, that would consequently lead to the subjugation of non-Afrikaners through the assertion of a ‘God-sanctioned,’ Afrikaner nationalist identity. This project also exposes the absurd and fallacious nature of the claims to ownership of South Africa and its land, nested within the religious substrate of ‘the day of the vow’ (Geloftedag). I will mainly target the Voortrekker monument and interrogate its existence through the lens of my unit’s central themes of power, time, and dual realities. Ultimately, my project endeavors to refute Afrikaner Nationalist rhetoric and demonstrate how single identity driven pursuits of utopia often breed dystopia.
