Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu

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dc.contributor.advisorDu Toit, Andréen_ZA
dc.contributor.authorJannecke, Crystalen_ZA
dc.date.accessioned2015-11-04T10:30:19Z
dc.date.available2015-11-04T10:30:19Z
dc.date.issued2005en_ZA
dc.descriptionIncludes bibliographical references (leaves 312-342).en_ZA
dc.description.abstractIn this thesis we examine the case of the Clarkson Mission and Tsitsikamma Mfengu communities on the Southern Cape Coast of South Africa, and highlight some of the ambiguities prevalent in their contested claims of entitlement to the Clarkson mission land. Their respective notions of communal identity are investigated, and the ways in which these are historically linked to land entitlement are examined. The analyses of the constructed communal identities of the "coloured" Clarksoner and the "native" Mfengu are located within the critical analytical approach of discourse theory, an important component of which is a socio-historical analysis. Primary data were obtained through archival, documentary, comprehensive Deeds Registry research, as well as fieldwork and in-depth interviews. Central themes in this study are colonial land dispossessions, the use of forced indigenous labour, resistance, rebellion and collaboration. The study shows that aspects of "coloured", "native", "tribal", "ancestral", Mfengu, and Moravian, used in contemporary communal identity formations are not fixed givens, but rather historical discursive constructions that are in a process of constant change. In the case of the Clarksoners we show how the Moravian historical narrative together with the Moravian Ethic had been transplanted and imposed by the early Moravian missionaries at the Cape and how these have over time come to be taken-for-granted and appropriated by members of Moravian Church, and Clarksoners in particular. We trace the origin of the Moravian narrative and show the similarities, differences, and continuity at both Genadendal in the Southern Cape and Clarkson. In the case of the Tsitsikamma Mfengu we show how the emerging colonial "Fingo" narrative and constructed colonial "Fingo" identity are firmly connected to land dispossession and forced labour in the aftermath of the 1835 Eastern Cape frontier war. We show how elements of both the "Fingo" narrative and constructed identity were appropriated and re-ordered in contemporary processes of Tsitsikamma Mfengu community identification. The study endeavours to make visible the dynamic changing history and relations of power and domination surrounding processes of communal identification that are connected to historical rights in land.en_ZA
dc.identifier.apacitationJannecke, C. (2005). <i>Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu</i>. (Thesis). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14632en_ZA
dc.identifier.chicagocitationJannecke, Crystal. <i>"Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu."</i> Thesis., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2005. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14632en_ZA
dc.identifier.citationJannecke, C. 2005. Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu. University of Cape Town.en_ZA
dc.identifier.ris TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Jannecke, Crystal AB - In this thesis we examine the case of the Clarkson Mission and Tsitsikamma Mfengu communities on the Southern Cape Coast of South Africa, and highlight some of the ambiguities prevalent in their contested claims of entitlement to the Clarkson mission land. Their respective notions of communal identity are investigated, and the ways in which these are historically linked to land entitlement are examined. The analyses of the constructed communal identities of the "coloured" Clarksoner and the "native" Mfengu are located within the critical analytical approach of discourse theory, an important component of which is a socio-historical analysis. Primary data were obtained through archival, documentary, comprehensive Deeds Registry research, as well as fieldwork and in-depth interviews. Central themes in this study are colonial land dispossessions, the use of forced indigenous labour, resistance, rebellion and collaboration. The study shows that aspects of "coloured", "native", "tribal", "ancestral", Mfengu, and Moravian, used in contemporary communal identity formations are not fixed givens, but rather historical discursive constructions that are in a process of constant change. In the case of the Clarksoners we show how the Moravian historical narrative together with the Moravian Ethic had been transplanted and imposed by the early Moravian missionaries at the Cape and how these have over time come to be taken-for-granted and appropriated by members of Moravian Church, and Clarksoners in particular. We trace the origin of the Moravian narrative and show the similarities, differences, and continuity at both Genadendal in the Southern Cape and Clarkson. In the case of the Tsitsikamma Mfengu we show how the emerging colonial "Fingo" narrative and constructed colonial "Fingo" identity are firmly connected to land dispossession and forced labour in the aftermath of the 1835 Eastern Cape frontier war. We show how elements of both the "Fingo" narrative and constructed identity were appropriated and re-ordered in contemporary processes of Tsitsikamma Mfengu community identification. The study endeavours to make visible the dynamic changing history and relations of power and domination surrounding processes of communal identification that are connected to historical rights in land. DA - 2005 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2005 T1 - Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu TI - Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14632 ER - en_ZA
dc.identifier.urihttp://hdl.handle.net/11427/14632
dc.identifier.vancouvercitationJannecke C. Communal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfengu. [Thesis]. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Political Studies, 2005 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/14632en_ZA
dc.language.isoengen_ZA
dc.publisher.departmentDepartment of Political Studiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.facultyFaculty of Humanitiesen_ZA
dc.publisher.institutionUniversity of Cape Town
dc.subject.otherPolitical Studiesen_ZA
dc.subject.otherLand Claimsen_ZA
dc.titleCommunal identity and historical claims to land in South Africa : the cases of the Clarkson Moravian Mission and the Tsitsikamma Mfenguen_ZA
dc.typeDoctoral Thesis
dc.type.qualificationlevelDoctoral
dc.type.qualificationnamePhDen_ZA
uct.type.filetypeText
uct.type.filetypeImage
uct.type.publicationResearchen_ZA
uct.type.resourceThesisen_ZA
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