essay about zulu culture in zulu language

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essay about zulu culture

The Zulu culture is one of the most fascinating in South Africa. From their rich history to their traditional values, there is much to learn about the Zulu people. In this essay, we will explore some of the key aspects of Zulu culture, including their history, beliefs, and way of life.

What is the Zulu culture?

Zulu culture is a way of life that includes beliefs, values, and traditions that Zulu people live by. The Zulu culture is based on respect for elders, ancestors, and the environment. Family is also important to the Zulu people, and they often live in close-knit communities.

Zulu culture has a rich history and traditional arts . One of the most famous aspects of Zulu culture is the beadwork. Zulu beadwork is colorful and intricate, and it is used to decorate clothing, jewelry, and other objects. Music is also an important part of Zulu culture. The Zulus have a wide variety of musical instruments, and they use music for storytelling, ceremonies, and entertainment.

The Zulu language is a click language that belongs to the Bantu family of languages. It is spoken by about 10 million people in South Africa. The Zulu alphabet consists of 21 letters, and there are four dialects of the language: northern, central, southern, and western.

The history of the Zulu people

The Zulu people are a Bantu ethnic group native to southern Africa. The Zulu population numbers over 10 million people and is the largest ethnic group in South Africa. The Zulu language, also known as isiZulu, is a member of the Nguni subgroup of the Bantu languages.

The history of the Zulu people can be traced back to the early part of the 18th century when they were founded by King Shaka . Prior to this, the Zulu people were a collection of small clans living in what is now KwaZulu-Natal. Shaka united these clans and formed the Zulu Kingdom which quickly rose to power in southern Africa. Under Shaka’s rule, the Zulu Kingdom reached its greatest extent, stretching from present-day Mozambique in the north to present-day Swaziland in the south.

Shaka’s reign came to an end in 1828 when he was assassinated by his half-brothers Dingane and Mhlangana. Dingane then took over as king and ruled for 14 years until he was overthrown and killed by his rival Mpande. Mpande then became king and ruled for almost 40 years until his death in 1872.

During Mpande’s reign, British colonists began to settle in southern Africa which led to conflict with the Zulus. In 1879, this conflict came to a head with the outbreak of the Anglo-Zulu War. The war ended in British victory and the annexation of Zululand into the British Empire.

The Zulus remained under British rule until 1907 when they were granted self-government within the colony of Natal. In 1910, Natal was merged with the other British colonies in southern Africa to form the Union of South Africa. The Zulus retained a high degree of autonomy within the new state and were able to maintain their traditional way of life.

In 1948, the National Party came to power in South Africa and introduced a system of racial segregation known as apartheid. Under apartheid, all non-white people were discriminated against and had fewer rights than white people. The Zulus were severely affected by apartheid and many were forced to leave their homes and live in poverty-stricken townships.

The apartheid system began to crumble in the late 1980s and early 1990s due to international pressure and internal resistance. In 1994, South Africa held its first democratic elections in which all people, regardless of race, were able to vote. Nelson Mandela, a leader of the anti-apartheid movement and a member of the Zulu tribe, was elected as president. Since then, the Zulu people have enjoyed full political and social equality in South Africa.

The Zulu way of life

The Zulu way of life is steeped in tradition and a strong sense of community. From an early age, Zulu children are taught the importance of respecting their elders and working together for the good of the tribe.

Zulu families live in beehive-shaped homes called “umuthi wabasha” which are made out of grass and mud. The homes have no doors or windows, only an opening at the top to let in light and air. Inside, the family sleeps on reed mats on the floor.

Zulu culture is very much based on agriculture, with families growing crops such as maize, beans, and sweet potatoes. Cattle are also important, both for their meat and for their milk. Goats are kept for their skins, which are used to make clothing and drums. Chicken are also kept, both for their meat and eggs.

hunting is still a part of Zulu life, although it is now done more for sport than for food. Men often go on hunts together, using spears and dogs to track down game. Women also play an important role in the hunt, acting as beaters to drive the animals towards the waiting men.

Music and dance are an essential part of Zulu culture. Traditional songs are sung to welcome visitors, celebrate weddings, mark births, and commemorate deaths. Zulu dances are usually performed by women, who wear brightly coloured skirts and beadwork necklaces. Men sometimes join in, but they usually only dance in a circle around the women.

