To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention

In this article, we canvass some of the ideas around Hein Willemse’s focus on hidden histories, conscious oppositionality, and literature that falls outside the canon, which began to coalesce following contemporary calls for decolonial approaches in the (South) African academy. While the decolonial...

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Main Authors: viola c. milton, Hannelie Marx-Knoetze
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: Tydskrif vir Letterkunde Association 2022-09-01
Series:Tydskrif vir Letterkunde
Subjects:
Online Access:https://letterkunde.africa/article/view/13123
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author viola c. milton
Hannelie Marx-Knoetze
author_facet viola c. milton
Hannelie Marx-Knoetze
author_sort viola c. milton
collection DOAJ
description In this article, we canvass some of the ideas around Hein Willemse’s focus on hidden histories, conscious oppositionality, and literature that falls outside the canon, which began to coalesce following contemporary calls for decolonial approaches in the (South) African academy. While the decolonial turn has focused attention on shared histories within Global South contexts, it is through Willemse’s postcolonial teachings that we first came to understand the importance and meaning of reclaiming the lost African ontological space. This article is, therefore, located in postcolonial and decolonial scholarship in the sense that it is not driven by a particular method but rather by questions that emerged from larger social contexts. We draw on Willemse’s visionary understanding of the importance of hidden histories and what it might mean to listen with postcolonial and/or decolonial ears. This, amongst other things, requires an acute awareness of history, heritage, and legacies both in society and in the academy. We incorporate a random selection of his work to unpack how his disruptive intervention serves to reformulate the idea of Afrikaans and Afrikaans literature in ways that are more inclusive of those silenced by the apartheid project, including Africa and the Global South at large. 
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spelling doaj.art-72f6281199e5430aad6981b47f073c592022-12-22T04:04:53ZafrTydskrif vir Letterkunde AssociationTydskrif vir Letterkunde0041-476X2309-90702022-09-0159310.17159/tl.v59i3.13123To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive interventionviola c. milton0Hannelie Marx-Knoetze1University of South Africa, Pretoria, South AfricaUniversity of South Africa, Pretoria, South Africa In this article, we canvass some of the ideas around Hein Willemse’s focus on hidden histories, conscious oppositionality, and literature that falls outside the canon, which began to coalesce following contemporary calls for decolonial approaches in the (South) African academy. While the decolonial turn has focused attention on shared histories within Global South contexts, it is through Willemse’s postcolonial teachings that we first came to understand the importance and meaning of reclaiming the lost African ontological space. This article is, therefore, located in postcolonial and decolonial scholarship in the sense that it is not driven by a particular method but rather by questions that emerged from larger social contexts. We draw on Willemse’s visionary understanding of the importance of hidden histories and what it might mean to listen with postcolonial and/or decolonial ears. This, amongst other things, requires an acute awareness of history, heritage, and legacies both in society and in the academy. We incorporate a random selection of his work to unpack how his disruptive intervention serves to reformulate the idea of Afrikaans and Afrikaans literature in ways that are more inclusive of those silenced by the apartheid project, including Africa and the Global South at large.  https://letterkunde.africa/article/view/13123decolonial listening“buitekanonisering”postcolonialityconscious oppositionality
spellingShingle viola c. milton
Hannelie Marx-Knoetze
To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
Tydskrif vir Letterkunde
decolonial listening
“buitekanonisering”
postcoloniality
conscious oppositionality
title To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
title_full To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
title_fullStr To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
title_full_unstemmed To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
title_short To listen with decolonial ears: Hein Willemse, hidden histories, and the politics of disruptive intervention
title_sort to listen with decolonial ears hein willemse hidden histories and the politics of disruptive intervention
topic decolonial listening
“buitekanonisering”
postcoloniality
conscious oppositionality
url https://letterkunde.africa/article/view/13123
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