National symbols: Cultural negotiation and policy beyond apartheid

SUMMARY: National monuments as cultural symbols embody not only the attitudes of contemporary political players, but also the baggage of much wider historical associations. In this article, the residues of historical ideas of nation and nationhood are related to South African national monuments policy debates, with specific reference to the impact of previous policy decisions based on an identification of the concepts of 'nation' and 'culture'. It is argued that the present plurality of national-cultural attitudes in South Africa, fomented by apartheid policies of division, can be viewed as a resource with which to rearticulate the symbolism of existing monuments in ways which turn the divisions of the past into the basis for a future founded on democratic pluralism.