The Zulu language, isiZulu, is one of the official languages of South Africa. It is spoken by about 10 million people.

Zulu traditions and beliefs

The Zulu people have a rich culture and history that is steeped in tradition and beliefs. The Zulu are a proud people who have a strong sense of self and community. They are known for their vibrant music, dance, and art. Their traditions and beliefs play a big role in their everyday lives.

The Zulu believe in Ubuntu, which is the idea that we are all connected and that we should help each other. This belief is reflected in their saying, “Umuntu ngumuntu ngabantu,” which means “I am because we are.” Ubuntu is at the core of Zulu culture and helps to create a strong sense of community.

Zulus also have a strong belief in ancestor worship. They believe that their ancestors can help them in their daily lives and that they should be respected and honoured. This belief leads to elaborate rituals and ceremonies surrounding death and burial.

The Zulu people have many other traditions and beliefs that play an important role in their culture . For example, they believe in ubuntu (humanity), ukuthula (peace), umqini (family), ukuhlonipha (respect), and ukusinda (revenge). All of these values contribute to the strong sense of community that is so characteristic of the Zulu people.

The Zulu language

The Zulu language is one of the most commonly spoken languages in South Africa. It is a Bantu language, which means it is related to other languages like Swahili and Xhosa. Zulu is the largest language in the family and has about 10 million speakers.

Zulu is a tonal language, which means that the meaning of a word can change depending on the pitch it is spoken with. There are four tones in Zulu: high, low, rising, and falling. For example, the word “umuntu” can mean either “person” or “people”, depending on which tone it is spoken with.

One of the distinctive features of Zulu is its use of clicks. There are five clicks that are used in Zulu, each with a different meaning. The clicks are made by touching the tongue to the teeth or the roof of the mouth and then releasing it.

Here are some common phrases in Zulu: Hello: Sawubona

Goodbye: Sala kahle

Thank you: Ngiyabonga

Please: Ngicela

The Zulu culture is fascinating and unique, and I am grateful to have had the opportunity to learn more about it. I hope that this essay has given you a glimpse into the rich history and traditions of the Zulu people , and that it has inspired you to learn more about this amazing culture. Thank you for taking the time to read this essay , and I hope that you have enjoyed it as much as I have enjoyed writing it.

The Richness and Resilience of Zulu Culture: An Argumentative Essay

The Zulu culture, one of the most prominent and vibrant African cultures, has captivated the world with its unique traditions, language, art, and historical significance. Rooted in South Africa’s KwaZulu-Natal province, the Zulu people have managed to preserve their cultural identity despite the challenges of colonization and modernization. This essay aims to shed light on the importance of preserving Zulu culture and why it is essential to recognize its value in a globalized world.

Historical Context of Zulu Culture

The Zulu culture dates back to the early 19th century when King Shaka Zulu united various Nguni tribes to form the powerful Zulu Kingdom. Shaka’s military strategies and social reforms played a significant role in shaping the Zulu identity and culture . This era marked the beginning of the Zulu people’s strong sense of unity, warrior ethos, and reverence for their ancestors. Despite encountering numerous adversities, such as the Anglo-Zulu War, the Zulu people managed to retain their cultural heritage, passing it down through generations.

Language and Communication

Central to any culture is its language, and the Zulu language plays a crucial role in connecting individuals to their roots. The Zulu language is characterized by its unique click sounds, which have intrigued linguists and language enthusiasts alike. It serves as a medium for oral traditions, storytelling, and passing down cultural knowledge. Preserving the Zulu language is essential to maintaining their cultural identity, as it is an expression of their history, values, and worldview.

Art and Craftsmanship

Zulu culture is renowned for its exquisite art and craftsmanship, ranging from beadwork and pottery to intricate wood carvings and basketry. The artistic expressions are deeply intertwined with cultural practices, symbolism, and spirituality. The intricate beadwork, for instance, communicates a person’s age, marital status, and social status, while the traditional Zulu pottery carries cultural stories through its designs. By valuing and promoting these artistic forms, the Zulu people can preserve their heritage and foster economic growth through cultural tourism.

Social Structure and Family Values

The Zulu culture’s social structure revolves around the family , and kinship bonds are highly valued. The extended family system provides support, security, and a sense of belonging to its members. While modernization has led to some changes in family dynamics, preserving these values is crucial for maintaining social cohesion and combating the erosion of traditional norms.

