Zulu Identities: Being Zulu, Past and Present (Columbia/Hurst) - Softcover

Softcover

ISBN 10: 0231700598 ISBN 13: 9780231700597

Publisher: Columbia University Press, 2009

Synopsis

With close to 20 million members, the Zulu are the largest single ethnic group in all ofSouthern Africa. Their culture is known all over the world. However, defining what lies at the core of a Zulu identity remains a source of great controversy. What does it mean to be Zulu, and therefore African, in today's world? Is being Zulu different now than in the past?

This comprehensive and wholly up-to-date reference wrestles with these and many other questions. The book features a stunningly diverse group of close to thirty contributors, universally acknowledged to be the world's leading experts of Zulu culture and history. They discuss the characteristic traditions of a preindustrial people and how they evolved different cultural expressions of "Zulu-ness." They examine the legacies of Shaka, the social and political intrigues of Zulu royalty, gender and generational struggles, cultural and symbolic projections, and Zulu spirituality. The book also highlights the debates raging in contemporary South Africa over the manipulation of Zulu heritage and whether it is being exploited for political purposes or for the promotion of eco- and battlefield-tourism. In conclusion, the book contemplates the future of Zulu identity in a unified South Africa, a country that hopes to embrace the forces of globalization. Truly comprehensive and authoritative, Zulu Identities is the definitive volume on the Zulu people, history, and culture.

About this title

About the Author:

Benedict Carton is an associate professor of history at George Mason University.

John Laband is professor of history at Wilfrid Laurier University, Ontario.

Jabulani Sithole is a lecturer in historical studies at the University KwaZulu-Natal, South Africa.

Review:

This sumptuous work--part collection, part anthology--showcases much of the best recent research on the Zulu... Highly recommended.

(Choice)

This excellent compilation has assembled a group of leading scholars to explore the various contours of Zulu identity.

(James Gump International Journal of African Historic Studies 1900-01-00)

This is a book which is impressive in every way: in the breadth and depth of its scholarship, in its ability to shed light on key questions of Zulu history and culture, and, not least, in its readability. It is indispensable to anyone seeking to study 'Zulu-ness' in all its aspects, and I cannot recommend it too highly. For a scholarly book of over 600 pages, it is also very attractively priced.

(Africa Research and Documentation 1900-01-00)

About this edition

• Publisher: Columbia University Press
• Publication date: 2009
• ISBN 10: 0231700598
• ISBN 13: 9780231700597
• Binding: Paperback
• Number of pages: 688
• Editor: Carton Benedict, Laband John, Sithole Jabulani