http://www.loc.gov/mods/v3 http://www.loc.gov/standards/mods/v3/mods-3-2.xsd
Life Stories of Malawian and South African Freedom Fighters during the Cold War
The presence of Africans in the German Democratic Republic is very rarely thought of in connection with the experience of exile. Instead, Africans in the GDR are predominantly viewed through the prism of educational and labor migration. While such research has undoubtedly produced valuable insights, it often fails to adequately account for the implicit Eurocentrism, methodological nationalism, and anti-communist bias inherent in Western knowledge production. This study offers a different approach. Through biographical portrayal, it unfolds the life stories of African freedom fighters who lived in exile in the GDR and, ultimately, remained in reunified Germany, with the main case study being a Malawian activist who was expelled from East to West Berlin. Recounting his experiences along with those of some South African exiles, chief among them a former medical worker for the ANC's armed wing, the study ethnographically reconstructs the multiple entanglements between the "Second" and "Third" worlds from the vantage point of the politically displaced within the concrete historical contexts of African decolonization, the struggle against the Malawian Banda dictatorship, and the struggle against South African apartheid.
Frontmatter -- On the Series -- Contents -- Introduction -- 1 Exiles -- 2 Mahoma Mwaungulu: Ethnography of an Intra-German Expulsion -- 3 Asaph Makote Mohlala: "I had to Fight my Way Back" -- 4 Epilogue: African Exiles and the Awkward Figure of the Refugee -- 5 Conclusions: Post-revolutionary Spaces in Search of Approval -- Appendix -- Bibliography -- List of Abbreviations -- List of Figures -- Index
funded by Humboldt-Universität zu Berlin