Initiation and Rites of Passage

Initiation and rites of passage hold significant importance in Zulu culture. Ukweshwama, an annual ritual involving the sacrifice of a bull, marks the beginning of a new agricultural season. The coming-of-age ceremonies, such as Umemulo for girls and Amabutho for boys, are critical in transitioning young individuals into adulthood. These rituals reinforce the interconnectedness of the Zulu people with their ancestors, nature, and each other, instilling a strong sense of cultural pride.

Cultural Festivals and Ceremonies

Cultural festivals and ceremonies play a vital role in Zulu culture, serving as occasions for celebration, storytelling, and reinforcing shared values. The reed dance, known as Umkhosi Womhlanga, is a prominent event that celebrates the virginity of young Zulu women. The ceremony showcases the richness of Zulu culture and promotes social cohesion among the participants. By preserving and promoting such festivals, the Zulu culture can be safeguarded from dilution and misrepresentation.

Preserving Zulu Culture in a Globalized World

In today’s globalized world, cultures are increasingly facing challenges to their preservation and survival. The dominant influence of Western culture, modernization, and urbanization can lead to the erosion of traditional practices and beliefs. However, there are several strategies that can be adopted to preserve Zulu culture and ensure its relevance in the future:

• Education and Awareness: Introducing comprehensive educational programs that emphasize the importance of Zulu culture can foster a sense of pride and understanding among the younger generation. Schools and universities should include Zulu history, language, and cultural practices in their curriculum.
• Cultural Documentation: Encouraging the documentation of Zulu traditions, rituals, and oral histories can provide a valuable resource for future generations. This can include written records, audiovisual materials, and digital archives.
• Cultural Tourism: Promoting cultural tourism can provide economic incentives for preserving Zulu heritage. Tourists from around the world can experience and appreciate the richness of Zulu culture, while the revenue generated can support local communities.
• Community Involvement: Engaging local communities in the preservation efforts is essential. Encouraging active participation in cultural events, crafts, and rituals can strengthen their connection to their heritage.
• Media Representation: Advocating for accurate and respectful representation of Zulu culture in the media can combat misinterpretation and stereotypes. Promoting positive portrayals can enhance cultural pride and understanding.
• Government Support: Governments at local, regional, and national levels should provide financial support and incentives to organizations and initiatives that aim to preserve and promote Zulu culture.

The Zulu culture is a treasure trove of history, traditions, and values that deserve preservation and recognition. The richness and resilience of the Zulu people have allowed them to navigate through centuries of challenges while maintaining their cultural identity. By valuing and preserving their language, art, traditions, and social structures, the Zulu culture can continue to thrive in a globalized world. Embracing and celebrating the beauty of diversity will not only enrich the Zulu community but also contribute to a more inclusive and harmonious world.

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The four major ethnic divisions among Black South Africans are the Nguni, Sotho, Shangaan-Tsonga and Venda. The Nguni represent nearly two thirds of South Africa's Black population and can be divided into four distinct groups; the Northern and Central Nguni (the Zulu-speaking peoples), the Southern Nguni (the Xhosa-speaking peoples), the Swazi people from Swaziland and adjacent areas, and the Ndebele people of the Northern Province and Mpumalanga. Archaeological evidence shows that the Bantu-speaking groups, that were the ancestors of the Nguni, migrated down from East Africa as early as the eleventh century - see South Africa's general history timeline .

Language, culture and beliefs:

The Zulu language, of which there are variations, is part of the Nguni language group. The word Zulu means "Sky" and according to oral history, Zulu was the name of the ancestor who founded the Zulu royal line in about 1670. Today it is estimated that there are more than 45 million South Africans, and the Zulu people make up about approximately 22% of this number. The largest urban concentration of Zulu people is in the Gauteng Province, and in the corridor of Pietermaritzburg and Durban. The largest rural concentration of Zulu people is in Kwa-Zulu Natal.

IsiZulu is South Africa's most widely spoken official language. It is a tonal language understood by people from the Cape to Zimbabwe and is characterized by many "clicks". In 2006 it was determined that approximately 9 million South Africans speak Xhosa as a home language.

