History, Tourism, and Culture

This edited collection analyses and evaluates the relationship between heritage, memory, and identity in post-colonial Southern Africa. It examines how Southern Africa’s historical sites are represented in local memorialisation practices, heritage and the (re)-construction of local and national identities. Of particular interest is the examination of various commemorative sites, and how these sites are managed and promoted. Heritage tourism is a powerful force in the construction and maintenance of national identity, because it relies upon historical symbols of the nation as a means of attracting tourists. The book also strives to unravel the production and consumption of tourism in Southern Africa, focusing mainly on the influence of identity, memorialisation and the manifestation of nationhood. It examines the role of tourists, communities and state agencies such as the National Heritage Council and the National Department of Tourism, representing collective memories and trying to forge the notion of one nation through heritage tourism. Other topics explored include the entanglement between tourism and heritage management in Southern Africa as manifested in inter and intra-community relations and contestations among stakeholders; the historical, cultural, socio-economic and political processes through which communities or individuals construct identities; and individual and collective memories about the commemorative representation of heritage sites.