Deep Histories Gender and Colonialism in Southern Africa

Most of the 13 essays presented here were originally presented at the January 1997 "Gender and Colonialism" conference held at the U. of Western Cape (South Africa). Presented by Woodward (English and cultural studies, U. of the Western Cape), Hayes (history, U. of the Western Cape), and Minkley (history, U. of the Western Cape), the contributions address both colonial and postcolonial issues of identity in Southern Africa from a variety of perspectives within contemporary critical and feminist theories. Topics include slave women's rhetoric and the Eastern Cape courts, ideologies of domesticity and the British construction of the "primitive," Dutch- Afrikaans women's entry into the public sphere in the Cape Colony, male nursing in the mines of 20th-century South Africa, and "gender- blending" and "code-switching" in the South African novel. Annotation copyrighted by Book News, Inc., Portland, OR