Abstract
If many monuments inspired by Greco-Roman statuary have been destroyed in the history of humanity, it is because their aesthetics, their closeness to reality and above all their symbolism have made them, and still make them, prime targets for conveying political messages, without the need for direct attacks on human beings. This radical iconoclasm was magnified in South Africa in 2015 by the debate at the University of Cape Town (UCT) when some students demanded that the statue of the tycoon Cecil Rhodes be taken down because, they said, it was a daily offence when they walked past it, reminding them of the days of colonisation and apartheid. As the movement gathered momentum, the debate shifted to another statue of Rhodes, this one in Oxford. The aim of this article is to try to understand the phenomena at play in this period from 2015 to 2024 by comparing the treatment of two statues of the same figure but located in different memorial spaces, namely a former settlement colony and what used to be its metropolis, in an attempt to understand the imperial legacy.
Published Version
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