Writing South African history: Trends and retrospect

Writing South African history: Trends and retrospect is the first comprehensive reassessment of South African historiography in nearly four decades. Addressing major shifts in historical writing since the late 20th century, this volume examines revisionist, radical, liberal and frontier historiographies, while engaging critically with debates on colonialism, settler colonialism, apartheid and decolonisation. Across 18 original chapters authored by leading scholars, the scholarly book explores key thematic and methodological developments in South African history, including labour history, economic history, environmental history, gender history, public history and oral history. It revisits foundational debates surrounding slavery in South Africa, the Mineral Revolution, the Mfecane, the Great Trek and the 1976 Soweto Uprising, while also analysing historiographical responses to apartheid, anti-apartheid scholarship, African nationalism, the African National Congress, the Black Consciousness Movement and the #FeesMustFall student-led protest movement. Moving beyond static ‘school’ identities, the volume interrogates the evolution of historical method, source interpretation, multilingual archives and the craft of the historian in a transforming intellectual landscape. Particular attention is given to neglected and marginalised historiographies, including Indian, Coloured and indigenous historical writing traditions. Combining rigorous methodological reflection with critical historiographical analysis, this authoritative edited collection is essential reading for scholars of South African history, African studies and global historiography.