DOCSLIB.ORG

An Analysis of the Construction of Tswana Cultural Identity in Selected Tswana Literary Texts

Total Page：16

File Type：pdf, Size：1020Kb

Download full-text PDF Read full-text
An Analysis of the Construction of Tswana Cultural Identity in Selected Tswana Literary Texts AN ANALYSIS OF THE CONSTRUCTION OF TSWANA CULTURAL IDENTITY IN SELECTED TSWANA LITERARY TEXTS GABAITSIWE ELIZABETH PILANE BA, BA (Hons), MA, PTC Thesis submitted in fulfilment of the requirements for the degree Philosophiae Doctor in Tswana at the Potchefstroomse Universiteit vir Christelike Hoer Onderwys. Promoter : Prof H. M. Viljoen Co-promoter : Dr. R. S. Pretorius Potchefstroom 2002 11 ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I wish to thank my promoter Professor H. M. Viljoen who guided me through the years that I was busy with my thesis. He has been so patient in advising and encouraging me. From him I learnt hard work and perseverance. He was always ready to help and give a word of encouragement and for this, I thank him very much. My gratitude goes to my co-promoter Dr. R. S. Pretorius for his valuable guidance and advice throughout the process of completing this thesis. Colloquial thanks to my husband Bogatsu and my children for their sacrifice, and encouragement, as well as their support and love during my study and my absence from home. A word of gratitude to my son Phiri Joseph Pilane for typing the thesis. Finally I would like to thank God for protecting me through this study and giving me the strength and patience to bring the research to completion. Ill DEDICATION I dedicate this thesis to the memory of my late parents-in-law, Ramonaka Pilane and Setobana Stella Pilane, who passed away before they could enjoy the fruits of their daughter-in-law's studies. IV DECLARATION I declare that this thesis for the degree of Philosophiae Doctor at the Potchefstroom University for Christian Higher Education, hereby submitted by me, has not previously been submitted by me for a degree at this University and that all sources referred to have been acknowledged. GABAITSIWE ELIZABETH PDLANE 2002 V ABSTRACT The aim of this study is to analyse the construction of Setswana cultural identity in the Tswana literary texts : Pelo e ja serati; Dintshontsho tsa lorato; Maragana; Magagana; Pelo e ntsho, Matlhotlhapelo; Bogosi kupe and Moji Motlhabi. Chapter One outlines and motivates the aims and objectives, the basic problem and indicates the method thereof. In chapter two, the Batswana cultural identity is explored. A broad overview of the secondary literature on four themes in Batswana culture is given. The chapter indicates the history of the Batswana in South Africa, their groupings in the Western Tswana and in the Eastern Tswana. A brief history of the Batswana in Botswana and in South Africa is also given. The distinctive feature of the Batswana identity and the importance of the Batswana cultural aspects are examined. The meaning of these aspects is drawn out and elaborated to its final conclusion. Lastly, the link between literature and cultural identity is conceptualised. In chapter three the construction of cultural identity in Setswana culture according to interviewees is explored. The life-history of the interviewees and their response to the selected cultural aspects are given. Their feelings of being Batswana are also examined. In chapter four a critical analysis of the texts used in this study is given. They all problematise and deal with four important cultural practices of the Batswana, viz. marriage customs, chieftainship, ancestors, witchcraft and traditional healing. In the last chapter the conclusions of this study are summarised. The central argument was to indicate how cultural identity is maintained, negotiated or transmitted by these texts and how to determine whether these texts can open