Grammars of Colonialism : Representing Languages in Colonial South Africa

The study of languages was crucial to colonial power in 18th and 19th-century South Africa. This important book examines representations of the South African Bantu languages Xhosa and Zulu, revealing the ways in which colonial linguistics contributed to both the making of the colonial order and to instabilities at the heart of the project. Cover......Page 1 Contents......Page 8 List of Figure and Map......Page 10 Acknowledgements......Page 11 Introduction......Page 12 1 Language in the Land of the ‘Hottentots’ and ‘Caffres’: European Travellers to the Eastern Cape, 1652–1806......Page 25 Travel writing and natural science: Anders Sparrman’s Voyage to the Cape of Good Hope......Page 31 Colonization and collecting language: John Barrow’s Travels into the Interior of Southern Africa......Page 41 Classifying the ‘nomade’ language: Heinrich Lichtenstein’s Travels in Southern Africa......Page 54 2 Of Translation and Transformation: The Beginning of Missionary Linguistics in South Africa......Page 62 Johannes Theodorus van der Kemp and the first Christian mission to the Xhosa......Page 63 The features of missionary language study......Page 68 3 Studying Language in the ‘Moral Wilderness’: Methodist Linguistics in the Eastern Cape......Page 78 William Binnington Boyce’s Grammar of the Kafir Language......Page 84 John Whittle Appleyard’s The Kafir Language......Page 105 The Cattle Killing and William J. Davis’s Kafir Dictionary......Page 123 4 Language, Culture, and ‘the Native Mind’: Missionary Language Study in Natal......Page 129 Knowing the ‘native mind’: Lewis Grout’s The Isizulu......Page 140 ‘Meeting the heathen half way’: Bishop John WilliamColenso’s mission as dialogue......Page 154 Henry Callaway’s researches into comparative mythology and Zulu religion......Page 173 5 From Languages to Language: The Comparative Philologist in South Africa......Page 180 ‘The discovery of the process of human development’: Linguistic and cultural evolution in Bleek’s ‘universal philology’......Page 183 Typological classification, historical reconstruction, and the study of ‘primitive forms’......Page 190 Language, ‘race’, and the ‘Negroes’ of South Africa......Page 196 Conclusions......Page 203 Notes......Page 208 Bibliography......Page 213 Index......Page 237 The Study Of Languages Was Crucial To The Development And Maintenance Of Colonial Power In Eighteenth- And Nineteenth- Century South Africa. Grammars Of Colonialism Provides An Overview Of Colonial Linguistics In The Region From The Sixteenth To The Nineteenth Century, Before Proceeding To A Detailed Study Of Representations Of The Bantu Languages Xhosa And Zulu From The Beginning Of The Nineteenth Century To The 1870s. Offering Historically, Socially, And Politically Contextualized Readings Of A Wide Range Of Linguistic Materials Including Travellers' Wordlists, Grammars, Dictionaries, And Reading Books, Rachael Gilmour Reveals The Diversity And Complexity Of These Materials, As Well As Their Common Distinctive Features. In Particular, She Illustrates The Ways In Which Colonial Representations Of Languages Were Contingent Upon, And Bound Up With, The Shifting Relationships Between Speakers Of Those Languages And The British Colonial Regime. She Exposes Ways In Which Colonial Linguistics Contributed To The Making Of The Colonial Order, But Also The Instabilities At The Heart Of This Project To 'make Sense' Of South Africa. Introduction -- Language In The Land Of The 'hottentots' And 'caffres': European Travellers In The Eastern Cape, 1652-1806 -- Of Translation And Transformations: The Beginnings Of Missionary Linguistics In South Africa -- Studying Language In The 'moral Wilderness': Methodist Missionaries On The Eastern Cape Frontier -- Language, Culture, And 'the Native Mind': Missionary Language Study In Natal And The Zulu Kingdom -- From Languages To Language: The Comparative Philologist In South Africa -- Conclusion -- Index. Rachael Gilmour. Includes Bibliographical References (p. 202-225) And Index. "Rachael Gilmour explores the complex relationship between colonialism and linguistic thought in South Africa in the late-eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. In particular, she reveals how colonial representations of languages were contingent upon, and bound up with, the shifting relationships between speakers of those languages and the colonial regimes. In doing so, she exposes not only some of the ways in which colonial linguistics contributed to the making of the colonial order, but also the complexities and instabilities at the heart of this project to 'make sense' of South Africa."--BOOK JACKET