Description
Book SynopsisBy returning to a pivotal moment in South African history - the Cape Colony in the period 1770-1830 - this book addresses current debates about nationalism, colonialism and neo-colonialism, and postcolonial/post-apartheid culture.
Trade ReviewThis is an outstandingly insightful and innovative study. David Johnson single-handedly opens up new research terrains by challenging current orthodoxies about literary and historical representation and he brings the early Cape Colony into the centre of contemporary debates about identity, power and the pervasive presence of inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. -- Nigel Worden, King George V Professor of History, University of Cape Town The excitement of reading this book is in its delivering more than the title indicates. Grounded in meticulous historical research, Johnson's work engages with contemporary debates about the nation, offering the innovative argument that colonial forms of nationhood and nationalism, resisted/subverted/even ignored normative concepts developed in the northern hemisphere. -- Benita Parry, Emerita Professor, University of Warwick This is an outstandingly insightful and innovative study. David Johnson single-handedly opens up new research terrains by challenging current orthodoxies about literary and historical representation and he brings the early Cape Colony into the centre of contemporary debates about identity, power and the pervasive presence of inequality in post-apartheid South Africa. The excitement of reading this book is in its delivering more than the title indicates. Grounded in meticulous historical research, Johnson's work engages with contemporary debates about the nation, offering the innovative argument that colonial forms of nationhood and nationalism, resisted/subverted/even ignored normative concepts developed in the northern hemisphere.
Table of ContentsAcknowledgements; Introduction; 1. Remembering the Khoikhoi victory over Dom Francisco d'Almeida at the Cape in 1510: Luiz de Camoes and Robert Southey; 2. French Representations of the Cape 'Hottentots': Jean Tavernier, Jean-Jacques Rousseau, and Francois Levaillant; 3. The Scottish Enlightenment and colonial governance: Adam Smith, John Bruce, and Lady Anne Barnard; 4. African Land for the American Empire: John Adams, Benjamin Stout, and Robert Semple; 5. Historical and literary re-iterations of Dutch Settler Republicanism; 6. Literature and Cape Slavery; 7. History and the Griqua Nation: Andries Waterboer and Hendrick Hendricks; Conclusion; Index.
