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2020 ASR Distinguished Lecture: African Voices Matter: Reflections on Fifty Years of Historical Research in Southern Africa

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  28 December 2021

Robert Edgar
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Abstract

The recent racial reckoning has challenged scholars to recover Black voices that have been erased from historical accounts. This essay is my reflections on the challenges I faced in conducting research on African voices in politically and racially charged settings in Lesotho and South Africa over the past half century. After the political atmosphere began changing in South Africa in 1990, I served the individuals and communities I write about by rectifying historical injustices such as returning a holy relic to a religious group, the Israelites, and facilitating the return of remains of Nontetha Nkwenkwe from a pauper’s grave in Pretoria to her home.

Résumé

Résumé

La récente prise de conscience raciale a mis au défi les chercheurs de retrouver les voix noires qui ont été effacées des récits historiques. Cet essai est une réflexion sur les défis auxquels j’ai été confronté en menant des recherches sur les voix africaines dans des contextes politiquement et racialement chargés au Lesotho et en Afrique du Sud au cours du dernier demi-siècle. Après que l’atmosphère politique a commencé à changer en Afrique du Sud en 1990, j’ai rendu service aux individus et aux communautés sur lesquels j’écris en rectifiant des injustices historiques telles que la restitution d’une relique sacrée à un groupe religieux, les Israélites et en facilitant le retour des dépouilles mortelles de Nontetha Nkwenkwe d’une tombe de pauvre à Pretoria à sa ville natale.

Resumo

Resumo

O recente ajuste de contas racial desafiou os estudiosos a recuperar as vozes negras que foram apagadas dos relatos históricos. Este ensaio é a minha reflexão sobre os desafios que enfrentei ao conduzir uma investigação sobre vozes africanas em cenários de carga política e racial no Lesoto e na África do Sul ao longo do último meio século. Depois de a atmosfera política ter começado a mudar na África do Sul em 1990, servi os indivíduos e as comunidades sobre as quais escrevo retificando injustiças históricas, como a devolução de uma relíquia sagrada a um grupo religioso, os Israelitas, e a facilitação do regresso a casa dos restos mortais de Nontetha Nkwenkwe do túmulo de um indigente em Pretória.

Keywords

African voicesapartheidmillenarian movementsNontetha NkwenkweEnoch MgijimaBulhoek MassacreA.P. MdaEdwin Thabo Mofutsanyana
Type
Article
Information
African Studies Review , Volume 64 , Issue 4 , December 2021 , pp. 760 - 775
Copyright
© The Author(s), 2021. Published by Cambridge University Press on behalf of the African Studies Association

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