| Abstract: | This paper examines the kind of contribution autobiographical writings may make to an historical reworking of the events in which the writers are involved. Autobiography, being the very conscious revaluation ‐ often re‐creation — and presentation of the self, is a most problematic genre. Its narrative perspective is subjective; its authentication almost entirely personal, rather than documentary. These limitations should flash red lights at the historian: not to stop, but to proceed cautiously. For, problematic as self‐presentation may be, it is an additional source, speaking in a particular voice. It leads us beyond the petitions, letters, commissions and court records, vital as they are, into those sensitive areas of psyche: emotion, pride, deception and creativity, where many historians fear to tread. Much South African historical writing oversimplifies the role of individual character in helping to shape movements and events. Rather than depicting the complex ways in which subjects and societies interact, many historical studies have read off the politics and motivation of the individual from the organisation to which he or she belonged. Msimang and Thema are significant individuals, at once representative and idiosyncratic; deeply involved in SANNC politics, but also furthering their own careers. Their autobiographical writings both reveal and attempt to conceal important moments in their pasts and in so doing, exemplify the ways in which autobiographical writing may speak to the historian. |
