Expressing ‘Nationhood’ under Conditions of Constrained Sovereignty: Postage Stamp Iconography of the Bantustans

Abstract

States utilise a range of everyday objects to transmit ideals of nationhood and statehood. Quotidian objects such as currency and postage stamps have provided a means through which to portray to domestic and international audiences the values, ideologies, aspirations, and ideals of the state. For newly established or newly independent states, the political importance of these practices is heightened as they can provide a material embodiment of the state's founding ideology. However, in situations where (sub)state entities have independence imposed upon them, rather than it being sought and claimed, the role and content of the expressions of nationhood expressed through these objects can be complicated by experiences of constrained sovereignty. This paper explores how South Africa's creation of the independent Bantustans resulted in the complex expression of nationalism through postage stamp iconography. The resultant narratives are identified as drawing upon territoriality, nationhood, political authority, and international citizenship in efforts to claim sovereignty that served to reinscribe and reinforce factors contributing to the Bantustans' experiences of constrained sovereignty.