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Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience
This study examines the role played by traditional Xhosa religious belief and experience in the Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-57. Using a range of primary and secondary historical sources, this study focuses on the period between 1856 and 1857 where many of the amaXhosa slaughtered their cat...
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| Format: | Thesis |
| Language: | English |
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Department of Historical Studies
2023
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| _version_ | 1867613245496360960 |
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| access_status_str | Open Access |
| author | Slingers, Joshua |
| author2 | van Sittert, Lance |
| author_browse | Slingers, Joshua van Sittert, Lance |
| author_facet | van Sittert, Lance Slingers, Joshua |
| author_sort | Slingers, Joshua |
| collection | Thesis |
| description | This study examines the role played by traditional Xhosa religious belief and experience in the Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-57. Using a range of primary and secondary historical sources, this study focuses on the period between 1856 and 1857 where many of the amaXhosa slaughtered their cattle and ceased agricultural production. This study centres the work of South African historians in the analysis of the Cattle-Killing Movement and the prophecies of Nongqawuse. The study is framed by the conception of the movement as inherently religious in character and form. As such, certain elements of African and Xhosa religious beliefs form an important part of this study. The role of ancestors within Xhosa religious life, the spirits known as the ‘River People', the function of cattle in ritual sacrifice and the role of prophets and diviners in Xhosa life are all important in understanding the events of the Cattle-Killing Movement. Themes of rebirth and renewal are present within the prophecies and the wider movement. This study will argue that the religious aspects of the Cattle-Killing Movement have been given insufficient attention by materialists. This study seeks to address the problem of historians, and other scholars, studying the Cattle-Killing in disciplinary silos, favouring certain contributing factors while dismissing others. The prophecies of Nongqawuse were believed by the numerous participants because its content drew on past religious and mythological narratives that the Xhosa were familiar with and due to the adverse material circumstances of the mid-19th century. It will be shown that the Cattle-Killing Movement was determined by the lung sickness epidemic, other materialist and structuralist causes. However, just as importantly, it was determined by the religious beliefs and experiences of the believers. |
| format | Thesis |
| id | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37322 |
| institution | University of Cape Town (South Africa) |
| language | eng |
| last_indexed | 2026-06-10T12:33:05.164Z |
| license_str | Not specified — see source repository |
| provenance_str_mv | Harvested via OAI-PMH from UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| publishDate | 2023 |
| publishDateRange | 2023 |
| publishDateSort | 2023 |
| publisher | Department of Historical Studies |
| publisherStr | Department of Historical Studies |
| record_format | dspace |
| source_str | UCTD — University of Cape Town Open Access Repository |
| spelling | oai:open.uct.ac.za:11427/37322 Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience Slingers, Joshua van Sittert, Lance Historical Studies This study examines the role played by traditional Xhosa religious belief and experience in the Xhosa Cattle-Killing Movement of 1856-57. Using a range of primary and secondary historical sources, this study focuses on the period between 1856 and 1857 where many of the amaXhosa slaughtered their cattle and ceased agricultural production. This study centres the work of South African historians in the analysis of the Cattle-Killing Movement and the prophecies of Nongqawuse. The study is framed by the conception of the movement as inherently religious in character and form. As such, certain elements of African and Xhosa religious beliefs form an important part of this study. The role of ancestors within Xhosa religious life, the spirits known as the ‘River People', the function of cattle in ritual sacrifice and the role of prophets and diviners in Xhosa life are all important in understanding the events of the Cattle-Killing Movement. Themes of rebirth and renewal are present within the prophecies and the wider movement. This study will argue that the religious aspects of the Cattle-Killing Movement have been given insufficient attention by materialists. This study seeks to address the problem of historians, and other scholars, studying the Cattle-Killing in disciplinary silos, favouring certain contributing factors while dismissing others. The prophecies of Nongqawuse were believed by the numerous participants because its content drew on past religious and mythological narratives that the Xhosa were familiar with and due to the adverse material circumstances of the mid-19th century. It will be shown that the Cattle-Killing Movement was determined by the lung sickness epidemic, other materialist and structuralist causes. However, just as importantly, it was determined by the religious beliefs and experiences of the believers. 2023-03-07T11:28:02Z 2023-03-07T11:28:02Z 2022 2023-02-20T13:07:12Z Master Thesis Masters MA http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37322 eng application/pdf Department of Historical Studies Faculty of Humanities |
| spellingShingle | Historical Studies Slingers, Joshua Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| thesis_degree_str | Master's |
| title | Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| title_full | Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| title_fullStr | Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| title_full_unstemmed | Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| title_short | Nongqawuse's Prophecies Revisited: Centring the Religious Experience |
| title_sort | nongqawuse s prophecies revisited centring the religious experience |
| topic | Historical Studies |
| url | http://hdl.handle.net/11427/37322 |
| work_keys_str_mv | AT slingersjoshua nongqawusespropheciesrevisitedcentringthereligiousexperience |