up new possibilities of being a Motswana. The final findings of the whole study and some recommendations are also presented. The conclusion is that literature maintains, reveals and transmits the Batswana culture, not only to the youths out there, but also to the older people in order to recognise its importance and their cultural identity. VI OPSOMMING Die basiese doel van hierdie proefskrif was om die konstruksie van die Setswana kulturele identiteit in die gekose Tswana literere tekste Pelo e ja serati; Dintshontsho tsa lorato; Maragana; Magagana; Pelo e ntsho; Matlhotlhapelo; Bogosi kupe en Moji Motlhabi te ontleed. Hoofstuk een skets en motiveer die doel, die basiese probleemstellig en die metode van die studie. In hoofstuk twee word die Batswana kulturele identiteit ondersoek. "n Bree oorsig van die sekondere literatuur oor vier temas in die Batswana-kultuur word gegee. Die hoofstuk skets die geskiedenis van die Batswana in suider Afrika en hulle groepering in die Wes-Tswana en die Oos-Tswana. 'n Kort geskiedenis van die Batswana in Botswana en in Suid Afrika word gegee. Die onderskeidende hooftrekke van die Batswana- identiteit en die belangrikheid van die Batswana kulturele aspekte is ook ondersoek. Die betekenis van hierdie aspekte is noukeurig uitgewerk en ten laaste is die verband tussen literatuur en kulturele identiteit gekonseptualiseer. Hoofstuk drie ondersoek die konstruksie van kulturele identiteit van die Batswana volgens 'n aantal ondervraagdes. Die lewensgeskiedenis van die ondervraagdes en hulle reaksie op die gekose kulturele aspekte word gegee. Hulle aanvoeling van Batswana te wees is ook ondersoek. Hoofstuk vier gee die literere ontleding van die tekste wat gebruik is in hierdie studie. Hulle problematiseer en behandel vier belangrike kulturele praktyke van die Batswana nl. huiweliksgewoontes, die voorvaders, kapteinskap, en tradisionele genesing en toordery. Die laaste hoofstuk som die gevolgtrekkinge van hierdie studie op. Die sentrale probleem was om te bewys hoe kulturele identiteit gehandhaaf, onderhandel of oorgedra word deur van hierdie tekste en hoe om te bepaal of hierdie tekste nuwe moontlikhede om Tswana te wees oopmaak. Die hoofstuk ook gee die finale bevindings van die hele studie en maak aanbevelings daaroor. Vll Die gevolgtrekking is dat letterkunde die Batswana- kultuur handhaaf, weerspieel, oordra nie net aan jong mense nie maar ook aan volwassenes sodat hulle die belangrikheid van hulle kultuur en hulle kulturele identiteit kan erken. TABLE OF CONTENTS ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS ii DEDICATION iii DECLARATION iv ABSTRACT v OPSOMMTNG vii CHAPTER ONE 1.1. Introduction 1 1.2. Contextualisation 1 1.3. Problem statement 4 1.4. Aims and objectives 5 1.5. Hypothesis 5 1.6. Method of research 5 1.7. Chapter outline 6 CHAPTER TWO Tswana culture and the construction of cultural identity 8 2.1. A broad overview of the secondary literature on the four themes in Batswana culture 9 2.2. A brief history of the Batswana in South Africa 9 2.2.1Traditional/Pre-Historictimes 12 2.2.2.Firstencounterswith the whites (Missionaries) 14 2.2.3 The time of trouble (Difaqane 1820s 17 2.2.4 A brief history of the Batswan in Botswana 19 2.2.5 A brief history of South Africa 1899-1948 22 2.2.6.The Apartheid regime in South Africa 24 2.2.7.Present-Day living conditions 27 2.3. Language as a distinctive feature of the Batswana identity 28 2.4. The importance of these cultural aspects 31 2.5. Marriage customs 31 2.5.1. Nature of marriage 31 2.5.2. Conditions for marriage 33 2.5.3. Initiation 34 2.5.4. Negotiations - Role of the parents 35 2.5.5. Betrothal 36 2.5.6. Lobola 37 2.5.7. Wedding ceremonies 38 2.5.8. Duties and rights of a man and a wife 39 2.5.9.Divorce 39 2.5.10. Changes in the marriage customs 40 2.5.11. Seantlo 41 2.5.12. Polygamy 41 2.6. Ancestors 42 2.7. Witchcraft and sorcery 44 2.8. Chieftainship 46 2.8.1 The role of the chief. 