Concrete Oceans: The Dolos, Apartheid Engineering, and the Intertidal Zone

IF 1 Q3 GEOGRAPHY
J. Cane
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引用次数: 0

Abstract

This article is concerned with an object called the “dolos,” a concrete coastal structure developed by the South African state at the height of apartheid, in 1963. A twisted H-shape with attenuating limbs, it is formally rather beautiful, exhibiting a kind of brutal elegance, and it has been successfully used in hydraulic engineering projects around the globe. It is, nevertheless, a relatively unremarkable invention. Even in its category of “coastal armor,” it was invented 14 years after the first, French-patented Tetrapod. And yet, during apartheid and after, it captured the popular imagination of many white citizens who proudly connected with the narrative of innovation, self-sufficiency and apartheid modernity. The history of the dolos reveals a modernizing state that worked vigorously through its parastatals and research institutions to explore the material, structural and esthetic possibilities of concrete to articulate a convincing and legitimate national identity. This article joins with scholars in the critical oceanic humanities who are arguing for more-than-human, Anthropocene-directed research in the Global South, framed by Kimberley Peters and Philip Steinberg’s call to adopt a more-than-wet ontology addressing the (i) materiality, (ii) motion, and (iii) temporality of the ocean and, indeed, of ocean infrastructure.
混凝土海洋:多洛斯,种族隔离工程和潮间带
这篇文章关注的是一个名为“dolos”的物体,这是1963年南非在种族隔离最严重的时候建造的一个沿海混凝土结构。它呈扭曲的h形,四肢衰减,外形相当漂亮,表现出一种野蛮的优雅,在世界各地的水利工程中得到了成功的应用。然而,这是一个相对不起眼的发明。即使在“海岸装甲”这一类别中,它的发明也比第一个获得法国专利的四足动物晚了14年。然而,在种族隔离期间和之后,它吸引了许多白人公民的普遍想象,他们自豪地将创新、自给自足和种族隔离现代性的叙述联系在一起。dolos的历史揭示了一个现代化的国家,通过其半国有企业和研究机构积极探索混凝土的材料,结构和美学可能性,以表达令人信服和合法的国家身份。这篇文章加入了一些海洋人文学科的学者,他们主张在全球南方进行超越人类的、以人类世为导向的研究,金伯利·彼得斯(Kimberley Peters)和菲利普·斯坦伯格(Philip Steinberg)呼吁采用一种超越自然的本体论来解决(1)海洋的物质性、(2)海洋的运动性、(3)海洋基础设施的时间性。
本文章由计算机程序翻译,如有差异,请以英文原文为准。
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来源期刊
Geohumanities
Geohumanities GEOGRAPHY-
CiteScore
1.30
自引率
14.30%
发文量
22
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