African Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography PDF
Preview African Traditional Religion in South Africa: An Annotated Bibliography
African Traditional Religion in South Africa Recent Titles in Bibliographies and Indexes in Religious Studies Islam in China: A Critical Bibliography Raphael Israeli, with the assistance ofLyn Gorman Jonathan Edwards: An Annotated Bibliography, 1979-1993 M. X. Lesser, compiler Religion and the American Experience, The Twentieth Century: A Bibliography of Doctoral Dissertations Arthur P Young and E. Jens Holley, compilers Religious Education, 1960-1993: An Annotated Bibliography D. Campbell Wyckoff and George Brown, Jr., compilers South Asian Religions in the Americas: An Annotated Bibliography of Immigrant Religious Traditions John Y Fenton Micronesian Religion and Lore: A Guide to Sources, 1526-1990 Douglas Haynes and William L. Wuerch Christian Voluntarism in Britain and North America: A Bibliography and Critical Assessment William H. Brackney Ecology, Justice, and Christian Faith: A Critical Guide to the Literature Peter W Bakken, Joan Gibb Engel, and J. 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[et al.]. p. cm.—(Bibliographies and indexes in religious studies, ISSN 0742-6836 ; no. 42) Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 0-313-30474^2 (alk. paper) 1. South Africa—Religion—Bibliography. 2. Blacks—South Africa— Religion—Bibliography. I. Chidester, David. II. Series. Z7834.S6A47 1997 [BL2470.S6] 016.299,698—dc21 97-6414 British Library Cataloguing in Publication Data is available. Copyright © 1997 by David Chidester All rights reserved. No portion of this book may be reproduced, by any process or technique, without the express written consent of the publisher. Library of Congress Catalog Card Number: 97-6414 ISBN: 0-313-30474-2 ISSN: 0742-6836 First published in 1997 Greenwood Press, 88 Post Road West, Westport, CT 06881 An imprint of Greenwood Publishing Group, Inc. Printed in the United States of America The paper used in this book complies with the Permanent Paper Standard issued by the National Information Standards Organization (Z39.48-1984). 10 9 8 7 6 5 4 3 21 Contents Preface vii 1. African Traditional Religion 1 2. General Overviews 10 3. Khoisan Religion 68 4. Xhosa Religion 143 5. Zulu Religion 212 6. Sotho-Tswana Religion 276 7. Swazi Religion 375 8. Tsonga Religion 395 9. Venda Religion 411 Index 439 This page intentionally left blank Preface The singing filled the air. The drumming kept the rhythm. In a loud and clear voice, the ritual elder invoked the ancestors. The people—men in long robes, women with painted faces—indicated their assent by exclaiming, "Camagu," to the beat of the drum. "Camagu," they agreed. "We are present. Let the ancestors be present." We could have been at a rural homestead. We could have been in an urban township. Instead, we were at the University of Cape Town for a confer ence on African traditional religion. On 19 August 1995, academics, commu nity leaders, and practitioners of traditional religion gathered for a one-day conference sponsored by the Institute for Comparative Religion in Southern Africa (ICRSA). At the very least, this event confirmed the continuing vitality of traditional religion in a changing South African society. This book, a product of an ICRSA research project, is a guide to lit erature on African traditional religion in South Africa. It collects and describes books, articles, and theses that have addressed the indigenous religious heritage of the region. It organizes and annotates selected texts—the general overviews and detailed case studies; the accounts of religious beliefs, practices, and experi ences; the analyses of historical tradition and social change—that have been produced in this field of study. We are convinced that a review of these re sources can support and stimulate further inquiry into African traditional relig ion. Above all, we hope that this book will be useful. Of course, readers find their own ways to use books. However, since this book does not tell a single story, some "instructions for use" might be helpful. Accordingly, we offer three suggestions that might appeal to readers who are interested in exploring the field of African traditional religion in South Africa that is profiled here. viii African Traditional Religion First, introductory essays to each chapter provide brief outlines of top ics that have been investigated and that bear further investigation. After re viewing general overviews of African traditional religion in South Africa, the chapters proceed through literature on Khoisan, Xhosa, Zulu, Sotho-Tswana, Swazi, Tsonga, and Venda religion. We have adopted these linguistic designa tions without presuming that they represent uniform or separate ethnic identi ties. As the introductory essays suggest, considerable common ground can be found across these language groups when we consider the indigenous religious heritage of South Africa. Second, the index provides a map for tracking specific topics. Ar ranged alphabetically by subject, the index refers readers to entries on such top ics as ancestors, beer, divination, sacrifice, and witch detection. This approach to reading might be of greatest interest to students and researchers who want to focus on some particular aspect of African traditional religion. As a guide to relevant literature, the index can be a useful tool for assembling a database for research. Third, since the