We all
need narratives to explain and claim reality. SWAPO's narrative about
independence in 1990 has always been that it came through the barrels of guns
wielded by heroes, led by the Founding Father himself as a common foot soldier
as documented by North Korean artists in that famous snapshot in stone.
We know
that many factors, most of them of of a nonviolent kind, contributed to the
liberation of our country, SWAPO's diplomatic prowess and good luck certainly
is one of them . The consequnces of the hero myth are far from harmless.
The heroic
tale celebrated bravery, rightuousness and the spoils of victory but hid the
fact that Namibians had come out of the war traumatised and paining. The pains
were physical, psychological and moral because in the fight against the enemy
one had been made to act like the enemy sometimes. The victors needed cleansing
and healing in order to regain their full humanity but got the superhuman
treatment instead. The pain had to be shoved back and hidden because it was not
supposed to be there at all. So the war survivors had to live with secrets. Were sons and lovers were expecting
love and commitment there was a vacuum, there was a violence that sometimes
flared up from unknown sources. Fathers failed to return to their lovers and
children after the war.If they did they were not really there. The heroes did
not lead by example because they had failed to heal.
A hero
myth that is vacuous can easily become fairy tale. When Ronald Reagan became
president he had continuously played the war hero in the safe haven of
Hollywood while his countrymen were putting their lives on the line. He was
convinced to have been a GI Joe and had vivid memories of his own heroic
exploits. The Namibians in exile were not all in the trenches, some led a
privileged jet-setting life. This, however, did not prevent them from claiming
the glory of the sacrificing exile.
Heroism is
still seen as a man's thing, in spite of the fact that women played a decisive
role in all stages of the liberation struggle, from the Old Location to Cuito
Cuanavale, from 1959 to 1989. They were, however, short changed in the
celebrations and in the empowerment after the victory. The hero myth bolsters
traditional concepts of male dominance and glorifies violence or makes it look
acceptable.
