“To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal
| dc.contributor.advisor | Hamilton, Carolyn | |
| dc.contributor.advisor | Mulaudzi, Maanda | |
| dc.contributor.author | Mahlaba, Ayanda Mlungisi Godgive | |
| dc.date.accessioned | 2023-07-03T08:43:51Z | |
| dc.date.available | 2023-07-03T08:43:51Z | |
| dc.date.issued | 2023 | |
| dc.date.updated | 2023-07-03T08:43:12Z | |
| dc.description.abstract | KwaZulu-Natal (KZN) has a long history of individuals and groups mobilizing the past to make claims in the present. A notable phenomenon that has captured the attention of scholars of contemporary KZN is how formations such as Ubumbano – that center around the paternal clan and its ancestry – have been invoking ‘pre-Zulu’ pasts to claim resources in the form of land, and even recognition of kingship status by the state. Individuals in former mission stations in turn have referenced the prominence of their families’ histories in the establishment of mission stations. Clearly, the past has potent usability for numerous actors in this province. Rarely have scholars focused on how different generations of Black women in this province, who have not aligned themselves with any formal structure such as Ubumbano, mobilize their families’ histories and for what reasons. Inspired in part to address this gap, this thesis explores the oral historical narrations of three women of three different generations from my maternal family, namely Gogo MaHlubi, Mamkhulu Ntombenhle, and Mam Phindile, who are based in Mpolweni Mission. These women are descendants of amakholwa and were socialized in a mission context albeit at different times. My analysis of these women’s narratives reveals that they mobilize the past to strategically position themselves to lay claims to status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission. This happens at a time of growing tensions between first-comer descendants (such as the three women) and newcomers, and their contending claims of belonging to Mpolweni. In the process of grappling with their narrations, we learn more about Mpolweni Mission and its complex history from the perspectives of these women. The result of 3 this is that the history of the area is rendered visible. The oral narratives of these women are not relayed ‘oral tradition’: they are fluid, imaginative and not patrilineal in nature. This is in stark contrast to the oral sources that are conventionally treated as ‘oral tradition’ and considered to be passed down from one generation to the other. Moreover, the fluidity of the women’s narratives also means that the narrators are aware of the kinds of work the content of their stories can do for them in different contexts. Individually and collectively, these narratives contribute in crafting what we might call a matri-archive. This matri-archive is constantly being made and remade by the women. The thesis shows how women of different generations are producers of history, and that historical production is not only the preserve of a certain generation of women or of men. | |
| dc.identifier.apacitation | Mahlaba, A. M. G. (2023). <i>“To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal</i>. (). ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. Retrieved from http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.chicagocitation | Mahlaba, Ayanda Mlungisi Godgive. <i>"“To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal."</i> ., ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2023. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.citation | Mahlaba, A.M.G. 2023. “To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal. . ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies. http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.ris | TY - Master Thesis AU - Mahlaba, Ayanda Mlungisi Godgive AB - Necropolis is a proposal for a public burial and memorial park in Cape Town for obliterated (cremated, aquamated etc) and bone remains. It explores an architecture for the final farewell to the body and spirit of the deceased, and for personal and collective remembrance. In contrast to other South African Cities, Cape Town is unique for the popularity of cremation, which accounted for 40% of recorded burials in 2019. Architectural responses however are often piecemeal. Burial places were once part of cities' symbolic centres, and mortality understood as an inevitable spiritual journey. During modernisation however, they were exiled to cities' peripheries, far from people's everyday lives. The chosen site is in Deer Park, at the edge of the City Bowl, through which runs a perennial stream linked to the city's historical centre. The Park has a varied heritage landscape which the design situates itself beside, together constituting a landscape of remembrance. The programme explores a secular spiritual and sacred response to burial, grief and memory. The architectural language explores a stereotomics of brick, stone and rubble in dialogue with the ground and Earth. The primary methodology is speculative design, through hand sketching, photographing, mapping, collaging, modelling, digital modelling and rendering. Design thinking is supported by a varied literature review: firstly a collection of Cape Town and colonial European burial histories and practices. Secondly, a phenomenology of the ground, geology, and stone and rubble building. Thirdly, precedent studies of sacred and burial architecture, supported by analysis through drawing. DA - 2023 DB - OpenUCT DP - University of Cape Town KW - historical studies LK - https://open.uct.ac.za PY - 2023 T1 - “To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal TI - “To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal UR - http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 ER - | en_ZA |
| dc.identifier.uri | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 | |
| dc.identifier.vancouvercitation | Mahlaba AMG. “To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal. []. ,Faculty of Humanities ,Department of Historical Studies, 2023 [cited yyyy month dd]. Available from: http://hdl.handle.net/11427/38005 | en_ZA |
| dc.language.rfc3066 | eng | |
| dc.publisher.department | Department of Historical Studies | |
| dc.publisher.faculty | Faculty of Humanities | |
| dc.subject | historical studies | |
| dc.title | “To the black women we all know”: three women's contemporary mobilizations of history in relation to questions of status, belonging, and identity in Mpolweni Mission, KwaZulu-Natal | |
| dc.type | Master Thesis | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | Masters | |
| dc.type.qualificationlevel | MA |