The documentary film Apartheid Did Not Die (Lowery, 1998) raises a theoretical problematic concerning the nature of historical change. In this article, an attempt is made to understand how the film represents the ‘post’ in the post-apartheid era, particularly with regard
to its premises about historical change in societies that have recently emerged from an oppressive past, and the responses that the film occasioned. I show that through narrative and documentary strategies, Apartheid Did Not Die institutes a singular temporal rhythm for South Africa and is
as such a metanarrative. Yet, it is as a metanarrative that the film occasioned a wide array of public engagements. Though powerful and provocative, the film’s arguments point to the limits of generalizing analyses and polemical modes of representation. However, its generalizing tone
also shows the productivity of polemic as occasioned by the public responses it brought into being. Considering the theoretically problematic elements of the documentary form offers a critical perspective on the responses the film elicited in the public sphere.
The contracting world of girls at puberty: Violence and gender-divergent access to the public sphere among adolescents in South Africa