49 2.9. Conclusion 50 2.10. A critical analysis of the research into cultural identity and the construction of identity 53 2.11. Conceptualising the link between literature and cultural identity 57 2.12. Changes in Batswana culture 62 CHAPTER THREE The construction of cultural identity in Tswana culture according to spokespeople 65 3.1. Life-history of the interviewees 65 3.2. Interviewees' feelings about their culture and being a Motswana 68 3.3. Ancestors 72 3.4. Marriage 75 3.5.Chieftainship 84 3.6. Witchcraft 88 3.7. Conclusions : Construction of cultural identity in literature and according to the spokespeople 92 CHAPTER FOUR The construction of cultural identity in the selected texts 96 4.1.Cultural identity constructed through redefining marriage customs: Dintshontsho tsa lorato and Pelo e ia serati 96 4.1.1. Summary of Dintshontsho tsa lorato. 97 4.1.2. Summary of Pelo e ia serati 99 4.1.3. Conflict and cultural identity 101 4.1.4. Plot and cultural identity 106 4.1.5. Characters and cultural identity 108 4.1.5.1. General remarks on characters, their names and the love triangle Ill 4.1.5.2. Brief description of Mmamotia's character 112 4.1.5.3. Brief description of Sakoma's character 114 4.1.5.4. A brief description of Dithole's character 116 4.1.5.5. A brief description of Nombini 120 4.1.5.6. Setting, time and cultural identity 122 4.1.5.7. Cultural identity and theme in Dintshontsho tsa lorato and Pelo e ia serati 128 4.1.5.8. The portrayal of traditional marriage customs and cultural identity in Dintshontsho tsa lorato and Pelo e ia serati 129 4.1.5.9. Relations to foreigners 131 4.1.5.10. The role of the ancestors in Pelo e ia serati 132 4.1.5.11. Conclusion: marriage and the construction of cultural identity 133 4.2. Cultural identity and the role of chief Maragana and Magagana 134 4.2.1. Summary of Maragana. 135 4.2.2. Summary of Magagana 135 4.2.3. Conflict in the two texts and how it is related to cultural identity 136 4.2.4.
Load more

Recommended publications
  • SAHRA-Annual-Report-2007.Pdf
    SAHRA Ann Rep Cover 2007 repro Monday, August 27, 2007 1:21:22 PM Table of Contents SAHRA’S VISION AND MISSION STATEMENT 2 LETTER FROM THE CHAIRPERSON 3 THE CHIEF EXECUTIVE OFFICER’S FOREWORD AND MESSAGE 4 APPLICABLE ACTS AND OTHER INFORMATION 7 STATEMENT OF RESPONSIBILITY 8 CORPORATE AFFAIRS 9 Human Resources Management 10 Information and Auxiliary Services 25 HERITAGE RESOURCES MANAGEMENT 27 Head Office Units Archaeology, Palaeontology and Meteorites Unit 28 Architectural Heritage Landscape Unit 34 Burial Grounds and Graves Unit 38 Grading and Declarations Unit 44 Heritage Objects Unit 48 Living Heritage Unit 54 Maritime Archaeology Unit 62 National Inventory Unit 72 Provincial Offices Eastern Cape 76 Free State 80 Gauteng 80 Kwa-Zulu Natal 92 Limpopo 94 Mpumalanga 98 North West 102 Northern Cape 110 Western Cape 116 LEGAL UNIT 128 FINANCIAL STATEMENTS 131 SAHRA OFFICES AND STAFF 161 SAHRA’S VISION SAHRA’s vision is to provide for the identification, conservation, protection and promotion of our heritage resources for present and future generations. SAHRA’S MISSION As custodians of our national estate our mission is: ° to coordinate and monitor the identification of our national heritage resources; ° to set norms and standards and maintain the management of heritage resources nationally; ° to encourage co-operative conservation of our national estate; ° to enable and facilitate the development of provincial structures; ° to control the export and import of nationally significant heritage resources; ° to develop policy initiative for the promotion and management of our heritage; ° to nurture an holistic celebration of our history; ° to set national policy for heritage resources management, i.e.
