Die herdenking van historiese gebeurtenisse

Abstract

Throughout the ages people have commemorated events that they have deemed to be of historical significance. In most instances, commemorative events are relatively speaking unimportant, but sometimes commemorations can have significant consequences for a community or even for a country, for example, when those events stimulate nationalism, bind people together or, alternatively, lead to divisions in a community or country. This is in particular true of situations where politicians hijack commemorative events to further their own political goals. When the commemoration of an event is studied, it is consequently imperative that the historical context, in which the commemoration took place, must be taken into account. In this article a few general examples of commemorative events are first of all discussed; thereafter commemorations in the South African context are briefly evaluated and, finally, a case study is dealt with in some detail, namely the centennial of the Anglo-Boer War of 1899 to 1902. The major role players who organized the centennial and participated in the many events are identified, their goals are evaluated and a review is given of the main events.