Cape-�Helena: An exploration of nostalgia and identity through the Cape Town -� St. Helena migration nexus

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Date

2018

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

University of the Western Cape

Abstract

In the following two chapters I will attempt to offer a more systemic account of St. Helena immigration to South African between 1838 and 1948. To date, no such study has been undertaken, despite a vibrant oral tradition amongst the descendants of St. Helena immigrants celebrating their St. Helenian heritage and often, in peculiar fashion, romanticise their Island of provenance. The commencement date for my chosen timeframe emerges from a need to authenticate rather tenuous historical accounts of St. Helena�s first mass emigration for the Cape of Good Hope in 1838. Where cases of migration are discussed, these are either incidences of large-�scale 41, often aided, migration and settlement, or of those St. Helena migrant workers initially employed under temporary contacts to work in South Africa, specifically within burgeoning industrial sectors of the late-�nineteenth or early-�twentieth century South Africa.

Description

Magister Artium - MA (History)

Keywords

St. Helena, Emigration, Cape of Good Hope, Oral tradition, Historical accounts

Citation