    [Show full text]
  • Early History of South Africa
    THE EARLY HISTORY OF SOUTH AFRICA EVOLUTION OF AFRICAN SOCIETIES . .3 SOUTH AFRICA: THE EARLY INHABITANTS . .5 THE KHOISAN . .6 The San (Bushmen) . .6 The Khoikhoi (Hottentots) . .8 BLACK SETTLEMENT . .9 THE NGUNI . .9 The Xhosa . .10 The Zulu . .11 The Ndebele . .12 The Swazi . .13 THE SOTHO . .13 The Western Sotho . .14 The Southern Sotho . .14 The Northern Sotho (Bapedi) . .14 THE VENDA . .15 THE MASHANGANA-TSONGA . .15 THE MFECANE/DIFAQANE (Total war) Dingiswayo . .16 Shaka . .16 Dingane . .18 Mzilikazi . .19 Soshangane . .20 Mmantatise . .21 Sikonyela . .21 Moshweshwe . .22 Consequences of the Mfecane/Difaqane . .23 Page 1 EUROPEAN INTERESTS The Portuguese . .24 The British . .24 The Dutch . .25 The French . .25 THE SLAVES . .22 THE TREKBOERS (MIGRATING FARMERS) . .27 EUROPEAN OCCUPATIONS OF THE CAPE British Occupation (1795 - 1803) . .29 Batavian rule 1803 - 1806 . .29 Second British Occupation: 1806 . .31 British Governors . .32 Slagtersnek Rebellion . .32 The British Settlers 1820 . .32 THE GREAT TREK Causes of the Great Trek . .34 Different Trek groups . .35 Trichardt and Van Rensburg . .35 Andries Hendrik Potgieter . .35 Gerrit Maritz . .36 Piet Retief . .36 Piet Uys . .36 Voortrekkers in Zululand and Natal . .37 Voortrekker settlement in the Transvaal . .38 Voortrekker settlement in the Orange Free State . .39 THE DISCOVERY OF DIAMONDS AND GOLD . .41 Page 2 EVOLUTION OF AFRICAN SOCIETIES Humankind had its earliest origins in Africa The introduction of iron changed the African and the story of life in South Africa has continent irrevocably and was a large step proven to be a micro-study of life on the forwards in the development of the people.
    [Show full text]
  • Understanding and Dealing with Ancestral Practices in Botswana
    Andrews University Digital Commons @ Andrews University Dissertation Projects DMin Graduate Research 1997 Understanding and Dealing With Ancestral Practices in Botswana Stanley P. Chikwekwe Andrews University Follow this and additional works at: https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin Part of the Missions and World Christianity Commons Recommended Citation Chikwekwe, Stanley P., "Understanding and Dealing With Ancestral Practices in Botswana" (1997). Dissertation Projects DMin. 32. https://digitalcommons.andrews.edu/dmin/32 This Project Report is brought to you for free and open access by the Graduate Research at Digital Commons @ Andrews University. It has been accepted for inclusion in Dissertation Projects DMin by an authorized administrator of Digital Commons @ Andrews University. For more information, please contact [email protected]. Thank you for your interest in the Andrews University Digital Library of Dissertations and Theses. Please honor the copyright of this document by not duplicating or distributing additional copies in any form without the author’s express written permission. Thanks for your cooperation. INFORMATION TO USERS This manuscript has been reproduced from the microfilm master. UMi films the text directly from the original or copy submitted. Thus, some thesis and dissertation copies are in typewriter face, while others may be from any type of computer printer. The quality of this reproduction is dependent upon the quality of the co p y submitted. Broken or indistinct print, colored or poor quality illustrations and photographs, print bleedthrough, substandard margins, and improper alignment can adversely affect reproduction. In the unlikely event that the author did not send UMI a complete manuscript and there are missing pages, these will be noted.
    [Show full text]
  • The African E-Journals Project Has Digitized Full Text of Articles of Eleven Social Science and Humanities Journals
    The African e-Journals Project has digitized full text of articles of eleven social science and humanities journals. This item is from the digital archive maintained by Michigan State University Library. Find more at: http://digital.lib.msu.edu/projects/africanjournals/ Available through a partnership with Scroll down to read the article. Pula: Botswana Journal of African Studies vol.17 (2003) nO.1 European Missionaries and Tswana Identity in the 19th Century Stephen Vo/z University ofWisconson-Madison, USA email: [email protected] Abstract During the nineteenth century, 'Batswana' became used as label for a large number of people inhabiting the interior of southern Africa, and European missionaries played an important role in the evolution of the term's meaning and the adoption of that meaning by both Europeans and Batswana. Through their long years of residence among Batswana and development ofwrillenforms of Sets wan a, missionaries became acknowledged by other Europeans as experts on Tswana culture, and their notions of Tswana ethnicity became incorporated into European understandings of Africans and, eventually, into Batswana understandings of themselves. The development of Tswana identity passed through several stages and involved different layers of construction, depending on the level of European knowledge of Tswana societies, the purposes served by that knowledge, and the changing circumstances of Tswana peoples' relations with Europeans and others. Although Tswana identity has, in a sense, been invented, that identity has not existed in one set form nor has it simply been imposed upon Africans by Europeans. Parallel to European allempts to define Tswana- ness, Batswana developed their own understandings of Tswana identity, and although missionaries contributed much to the formation of 'Tswana' identity, it was not purely a European invention but resulted instead from interaction between Europeans and Africans and their mutual classification of the other in reference to themselves.
