Published December 30, 2022
| Version v1
Journal article
Open
The concepts of 'Zulu tribe' and 'Zulu nation' and their use towards political aspirations in South Africa
Description
The object of research: This article presents an overview of how the concept of tribe and nation has been manipulated for political end. The first part of the paper clearly establishes that the two concepts are not only different but also represent different epochs in Zulu history.
Investigated problem: this article interrogates this neglected subject by focusing on how Europeans used different terms to denegrate Africans during colonialism. The main objective is to reveal social agency, showing that the African ethnic groups were also capable of making nations before the arrival of colonialism.
The main scientific results: The findings of this paper indicated that the concepts 'tribe' and 'nation' present different epochs in Zulu history therefore using them interchangeably as if they refer to one thing is politically incorrect. Moreover, findings indicated that there is nothing wrong with the words as they are defined by dictionaries but the way in which they were used created confusion.
Innovative product: The result of this study will be incorporated in our history curriculum, which specifically focuses at how the process of colonization affected the Zulu monarchy.
The area of practical use of the research results: The study is of importance to South African historians and those who are interested to study the transition of AmaZulu from a tribe to a nation.
Files
2869-Article Text-7717-1-10-20230421.pdf
Files
(305.5 kB)
| Name | Size | Download all |
|---|---|---|
|
md5:787e52eda0ae9c102a606039843ca18d
|
305.5 kB | Preview Download |
Additional details
References
- Schapera, L. (Ed.) (1937). The Bantu Speaking Tribes of South Africa. London: G. Routledge & Sons, ltd., 453.
- Dlamini, N., de Villiers, J. (2004). Effective History. Empangeni: Excellentia Publishers.
- Klein, M. A., Johnson, G. W. (Eds.) (1972). Perspectives on the African past. Boston: Little, Brown and Comp, 674.
- Thorpe, S. A. (1991). African Traditional Religions. Pretoria: University of South Africa, 129.
- Duminy, A., Guest, B. (1989). Natal and Zululand from earliest times to 1910: a new history. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter.
- Yapp, M.; Tapper, R. (Ed.) (1983). Tribes and States in the Khyber 1838–42. The Conflict of Tribe and State in Iran and Afghanistan. London: Croom Helm.
- Lewin, J. (1938). The recognition of native law and custom in British Africa. Journal of Comparative Legislation and International Law, 20, 16–23.
- Croze, H. (2006). Africa for Kids: Exploring a Vibrant Continent, 19 Activities. Chicago: Chicago Review Press.
- Srinivas, M. N. (2004). Social Change in Modern India. New Delhi: Orient hangman.
- Hameso, S. (1997). Ethnicity in Africa- towards a Positive Approach. London: TSC Publications.
- Lamula, P. (1931). UZULUKAMALANDELA- a most practical and concise compendium of African history combined with genealogy, chronology, geography and biography. Durban: Josiah Jones Ltd.
- Buthelezi, M. G. (2019). The Unconquerable Spirit of a Conquered Nation: Telling The Zulu Story. Available at: https://www.ifp.org.za/newsroom/the-unconquerable-spirit-of-a-conquered-nation-telling-the-zulu-story/
- Mahoney, M. R. (2012). The Other Zulus: The Spread of Zulu Ethnicity in Colonial South Africa. Durham: Duke University Press. doi: https://doi.org/10.2307/j.ctv11sn3n8
- Zulu, Z. B. (2005). Umongo kaZulu/ The marrow of the Zulu nation. Cape Town: Lotsha.
- Knight, I. (2003). The National Army Museum Book of the Zulu War. London: Sidgwick and Jackson.
- Allen, M. C. R. (2014). Shaka Zulu's Linkage of Strategy and Tactics: an early form of operational art? Kansas: School of Advanced Military Studies United States Army Command and General Staff College Fort Leavenworth.
- Hedges, D. W. (1978). Trade and politics in southern Mozambique and Zululand in the eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries. London: University of London.
- Wright, J. (1989). The Dynamics of Power and Conflict in the Thukela-Mzimkhulu Region In The Late 18th and early 19th Centuries: A Critical Reconstruction. Unpublished thesis. Johannesburg: University of Witwatersrand.
- Morris, D. (1965). The washing of the spears. London: Simon and Schuster.
- Laband, J. (2007). Daily lives of civilians in wartime Africa: from slavery days to Rwandan genocide. Westport: Greenwood Press, 301.
- Bryant, A. T. (1929). Olden Times in Zululand and Natal- containing earlier political history of the Eastern-Nguni clans. London: Longmans, 710.
- Kennedy, P. A. (1981). Mpande and the Zulu Kingship. Journal of Natal and Zulu History, 4 (1), 21–38. https://doi.org/10.1080/02590123.1981.11964211
- Hadebe, M. M. (2003). A contextualization and examination of the impi yamakhanda (1906 uprising) as reported by J. L. Dube in Ilanga Lase Natal, with special focus on Dube's attitude to Dinuzulu as indicated in his reportage on the treason trial of Dinuzulu. Durban: University of Natal.
- Chadwick, G.A. (1983) Research on historical places of importance to KwaZulu and the formulation recommendations. Bloemfontein: University of Free State.
- Bryant, A. T. (1964). The history of the Zulu and Neighbouring Tribes. Cape Town: C. Struik.
- Fuze, M. (1979). The Black People from whence they came. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
- Flint, J. E. (Ed.) (1976). The Cambridge History of Africa. Vol. 5. London: Cambridge University Press.
- Webb, C., Wright, J. (1976). The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples. Vol. 1. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
- Masina, E. M. (2006). Zulu Perceptions and Reactions to the British Occupation of Land in Natal Colony and Zululand, 1850–1887: A Recapitulation Based On Surviving Oral and Written Sources. KwaDlangezwa: University of Zululand.
- Webb, C., Wright, J. (1979). The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples. Vol. 2. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
- Webb, C., Wright, J. (1982). The James Stuart Archive of Recorded Oral Evidence Relating to the History of the Zulu and Neighbouring Peoples. Vol. 3. Pietermaritzburg: University of Natal Press.
- Isaacs, N. (1836). Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, Descriptive of the, Travels and Adventures in Eastern Africa, Descriptive of the Zoolus, Their Manners, Customs, Etc. with a Sketch of Natal. Vol. 2. London: Edward Churton.
- Killie Campbell Collections: File 02 (Zulu History) MS 1406 'information regarding Zulu Royal Kraals and Grave Sites', 132.
- De Vries, M. F. K. (2005). Lessons on leadership by terror: Finding Shaka Zulu in the attic. United Kingdom: Edward Elgar Publishing.
- Madi, P. M. (2000). Leadership lessons from emperor Shaka Zulu the Great. Randburg: Knowledge Resources, 119.
- Morrell, R., Wright, J., Meintjes, S.; Morrell, R. (Ed.) (1996). Colonialism and the establishment of white domination. Political Economy and Identities in KwaZulu-Natal: Historical and Social Perspectives. Durban: Indicator.
- Thabethe, S. (1999). An examination of the institutions of power and the changes in the powers of chiefs in the late eighteenth and early nineteenth centuries in the Natal-Zululand region. Durban: University of Natal.