PARSING GOD: CONVERSATIONS ABOUT THE MEANING OF WORDS AND METAPHORS IN NINETEENTH-CENTURY SOUTHERN AFRICA
2001; Cambridge University Press; Volume: 42; Issue: 3 Linguagem: Inglês
10.1017/s0021853701007885
ISSN1469-5138
Autores Tópico(s)South African History and Culture
ResumoDuring the first half of the nineteenth century, European missionaries in southern Africa sought to establish their intellectual and moral authority over Africans and propagate the tenets of Christianity. Men like Jacob Döhne, Robert Moffat, John Colenso, Henry Callaway and others viewed a knowledge of African languages as key to disclosing ‘the secrets of national character’, to the translation and transmittal of ideas about the Christian ‘God’, and to accepting the ‘literal truth’ of the Bible. Africans, especially the Zulu king, Dingane, disputed these teachings in discussions about the existence of God, suitable indigenous names for such a being (including uThixo , modimo , and unkulunkulu ), and his attributes (all-powerful, or merely old), arguing for the significance of metaphor rather than literalness in understanding the world.
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