    [Show full text]
  • North West No Fee Schools 2020
    NORTH WEST NO FEE SCHOOLS 2020 NATIONAL EMIS NAME OF SCHOOL SCHOOL PHASE ADDRESS OF SCHOOL EDUCATION DISTRICT QUINTILE LEARNER NUMBER 2020 NUMBERS 2020 600100023 AMALIA PUBLIC PRIMARY PRIMARY P.O. BOX 7 AMALIA 2786 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 1363 600100033 ATAMELANG PRIMARY PRIMARY P.O. BOX 282 PAMPIERSTAD 8566 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 251 600100036 AVONDSTER PRIMARY PRIMARY P.O. BOX 335 SCHWEIZER-RENEKE 2780 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 171 600100040 BABUSENG PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P.O. BOX 100 LERATO 2880 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA 1 432 600100045 BADUMEDI SECONDARY SCHOOL SECONDARY P. O. BOX 69 RADIUM 0483 BOJANALA 1 591 600100049 BAGAMAIDI PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P.O BOX 297 HARTSWATER 8570 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 247 600103614 BAHENTSWE PRIMARY P.O BOX 545 DELAREYVILLE 2770 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA 1 119 600100053 BAISITSE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P.O. BOX 5006 TAUNG 8584 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 535 600100056 BAITSHOKI HIGH SCHOOL SECONDARY PRIVATE BAG X 21 ITSOSENG 2744 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA 1 774 600100061 BAKGOFA PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P O BOX 1194 SUN CITY 0316 BOJANALA 1 680 600100067 BALESENG PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P. O. BOX 6 LEBOTLOANE 0411 BOJANALA 1 232 600100069 BANABAKAE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P.O. BOX 192 LERATO 2880 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA 1 740 600100071 BANCHO PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY PRIVATE BAG X10003 MOROKWENG 8614 DR RUTH S MOMPATI 1 60 600100073 BANOGENG MIDDLE SCHOOL SECONDARY PRIVATE BAG X 28 ITSOSENG 2744 NGAKA MODIRI MOLEMA 1 84 600100075 BAPHALANE PRIMARY SCHOOL PRIMARY P. O. BOX 108 RAMOKOKASTAD 0195 BOJANALA 1 459 600100281 BARETSE PRIMARY PRIMARY P.O.
    [Show full text]
  • Apartheid South Africa
    Apartheid South Africa 1948-1994 APARTHEID IN SOUTH AFRICA To understand the events that led to the creation of an independent South Africa. To understand the policy of apartheid and its impact. To understand what caused the end of apartheid and the challenges that remain. Colonization: Settling in another country & taking it over politically and economically. Cultures Clash The Dutch were the first The Europeans who settled Europeans to settle in in South Africa called South Africa. themselves Afrikaners. They set up a trade Eventually, the British took station near the Cape of control of most of South Good Hope. Africa. Cultures Clash The British and the The British eventually Afrikaners (also known as defeated the Afrikaners the Boers) fought each and Zulus and declared other for control of South Africa an South Africa. independent country in The British also fought 1910. with the Zulu tribe. The Birth of Apartheid They created a system called The white-controlled APARTHEID, which was designed government of South to separate South African Africa created laws to society into groups based on keep land and wealth in race: whites, blacks, the hands of whites. Coloureds, and Asians. What is Apartheid? System of racial segregation in South Africa. Lasted from 1948-1994 Created to keep economical and political power with people of English descent/heritage National Party (1948) In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa. Promoted Afrikaner, or Dutch South African, nationalism. Instituted a strict racial segregation policy called apartheid. In 1961, South Africa was granted total independence from Great Britain.
    [Show full text]
  • Who Are the Ndebele and the Kalanga in Zimbabwe?
