Ntsikana

Ntsikana

His Great Hymn and His Enduring Legacy on Black Consciousness Ntsikana’s quest for blackness was neither moulded nor fuelled by anti -white bias. His silent advocacy of black consciousness was not a reaction to the imperial enemy, who happened to be white. He did not perceive himself as black because the colonial enemy was pale. He did not project his African face because the enemy was European. His understanding of his own spiritual identity seemed to be independent of who the political adversaries were. His black African consciousness was not tailored to the political opportunism of the time but emerged spontaneously out of the depth of his African soul. It was not a binary conflict of black versus white.It would be fair to say that Ntsikana’s black consciousness was untainted by hatred towards the white race or European civilisation. His opposition was to the oppressive nature of white colonial rule, which in his view threatened to alienate his beloved African people from their African identity, their independence, and their land. His symbolic importance influenced both isiXhosa music and literature, inspired the founding of religious movements, and contributed to a wider black unity and nationalism during the early 20th century.

Best Red

  • Product Information
  • Format: 210 X 148mm
  • Pages: 360
  • ISBN 13: 978-1-928246-59-6
  • Publish Year: BestRed
  • Rights: World Rights

His Great Hymn and His Enduring Legacy on Black Consciousness Ntsikana’s quest for blackness was neither moulded nor fuelled by anti -white bias. His silent advocacy of black consciousness was not a reaction to the imperial enemy, who happened to be white. He did not perceive himself as black because the colonial enemy was pale. He did not project his African face because the enemy was European. His understanding of his own spiritual identity seemed to be independent of who the political adversaries were. His black African consciousness was not tailored to the political opportunism of the time but emerged spontaneously out of the depth of his African soul. It was not a binary conflict of black versus white.It would be fair to say that Ntsikana’s black consciousness was untainted by hatred towards the white race or European civilisation. His opposition was to the oppressive nature of white colonial rule, which in his view threatened to alienate his beloved African people from their African identity, their independence, and their land. His symbolic importance influenced both isiXhosa music and literature, inspired the founding of religious movements, and contributed to a wider black unity and nationalism during the early 20th century.

Preface – by Fr. Dave Dargie
Prologue

Chapter 1: Historical Background to the Story

Chapter 2: Ntsikana’s Spiritual Experiences in the early 19th Century

Chapter 3: Carriers of Change: Moving from Old to New

Chapter 4: Preaching and Prayers at Thwatwa

Chapter 5: Prophecies attributed to Ntsikana

Chapter 6: Joseph Williams and the Kat River Mission, 1816-1818

Chapter 7: Leadership and Teaching

Chapter 8: The Songs of Ntsikana

Chapter 9: The Great Hymn as Praise Poetry

Chapter 10: An African Expression of Christianity

Chapter 11: The Music in Ntsikana’s Songs

Chapter 12: Ntsikana’s Last Days, 1821

Chapter 13: Soga: A Leading Disciple, Patriot and Peasant Farmer

Chapter 14: Dukwana: A Son’s Struggle for Liberation

Chapter 15: The Ntsikana Tradition, late 19th Century

Chapter 16: The Founding Decades, 1880s

Chapter 17: The Growth of Black Consciousness

Chapter 18: Ntsikana as a Symbol of African Unity

Chapter 19: The St. Ntsikana Memorial Association, 1909-1980

Chapter 20: Political Upheavals

Chapter 21: The Ntsikana Memorial Church, 1911 -1950s

Chapter 22: The Ups and Downs of the NMC, 1950s-1980s

Chapter 23: Ntsikana’s Enduring Influence on Literature and Music

Epilogue
Acknowledgements
Bibliography
Index

Janet Hodgson was born in Retreat, Cape Town, in 1936. She lived in the Cape on farms for the first 50 years of her life. She obtained her BSc Agriculture (cum laude) from Stellenbosch University in 1957, an MA in Religious Studies (with distinction) from the University of Cape Town in 1975, followed by a PhD in 1985. She lectured part-time in Religious Studies at UCT while bringing up four children.

Janet’s initiation into African Studies took place during her extensive field trips across the Eastern Cape and beyond for her academic work. During this time, she had the privilege of listening to the life stories of a wide range of black African women from whom she gained considerable wisdom, insight and knowledge. The oral traditions they shared were of particular importance, the more so as most of them would now be dead. Much of this material was incorporated into her writing and teaching.

Janet spent fourteen years as a mission theologian in Britain, this included national work as well as serving as the missioner in the Diocese of Durham. Here too it was her work among the seriously deprived working-class women in the North-East of England that made her aware of the prevailing sexist, racist and class-based attitudes within the local communities and the established church. She also spent a year in Canada to research Native American cultural traditions. Once again it was her close association with women from many different Native American nations across the country that enabled her to witness their gender-based subjugation. She also participated in their people’s’ struggle for justice in trying to recover their homelands.

Having worked in solidarity all her life with women from around the globe who have suffered from oppression based on race, gender and class, Janet comes to us well equipped to narrate the story of Emma Sandile from a fresh perspective. In addition to her numerous academic articles and chapters in anthologies she has published 13 books in England, Canada and South Africa. These have been on a wide variety of subjects ranging from mission to African and Native American studies, indigenous spirituality, liberation theology and biographies.

Despite her fast-failing eyesight due from age-related macular degeneration (AMD) she continues to write with sighted assistance from her daughter Carol. She now lives in Somerset West in the Western Cape of South Africa.

Presets Color

Primary
Secondary