Between assegais, ox-wagons, and rifles: the writing of South African past in George McCall Theal

• Autor(a) principal: da Silva, Evander Ruthieri
• Data de Publicação: 2019
• Tipo de documento: Artigo
• Idioma: por
• Título da fonte: História da Historiografia
• Texto Completo: https://www.historiadahistoriografia.com.br/revista/article/view/1477
• topic: Africa; History of historiography; 19th century historiography; África; História da historiografia; Historiografia do século XIX; África; Historia de la historiografía; Historiografía del siglo XIX

Despite the territorial fragmentation that marked South Africa in the second half of the nineteenth century, this period was marked by a significant increase in publications intended to provide a particular sense of cohesion and unity, especially in historical-geographical treaties. This article deals with the writing of the South African past by the historian George McCall Theal, with emphasis on his interpretations of the ethnic displacements and the conflicts generated from the Great Trek (1835-1846) - a period of internal Boer migrations towards the interior of the subcontinent - and from the Mfecane (c.1815-1835) - term associated with the Zulus’ military expansionism in the same region. The emphasis lies on The History of the Emigrant Boers in South Africa (1888) and on the Progress of South Africa in the Century (1901). They were published in a period of deep interethnic animosities in southern Africa, and aimed to provide a cohesion version of the South African past, blaming the Zulus for the population reduction from 1820-1830, thus legitimizing the colonial aspirations for land use and occupation.