    Who are the Ndebele and the Kalanga in Zimbabwe? Gerald Chikozho Mazarire Paper Prepared for Konrad Adenuer Foundation Project on ‘Ethnicity in Zimbabwe’ November 2003 Introduction Our understanding of Kalanga and Ndebele identity is tainted by a general legacy of high school textbooks that have confessedly had a tremendous impact on our somewhat obviated knowledge of local ethnicities through a process known in history as ‘feedback’. Under this process printed or published materials find their way back into oral traditions to emerge as common sense historical facts. In reality these common sense views come to shape both history and identity both in the sense of what it is as well as what it ought to be. As the introduction by Terence Ranger demonstrates; this goes together with the calculated construction of identities by the colonial state, which was preoccupied with naming and containing its subjects (itself a legacy on its own). Far from complicating our analysis, these legacies make it all the more interesting for the Ndebele and Kalanga who both provide excellent case studies in identity construction and its imagination. There is also a dimension of academic research, which as Ranger observes, did not focus on ethnicity per-se. This shouldn’t be a hindrance in studying ethnicity though; for we now know a lot more about the Ndebele than we would have some 30years ago (Beach 1973). In contrast, until fairly recently, we did not know as much about the Kalanga who have constantly been treated as a sub-ethnicity of the major groups in southwestern Zimbabwe such as the Ndebele, Tswana and Shona.
    [Show full text]
  • Table of Content
    i i Table of Content Table of Content........................................................................................................................................................... i Traditional Leadership and Governance Framework Act 41 of 2003 ............................................................................ 21 List of Tables ............................................................................................................................................................. iv The Inter-governmental Relations Framework Act 13 of 2005 ...................................................................................... 21 The Environmental Conservation Act No. 73 of 1989 ...................................................................................................... 21 List of Plans ............................................................................................................................................................... iv The National Environmental Management Bio-Diversity Act No. 10 of 2004.............................................................. 21 Glossary ...................................................................................................................................................................... v The National Heritage Resource Act No. 25 of 1999 ........................................................................................................ 22 EXECUTIVE SUMMARY ..............................................................................................................................................
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa's People
    Pocket Guide to South Africa 2011/12 SOUTH AFRICA’S PEOPLE SOUTH AFRICA’S PEOPLE 9 Pocket Guide to South Africa 2011/12 SOUTH AFRICA’S PEOPLE People South Africa’s biggest asset is its people; a rainbow nation with rich and diverse cultures. South Africa is often called the cradle of humankind, for this is where archaeologists discovered 2,5-million-year-old fossils of our earliest ancestors, as well as 100 000-year-old remains of modern man. According to Statistics South Africa’s (Stats SA) Mid-Year Population Estimates, 2011, released in July 2011, there were 50,59 million people living in South Africa, of whom 79,5% were African, 9% coloured, 2,5% Indian and 9% white. Approximately 52% of the population was female. Nearly one third (31,3%) of the population was aged younger than 15 years and approximately 7,7% (3,9 million) was 60 years or older. Of those younger than 15 years, approximately 23% (3,66 million) lived in KwaZulu-Natal and 19,4% (3,07 million) lived in Gauteng. The South African population consists of the Nguni (comprising the Zulu, Xhosa, Ndebele and Swazi people); Sotho-Tswana, who include the Southern, Northern and Western Sotho (Tswana people); Tsonga; Venda; Afrikaners; English; coloured people; Indian people; and those who have immigrated to South Africa from the rest of Africa, Europe and Asia and who maintain a strong cultural identity. Members of the Khoi and the San also live in South Africa. Languages According to the Constitution of South Africa, 1996, everyone has the right to use the language and participate in the cultural life of their choice, but no one may do so in a manner that is inconsistent with any provision of the Bill of Rights.
