Tiyo Soga: An African voice in history, faith, and freedom

Joanne Ruth Davis

HSRC Press

Product Information

Categories:

History, South Africa

Format:

216x140mm

Pages:

280pp

ISBN-13:

978-1-928246-75-6

Publish Year:

March 2026

Rights:

World Rights

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About the authors
Contents
List of Figures
Acknowledgements
Introduction Joanne Ruth Davis
1.’That invaluable friend of our Mission’: The Interdependence of Tiyo Soga and Charles Brownlee – Tolly Bradford
2.Exploring the Narratives: The Rharhabe Queen Suthu, Mgwali Mission and the Soga Family – Stephanie Victor
3.Ingoma Ka Tiyo: Umsebenzi: A Curatorial Intervention – Zodwa Skeyi-Tutani
4.Lizal’isidinga laKho: A Theological Reflection on Soga’s Spirituals – Sandiswa Lerato Kobe
5.Sistren and Brethren in the Life of the Reverend Tiyo Zisani Soga – Joanne Ruth Davis
6.Echoes from the African Church through the John Tshathsu Tiyo Soga Continuum – Nomathamsanqa Tisani
7.Reverend (Rev.) uMfundisi Tiyo Soga, a man of ‘His’ world: A Gospel-Centred Cultural Interpretation of the Bible – Axolile Qina
8.The rise and fall of the Christian community and its leaders at Dikgatlhong (Likatlong) on the Harts-Vaal confluence of the Northern Cape, 1839-1897 – Neil Parsons
9.Mission and evangelism in the work of the Reverend Tiyo Soga – Joanne Ruth Davis
Afterword Snippets from the Family Fireside – Camagu Soga
Index

This multi-authored, multi-disciplinary book provides exciting scholarship on the nineteenth century Xhosa intellectual, the Reverend Tiyo Soga. A diverse range of scholars develop the reading of Soga as a lone frontier pioneer to that of a multifaceted intellectual and community representative, considering Soga’s agency as a member of several networks, including Xhosa royalty and communities; colonial politicians; his fellow southern African clergy and his own Christian communities, and his ancient African Christian forebears. The chapters foreground the importance of conserving the material aspects of Soga’s heritage. Scholars expand research on Soga’s missionary history and explore his Biblical hermeneutics and preaching styles and techniques. The chapters explore Soga’s hymns as explorations of the cultural context both in which they were written and today, highlighting Soga’s significance in contemporary South Africa. Scholars also consider the new cultural metaphors which have arisen around Soga in the contemporary imaginary.

Joanne Ruth Davis is a literary theorist with a special fascination with the literary history of southern Africa in the eighteenth and nineteenth centuries. She studied at UCT and UNISA and she is a Research Fellow at the Johannesburg Institute for Advanced Study and a Research Associate at SOAS in the Centre for World Christianity. Her book Tiyo Soga: A Literary History (2018) won the Hiddingh Currie award in 2020.

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