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Current manifestation of trauma experienced during forced removals under apartheid: interviews with a former "Vlakte" inhabitant

<p>Much has been researched in South Africa about the trauma of losing one&rsquo / s home, one&rsquo / s community and rebuilding one&rsquo / s life in a new environment. Several books have been published tracking the lives of the forcibly removed and their responses to leaving District Six. My research focuses on a different group namely those who had been forcibly removed from the centre of Stellenbosch, called &ldquo / Die Vlakte&rdquo / during that time. Living and working with and among people who have experienced this removal, I was keen to research whether the impact of the trauma is currently&nbsp / manifesting in this specific community and if so, what the symptoms would be. This qualitative inquiry focuses on one particular individual, Mr. Hilton Biscombe. I selected him because he, who experienced the removal as a teenager, spent most of his later life determinedly collecting stories and documents relating to this incident. Mr. Biscombe is also the only person of whom I am aware who responded personally through compiling a book, making a DVD, writing poetry as well as an autobiography relating to this event. My inquiry into the ways trauma manifests in a narrative, will be based on two interviews: one conducted by a white man from the University of Stellenbosch thirty years after the event / and another interview, six years later, conducted by myself.Our understanding of trauma is usually associated with a death or injury or the possibility thereof, but it could also include the victim&rsquo / s response to extreme fear, serious harm or threat to&nbsp / family members. According to van der Merwe and Vienings, people also become traumatized when witnessing harm, physical violence or death or the sudden loss or destruction of a victim&rsquo / s home (van der Merwe &amp / Vienings, 2001). So the issue of trauma is not in question, nor the fact that forced removals cause trauma. I am exploring testimony in the form of interviews for possible current manifestations of this trauma thirty-six years down the line.</p>

Identiferoai:union.ndltd.org:netd.ac.za/oai:union.ndltd.org:uwc/oai:UWC_ETD:http%3A%2F%2Fetd.uwc.ac.za%2Findex.php%3Fmodule%3Detd%26action%3Dviewtitle%26id%3Dgen8Srv25Nme4_2123_1361369164
Date January 2010
CreatorsHector- Kannemeyer , Renee Allison
Source SetsSouth African National ETD Portal
LanguageEnglish
Detected LanguageEnglish
TypeThesis and dissertation
FormatPdf
CoverageZA
RightsCopyright: University of the Western Cape

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