The following overview of the language was written by B.P. Mngadi for UNESCO's World Languages Report (2000):

"The writing of Zulu was started by missionaries in the then Natal. The names J W Colenso, S B Stone, H Callaway and Lewis Grant are among the prominent. They taught the first people with whom they made contact, spreading the word of God, basic writing skills in Zulu. Magema Fuze, Ndiyane and William were among the very first who were taught communicative English and basic writing skills at about 1830-1841. The first Zulu Christian booklet was produced by Newton Adams, George Newton and Aldin Grout (1837-8) titled "Incwadi Yokuqala Yabafundayo" which dealt with the spelling of Zulu words and the history of the Old Testament. Between 1845 and 1883, the first translated version of the Bible was produced in very old Zulu orthography. In 1859 the first Zulu Grammar Book by L. Grout was produced".

Its oral tradition is very rich but its modern literature is still developing. J.L Dube was the first Zulu writer (1832) though his first publication was a Zulu story written in English titled "A Talk on my Native Land" . In 1903 he concentrated in editing the newspaper "Ilanga LaseNatali" . His first Zulu novel "Insila kaShaka" was published in 1930. We see a steady growth of publications especially novels from 1930 onwards.

The clear-cut distinction made today between the Xhosa and the Zulu has no basis in culture or history but arises out of the colonial distinction between the Cape and Natal colonies. Both speak very similar languages and share similar customs, but the historical experiences at the northern end of the Nguni culture area differed considerably from the historical experiences at the southern end. The majority of northerners became part of the Zulu kingdom, which abolished circumcision. The majority of southerners never became part of any strongly centralised kingdom, intermarried with Khoikhoi and retained circumcision.

Many Zulu people converted to Christianity under colonialism. However, although there are many Christian converts, ancestral beliefs have not disappeared. Instead, there has been a mixture of traditional beliefs and Christianity. Ancestral spirits are important in Zulu religious life, and offerings and sacrifices are made to the ancestors for protection, good health, and happiness. Ancestral spirits come back to the world in the form of dreams, illnesses, and sometimes snakes. The Zulu also believe in the use of magic. Ill fortune such as bad luck and illness is considered to be sent by an angry spirit. When this happens, the help of a traditional healer is sought, and he or she will communicate with the ancestors or use natural herbs and prayers, to get rid of the problem.

Late nineteenth-century postcard of Zulu Warriors (note the Europeans in the background)

The Zulu are fond of singing as well as dancing. These activities promote unity at all transitional ceremonies such as births, weddings, and funerals. All the dances are accompanied by drums and the men dress as warriors (see image).

Zulu folklore is transmitted through storytelling, praise-poems, and proverbs. These explain Zulu history and teach moral lessons. Praise-poems (poems recited about the kings and the high achievers in life) is becoming part of popular culture. The Zulu, especially those from rural areas, are known for their weaving, craft-making, pottery, and beadwork.

The Zulu term for "family" (umndeni) includes all the people staying in a homestead who are related to each other, either by blood, marriage, or adoption. Drinking and eating from the same plate was and still is a sign of friendship. It is customary for children to eat from the same dish, usually a big basin. This derives from a "share what you have" belief which is part of Ubuntu (humane) philosophy.

Long ago, before the Zulu were forged as a nation, they lived as isolated family groups and partly nomadic northern Nguni groups. These groups moved about within their loosely defined territories in search of game and good grazing for their cattle. As they accumulated livestock, and supporters family leaders divided and dispersed in different directions, while still retaining family networks.

The Zulu homestead (imizi) consisted of an extended family and others attached to the household through social obligations. This social unit was largely self-sufficient, with responsibilities divided according to gender. Men were generally responsible for defending the homestead, caring for cattle, manufacturing and maintaining weapons and farm implements, and building dwellings. Women had domestic responsibilities and raised crops, usually grains, on land near the household.

By the late eighteenth century, a process of political consolidation among the groups was beginning to take place. A number of powerful chiefdoms began to emerge and a transformation from a pastoral society to a more organised statehood occurred. This enabled leaders to wield more authority over their own supporters and to compel allegiance from conquered chiefdoms. Changes took place in the nature of political, social, and economic links between chiefs of these emerging power blocs and their subjects. Zulu chiefs demanded steadily increasing tribute or taxes from their subjects, acquired great wealth, commanded large armies, and, in many cases, subjugated neighbouring chiefdoms.