    [Show full text]
  • BOPHUTHATSWANA" C/O Professor F
    NOT I::OR PUBLICATION WITHOUT WRITER'S CONSENT KB-5 INSTITUTE OF CURRENT WORLD AFFAIRS BOPHUTHATSWANA" c/o Professor F. de Villiers A' 'Bi'a'ck Sate 0r 't'ate of Mind'?' School of Law, UNIBO P/Bag X2046 nabatho, Bophuthatswana May 18, 1982 Mr. Peter Bird Martin Executive Director Institute of Current World Affairs Wheelock House West Wheelock Street Hanover, New Hampshire 03755 USA Dear Peter, Bophuthatswana is a unique --live in Bophuthatswana and $. Africs. place in southern Africa. It is Over sixty percent of Bophuthat- considered by South Africa to be swana's citizens still live and an independent black state, but work in South Africa, mostly in it consists of seven completely townships outside of Pretoria. separate pieces of land. It has Looking at the dispersal accepted independence but it of the Tswana; in Botswana which lies entirely within South Afri- was the largest traditionally ca's borders. It has a bill of Tswana region, there are the fewest rights which South Africa does number of people. The next larg- not, and has declared apartheid est area, Bophuthatswana, has the and discrimination on the basis next largest number of people. of race, creed or color illegal. Then, near Pretoria, in mostly However, it is making conscious impoverished "township" communit- efforts to have the cultural ies are the vast majority of make-up of the country be mostly T swana pe o ple. blaeks of Tswana descent. So, we are presented with Bophuthatswana is the re- a landlocked "country" broken sult of South Africa's attempts into numerous unconnected pieces.
    [Show full text]
  • South Africa, De Voortrekkers and Come See the Bioscope Ilha Do Desterro: a Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, Núm
    Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies E-ISSN: 2175-8026 [email protected] Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Brasil Saks, Lucia A Tale of Two Nations: South Africa, De Voortrekkers and Come See the Bioscope Ilha do Desterro: A Journal of English Language, Literatures in English and Cultural Studies, núm. 61, julio-diciembre, 2011, pp. 137-187 Universidade Federal de Santa Catarina Florianópolis, Brasil Available in: http://www.redalyc.org/articulo.oa?id=478348699006 How to cite Complete issue Scientific Information System More information about this article Network of Scientific Journals from Latin America, the Caribbean, Spain and Portugal Journal's homepage in redalyc.org Non-profit academic project, developed under the open access initiative http://dx.doi.org/10.5007/2175-8026.2011n61p137 A TALE of Two Nations: South Africa, DE VOORTREKKERS AND COME SEE THE BIOSCOPE Lucia Saks University of Cape Town/University of Michigan Abstract: This paper examines two films, De Vootrekkers (1916) and Come See the Bioscope (1997), made at two moments of national crisis in South African history, the first at the beginning and the second at the end of the twentieth century. Both films speak to the historical moment of their production and offer very different visions of the nation and the necessity for reconciliation. Keywords: cinema, South Africa, national identity, post apartheid, reconciliation. (M)y knowledge of movies, pictures, or the idea of movie-making, was strongly linked to the identity of a nation. That’s why there is no French television, or Italian, or Brit- ish, or American television.
    [Show full text]
  • Homelands,” and “Black States”: Visual Onomastic Constructions of Bantustans in Apartheid South Africa
    African Studies Quarterly | Volume 18, Issue 4| October 2019 Beyond Seeing QwaQwa, “Homelands,” and “Black States”: Visual Onomastic Constructions of Bantustans in Apartheid South Africa OLIVER NYAMBI and RODWELL MAKOMBE Abstract: The Bantustans – separate territories created for black African occupation by the apartheid regime in South Africa were some of the most telling sites and symbols of “domestic colonialism” in South Africa. In them resided and still reside the overt and covert influences, beliefs and knowledge systems that defined and characterised the philosophy and praxis of “separate development” or apartheid as a racial, colonial, socio-political and economic system. The Bantustan exhibits many socio-economic and political realities and complexes traceable to apartheid’s defining tenets, philosophies and methods of constructing and sustaining racialized power. Names of (and in) the Bantustan are a curious case. No study has systematically explored the onomastic Bantustan, with a view to understanding how names associated with it reflect deeper processes, attitudes, instabilities and contradictions that informed apartheid separate development philosophy and praxis. This article enters the discourse on the colonial and postcolonial significance of the Bantustan from the vantage point of Bantustan cultures, specifically naming and visuality. Of major concern is how names and labels used in reference to the Bantustan frame and refract images of black physical place and spaces in ways that reflect the racial constructedness of power and the spatio- temporality of identities in processes of becoming and being a Bantustan. The article contextually analyzes the politics and aesthetics of purposefully selected names and labels ascribed to black places by the apartheid regime as part of a strategic restructuring of both the physical and political landscapes.
    [Show full text]