Emakhayeni! Back Home! A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century
| dc.contributor.advisor | Shamil, Jeppie | |
| dc.contributor.author | Govender, Sameshni | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2026-07-22T10:20:51Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2026-07-22T10:20:51Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2026 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2026-07-22T09:51:40Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | This dissertation is the result of my interest in the place and meaning of house and home in South Africa. After extensive reading of primary and secondary sources I realized that I should clear the terrain around house and home by focusing on southern African ethnographic writing. As a physical structure and a social space, the home is so immediate and central to human experience that it is an obvious topic of interest. However, the reasons behind the particular lens that this study employs may be less obvious. This study is interested in how the home is understood as a concept as well as the centrality of the home in daily life. I was initially interested how ‘home' was understood among southern Nguni groups living in the present-day Eastern Cape region of South Africa This dissertation is primarily an assessment of the home's role as a unit of analysis in ethnographic texts, however. The focus on the Nguni groups and the eastern Cape has not changed. However, as a result of many different limitations the source material that would be useful to such a project is, itself, quite limited. Moreover, through the process of trying to identify details related to the concept of ‘home', I found the ethnographic monographs of great significance to my topic. Not only do these texts shed light on the cultural role of the home in society, but they also position the home centrally within their own analyses as well. As a result of the unique and particular interest in the home that is evident in these texts, I shifted the focus of this dissertation to specifically explore that intellectual interest itself. As such, this dissertation explores just how integral the home is as a unit of analysis in anthropological literature by demonstrating that the homestead structure is positioned at the centre of the analysis of all the ethnographic monographs that are written about different southern Nguni groups. Furthermore, it asserts 5 that this very centrality is suggestive of how important the home is to cultural analysis and, therefore, to culture itself. This project is therefore no longer a broad attempt at putting forward a conceptual history of ‘home'. However, certain elements of the Conceptual History approach are still evident throughout this dissertation because they remain useful to illustrating just how central the home is to daily life. Conceptual History as it emerged out of Germany in the mid twentieth century is a distinctive historical approach that places a strong emphasis on understanding particular historical concepts.1 Attempts at making use of this approach in the African context have resulted in new and interesting understandings of many everyday concepts.2 In this methodological approach to historical studies, there is a strong emphasis placed on understanding how a concept changes over time. The approach also emphasizes the importance of understanding a concept in the context of its own language. When this aspect of the Conceptual History approach is considered, my own limitations as a researcher must be acknowledged. Although I am deeply interested in the vernacular understandings of the concept of ‘home'– I have in fact, attended language lessons as part of my research and carried out an extensive inquiry into the lexicographic history of concepts of home in the language as well – my lack of fluency in the Xhosa language is still a significant limitation. In order to be able to put forward a holistic and well-researched conceptual history of ‘home' in isiXhosa, I would have to be able to rely on more than just English-language translations of isiXhosa texts.3 As a result of my limitations on this front, I am not able to do so. On the other hand, my undergraduate degree in Anthropology, English and History means that I am able to assess and compare the different anthropological uses of isiXhosa terms such as “ikhaya” and “umzi” in ethnographic texts. This dissertation is primarily an assessment of how the home serves as a significant unit of analysis in ethnographic literature. The lens through which this assessment is undertaken is informed by more than just ethnographic analysis and a conceptual history approach, however. The central significance of the home to daily life and human experience is, in fact, visible in many other intellectual understandings as well. Pierre Bourdieu's understanding of ‘habitus', for example, is the direct result of his interest in the home or, more specifically the Kabyle house.4 Martin Heidegger's philosophical understandings of ‘dwelling' and ‘being-in-the-world' are similarly inform this dissertation. These particular theoretical understandings of space are testament to the fact that the home is significant for numerous reasons. In the context of present-day South Africa, specifically, it remains a political issue that will likely influence public discourse for years to come.5 The home influences all aspects of social and individual experience and this dissertation will demonstrate how this influence is reflected in anthropological analysis itself. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Govender, S. (2026). <i>Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century</i>. (). University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Govender, Sameshni. <i>"Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century."</i> ., University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2026. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Govender, S. 2026. Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century. . University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Thesis / Dissertation AU - Govender, Sameshni AB - This dissertation is the result of my interest in the place and meaning of house and home in South Africa. After extensive reading of primary and secondary sources I realized that I should clear the terrain around house and home by focusing on southern African ethnographic writing. As a physical structure and a social space, the home is so immediate and central to human experience that it is an obvious topic of interest. However, the reasons behind the particular lens that this study employs may be less obvious. This study is interested in how the home is understood as a concept as well as the centrality of the home in daily life. I was initially interested how ‘home' was understood among southern Nguni groups living in the present-day Eastern Cape region of South Africa This dissertation is primarily an assessment of the home's role as a unit of analysis in ethnographic texts, however. The focus on the Nguni groups and the eastern Cape has not changed. However, as a result of many different limitations the source material that would be useful to such a project is, itself, quite limited. Moreover, through the process of trying to identify details related to the concept of ‘home', I found the ethnographic monographs of great significance to my topic. Not only do these texts shed light on the cultural role of the home in society, but they also position the home centrally within their own analyses as well. As a result of the unique and particular interest in the home that is evident in these texts, I shifted the focus of this dissertation to specifically explore that intellectual interest itself. As such, this dissertation explores just how integral the home is as a unit of analysis in anthropological literature by demonstrating that the homestead structure is positioned at the centre of the analysis of all the ethnographic monographs that are written about different southern Nguni groups. Furthermore, it asserts 5 that this very centrality is suggestive of how important the home is to cultural analysis and, therefore, to culture itself. This project is therefore no longer a broad attempt at putting forward a conceptual history of ‘home'. However, certain elements of the Conceptual History approach are still evident throughout this dissertation because they remain useful to illustrating just how central the home is to daily life. Conceptual History as it emerged out of Germany in the mid twentieth century is a distinctive historical approach that places a strong emphasis on understanding particular historical concepts.1 Attempts at making use of this approach in the African context have resulted in new and interesting understandings of many everyday concepts.2 In this methodological approach to historical studies, there is a strong emphasis placed on understanding how a concept changes over time. The approach also emphasizes the importance of understanding a concept in the context of its own language. When this aspect of the Conceptual History approach is considered, my own limitations as a researcher must be acknowledged. Although I am deeply interested in the vernacular understandings of the concept of ‘home'– I have in fact, attended language lessons as part of my research and carried out an extensive inquiry into the lexicographic history of concepts of home in the language as well – my lack of fluency in the Xhosa language is still a significant limitation. In order to be able to put forward a holistic and well-researched conceptual history of ‘home' in isiXhosa, I would have to be able to rely on more than just English-language translations of isiXhosa texts.3 As a result of my limitations on this front, I am not able to do so. On the other hand, my undergraduate degree in Anthropology, English and History means that I am able to assess and compare the different anthropological uses of isiXhosa terms such as “ikhaya” and “umzi” in ethnographic texts. This dissertation is primarily an assessment of how the home serves as a significant unit of analysis in ethnographic literature. The lens through which this assessment is undertaken is informed by more than just ethnographic analysis and a conceptual history approach, however. The central significance of the home to daily life and human experience is, in fact, visible in many other intellectual understandings as well. Pierre Bourdieu's understanding of ‘habitus', for example, is the direct result of his interest in the home or, more specifically the Kabyle house.4 Martin Heidegger's philosophical understandings of ‘dwelling' and ‘being-in-the-world' are similarly inform this dissertation. These particular theoretical understandings of space are testament to the fact that the home is significant for numerous reasons. In the context of present-day South Africa, specifically, it remains a political issue that will likely influence public discourse for years to come.5 The home influences all aspects of social and individual experience and this dissertation will demonstrate how this influence is reflected in anthropological analysis itself. DA - 2026 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - Southern Nguni Homestead KW - South Africa KW - Xhosa homelands LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PB - University of Cape Town PY - 2026 T1 - Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century TI - Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Govender S. Emakhayeni! Back Home!?A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century. []. University of Cape Town ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2026 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/43635 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.iso | en | |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Historical Studies | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | |
| dc.publisher.institution | University of Cape Town | |
| dc.subject | Southern Nguni Homestead | |
| dc.subject | South Africa | |
| dc.subject | Xhosa homelands | |
| dc.title | Emakhayeni! Back Home! A Study of the Southern Nguni Homestead and how it informed conceptual and intellectual understandings of Home in South Africa in the twentieth century | en_ZA |
| dc.type | Thesis / Dissertation | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Master of Arts |