Close-up Sophiatown: Transnational Perspectives on Past, Present and Future of an Iconic Suburb

In this article I suggest a different view on Sophiatown's existence, both in terms of it standing as mythical icon and as a suburb. Instead of continuing the look 'from afar' (Hannerz 1994 Hannerz, U. 1994. 'The View from Afar'. Journal of Southern African Studies 20(2):181-93. doi: 10.1080/03057079408708395[Taylor & Francis Online], [Web of Science (r)], [Google Scholar]), which positions Sophiatown within the category of desirable 'global icons', I turn my gaze deeper into Sophiatown, both as a suburb and an icon. I use the lens of transnationalism to zoom into three scenes in Sophiatown in order to examine what has been ignored and overlooked in previous narratives. Where the global icon stays and focuses on the surface, the transnational perspective focuses on the everyday lives within the icon. Through a series of vignettes, looking at women in Sophiatown's history, at coffee making with a Greek immigrant, and tales of home with Senegalese businessmen, through a consideration of Bloke Modisane's post-Sophiatown career, I examine how the time established by focusing on these transnational lives is a time of presence which spans multiple locations. I conclude the article with a final point about the 'unrepresentability' of a diverse history in the current ways of narrating history in Sophiatown; and the necessity of extending spaces of representation for other, alternative perspectives.