Military conquest allowed men to achieve status distinctions that had become increasingly important. This culminated early in the nineteenth century with the warrior-king Shaka conquering all the groups in Zululand and uniting them into a single powerful Zulu nation, that made its influence felt over southern and central Africa. Shaka ruled from 1816 to 1828, when he was assassinated by his brothers.

Shaka recruited young men from all over the kingdom and trained them in his own novel warrior tactics. His military campaign resulted in widespread violence and displacement, and after defeating competing armies and assimilating their people, Shaka established his Zulu nation. Within twelve years, he had forged one of the mightiest empires the African continent has ever known. The Zulu empire weakened after Shaka's death in 1828.

One of the most significant events in Zulu history was the arrival of Europeans in Natal. By the late 1800s, British troops had invaded Zulu territory and divided Zulu land into different chiefdoms. The Zulu never regained their independence ( see Anglo-Zulu Wars ).

Natal received "Colonial government" in 1893, and the Zulu people were dissatisfied about being governed by the Colony. A plague of locusts devastated crops in Zululand and Natal in 1894 and 1895, and their cattle were dying of rinderpest, lung sickness and east coast fever. These natural disasters impoverished them and forced more men to seek employment as railway construction workers in northern Natal and on the mines in the Witwatersrand.

The last Zulu uprising, led by Chief Bambatha in 1906, was a response to harsh and unjust laws and unimaginable actions by the Natal Government. It was sparked off by the imposition of the 1905 poll tax of £1 per head, introduced to increase revenue and to force more Zulus to start working for wages. The uprising was ruthlessly suppressed ( see Bambatha Rebellion ).

The 1920s saw fundamental changes in the Zulu nation. Many were drawn towards the mines and fast-growing cities as wage earners and were separated from the land and urbanised. Zulu men and women have made up a substantial portion of South Africa's urban workforce throughout the 20th century, especially in the gold and copper mines of the Witwatersrand. Zulu workers organized some of the first black labour unions in the country. For example, the Zulu Washermen's Guild, Amawasha, was active in Natal and the Witwatersrand even before the Union of South Africa was formed in 1910. The Zululand Planters' Union organized agricultural workers in Natal in the early twentieth century.

The dawn of apartheid in the 1940s marked more changes for all Black South Africans, and in 1953 the South African Government introduced the "homelands" . In the 1960s the Government's objective was to form a "tribal authority" and provide for the gradual development of self-governing Bantu national units. The first Territorial Authority for the Zulu people was established in 1970 and the Zulu homeland of KwaZulu was defined. On 30 March 1972 the first Legislative Assembly of KwaZulu was constituted by South African Parliamentary Proclamation.

Chief Mangosutho (Gatsha) Buthelezi , a cousin of the king, was elected as Chief Executive. The town of Nongoma was temporarily consolidated as the capital, pending completion of buildings at Ulundi. The 1970s also saw the revival of Inkatha, later the Inkatha Freedom Party (IFP) , the ruling and sole party in the self-governing KwaZulu homeland. Led by Chief Minister Mangosutho Buthelezi, Inkatha worked within the NP governments system, but it opposed homeland independence, standing for a non-racial democracy, federalism, and free enterprise.

Military prowess continued to be an important value in Zulu culture, and this emphasis fuelled some of the political violence of the 1990s. Buthelezi's nephew, Goodwill Zwelithini , was the Zulu monarch in the 1990s. Buthelezi and King Goodwill won the agreement of ANC negotiators just before the April 1994 elections that, with international mediation, the government would establish a special status for the Zulu Kingdom after the elections. Zulu leaders understood this special status to mean some degree of regional autonomy within the province of KwaZulu-Natal.

Buthelezi was appointed minister of home affairs in the first Government of National Unity in 1994. He led a walkout of Zulu delegates from the National Assembly in early 1995 and clashed repeatedly with newly elected President Nelson (Rolihlahla) Mandela. Buthelezi threatened to abandon the Government of National Unity entirely unless his Zulu constituency received greater recognition and autonomy from central government control.

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Related links, tydskrif vir letterkunde, on-line version  issn 2309-9070 print version  issn 0041-476x, tydskr. letterkd. vol.54 n.2 pretoria  2017, http://dx.doi.org/10.17159/tvl.v.54i2.2981 .

BOOK REVIEWS

Learning Zulu: A secret history of language in South Africa

Mark Sanders. Johannesburg: Wits University Press, 2016. 191pp. EAN: 978-1-86814-870-7.

