Frances Baard's and Helen Joseph's struggle against apartheid, 1950-1963 : a comparative analysis

Abstract

Women's personal narratives constitute the core of historical inquiry in women's history even though the category "woman" has been contested and redefined at different levels in different cultures. The article purports to provide a general overview of prospects and problems of autobiographies and life histories as a methodology of writing comparative women's political history. The article argues that the differences in the 'I' that is spoken of as a retrospective product in life histories, and the 'I' that speaks for itself as a retrospective cumulative experience in autobiographies, has a bearing on the kind of knowledge that scholars produce on comparative women's political history. It is significant to note that while it is possible to blur boundaries and draw comparisons on women's experiences, the nature of the knowledge produced by using different personal narratives has a bearing on the levels at which similarities of such experiences are drawn.

Die persoonlike narratiewe van vroue vorm die kern van historiese ondersoek in vroue geskiedenis. Dit is die geval ondanks die feit dat die kategorie "vroue" gekontesteer en geherdefineer is op verskillende vlakke in verskillende kulture. Die artikel gee 'n algemene oorsig van die moontlikhede en probleme van autobiografieë en lewensgeskiedenisse as 'n metodologie by die skryf van vergelykende politieke geskiedenis van vroue. Hier word geargumenteer dat die verskille in die "ek" waarvan daar gepraat word as 'n retroperspektiewe produk van lewensgeskiedenisse, en die "ek" wat namens die self praat as 'n retroperspektiewe kumulatiewe ondervidning in autobiografieë 'n invloed het op die tipe kennis wat skrywers produseer in vergelykende politieke geskiedenisse van vroue. Dit is noodsaaklik om kennis te neem van die feit dat alhoewel dit moontlik is om die grense te versag en vergelykings te tref rakende die ervaringe van vroue, die aard van die kennis wat geproduseer word deur die gebruik van verskillende persoonlike narratiewe 'n invloed het op die vlak waar sulke ooreenstemmende ervaringe plaasvind.