entire book might be read as a library of works on Af rican traditional religion in South Africa, we invite readers to take a random walk through the collection. We could invoke a "postmodern" justification for this approach. The library we have assembled refuses the imposition of any "master narrative." It is fragmentary and episodic. Like any library, it allows readers to wander through the stacks and pull any item off the shelves. In the process of writing this book, we have found that taking random walks through the collection has become our favorite method of reading. Every time we wander through these texts, we learn something new. We find that new patterns emerge, but we also find that new questions arise that inspire further reading. As the first of a series of volumes on South African religions, this col lection on African traditional religion has been organized according to two sim ple principles of selection: The literature that is annotated must deal with South Africa and it must deal with religion. Although these principles appear straight forward, they do involve some complications that require brief mention. Although South Africa is a geographical region, it is also a political construction, a nation among nations. Arguably, South Africa did not exist, at least not with any international legitimacy, until the first democratic elections were held in April 1994. In the post-apartheid era, an emergent South African nationalism will require revisiting the historical geography of the region. New perspectives on history and territory will be discovered. While we cannot un dertake that task of rediscovery here, we have allowed considerable geographi cal latitude in determining what counts as being inside South Africa. Some boundaries have been blurred, but a general sense of place and region has been maintained. As a result, the literature reviewed can be regarded as representa tive of African traditional religion in South Africa. The question of what counts as religion also raises special problems. In general terms, religion might be defined as a dimension of human belief, prac- Preface ix tice, and experience that engages the superhuman or the sacred. A vast body of literature on defining religion might be invoked to support this general defini tion. However, we have decided to allow wider latitude for what counts as rele vant to religion by including samples of some literature—on precapitalist social formations, for example—that are crucial for understanding the character of precolonial African religion. Although much more could have been included, we have tried to indicate some of the ways in which religion is necessarily re lated to historical and social contexts. In determining what to include in a collection of literature on African traditional religion, we have had to make a decision about the place of theology. Although significant theological innovations have appeared in South Africa, often in conversation with the resources of indigenous religious heritage, we have opted not to review very many explicitly theological works in this volume on African traditional religion. Christian theology has had a troubled history with indigenous religion. Theologians have often denied its legitimacy as a re ligion; and they have frequently regarded its persistence, especially in the con tinuing vitality of religious relations with ancestors, as a Christian pastoral problem. More recently, Christian reevaluations of African traditional resources have appeared in African theology, Black theology, and the work of independ ent churches. Although they engage African resources, these theological initia tives obviously reflect specifically Christian concerns. Bibliographies that provide access to this theological literature are available elsewhere. In this vol ume, however, we have concentrated on works that have undertaken the de scription and analysis of African traditional religion as a religion in its own right. Rather than theological discourse, we are interested in literature that raises -questions of theory and method for the study of the indigenous religious heritage of South Africa. Just as we do not adopt a theological position on African traditional religion, we also do not endorse all of the literature contained in this annotated bibliography. Much of it is dated; much of it is based on colonialist, racialist, or covertly theological prejudices that have no place in the academic study of re ligion. However, even the outdated and the outrageous are instructive, if not about African traditional religion, then about the kinds of academic representa tions that have obstructed recognition and understanding of the indigenous re ligious heritage of South Africa. For readers interested in a history of colonial representations (or mis representations) of African religion we offer David Chidester, Savage Systems: Colonialism and Comparative Religion in Southern Africa (Charlottesville: University Press of Virginia, 1996). Since detailed accounts of the reports on African religion by travelers, missionaries, and colonial agents are provided in that volume, we have annotated only a small selection here. Nevertheless, colo nial assumptions persist in much of the literature we have collected and anno tated. In the interests of gaining a broader and deeper understanding, we must critically confront a long legacy of misunderstanding. In the end, this annotated
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