Taking a leaf from the book under review, I'll start by injecting an autobiographical element. Much of what Sanders examines here echoes my own experience, after Zimbabwe's independence, of heading to a remote mission school to teach for two years. Part of my purpose was to learn better Shona, the majority language from which I had been systematically discouraged by my colonial education. It was, in a way, a gesture of reparation, or addressing a nagging "white guilt", or at least of assuaging a sense of fruitless loss and exclusion. I was nowhere near as successful in attaining fluency as Sanders seems have been in learning Zulu; and now that I live in the Eastern Cape, my efforts to learn Xhosa have been similarly patchy and faltering. One thing is evident throughout Sanders's dense discussions: long-term, assiduous application and periods of total immersion are vital-and as he points out, few whites in South Africa have carved out the time and energy to do so, while willy-nilly expecting the black majority to learn their language. (An endnote does aver that, according to census figures, a surprising 16,000-plus whites, and a similar number of Indians, in KwaZulu-Natal, list Zulu as their first language.)

Hence, as Sanders outlines it, a white person learning an African tongue in South Africa is inevitably shackled to the unequal past distribution of linguistic power; that learning has to be a gesture of reparation at a deeply psychological level, and failures or shortfalls can be generative of feelings as powerful as a "paranoia". Those failures (mine included) are routinely explained away in what Sanders calls a "sanctioned ignorance" (18): the oft-professed wish to learn is "disavowed, a wall of 'buts' erected against it [so that] one begins to suspect the operation of a deeply rooted prohibition" (23), a "shabby concentrate of inhibition" that emerges not just from apartheid education but a longer-lasting "anal-sadistic arrogation of violent sovereign decision" (racism, in short, he doesn't quite say) (30).

To the extent that various whites have learned or tried to learn Zulu, the results constitute, in Sanders's subtitle, a "secret history" of language in South Africa-by which he really means that "it has not been recorded before, save in fragmentary form. Whereas the moreand less-alienating effects on Africans of colonial language teaching have been well attested, accounts of which are justly canonical, the meaning of learning an African language, for colonial of European descent [...] has scarcely been explored" (9).

Using as a narrative thread his own long-term experiences of learning Zulu both in South Africa and the United States (he is now a professor of comparative literature at New York University), Sanders explores in intricate and fascinating detail a number of case studies of whites learning Zulu. He shows convincingly how such efforts are laden with, and compromised by, complexly involuted and ironic psychopolitical dynamics inseparable from the wider politics of the times.

The cases range widely, each supported by impressively compact historical and political background: the role of Bishop Colenso and the first standardised dictionaries; the formation and history of "Fanakolo" (my childhood's Chilapalapa); "the awful but popular bowdlerisations of Zulu represented by the stageshow Ipi Tombi (in a school production of which Sanders once acted the "100% Zulu boy"); the career of Johnny Clegg, the honorary "White Zulu"; the role of Zulu normativity in 2008's xenophobic outrages; through to the case of another "100% Zulu Boy", Jacob Zuma, with particular reference to the avowedly "Zulu" masculinity that underpinned the then presidential candidate's rape charge and acquittal.

In an especially subtle exploration, Sanders unpacks implications and aporias in Sibusiso Nyembezi's Zulu primers, Learn Zulu and Learn More Zulu, key learning texts in Sanders's trajectory:

an understated-significant because so understated-critique of apartheid showing through its apparently inoffensive surface. Nyembezi (d.2000) was also a substantial novelist in Zulu; but apart from discussion of those novels, Sanders offers an exegesis of Nyembezi's translation into Zulu of Alan Paton's Cry the Beloved Country (Lafa elihle kakhulu). The handling and presentation of the Zulu language in the English original is problematic enough; but what happens when Nyembezi is faced with the problem of (re)translating the Reverend Kumalo's gentle "correction" to the white Jarvis boy's "mistake" in Zulu, when the correction itself is erroneous according to the standard or "correct" Zulu in which Nyembezi is writing, and which he advocates in his primers? A fascinating problem, indeed.

The emergence of a standard or "high" Zulu, often attached to the norms of the royal family, lies behind this example. Sanders, drawing on a swathe of recent scholarship on the emergence of the Zulu state and on what might constitute "Zulu identity", shows that that identity was always fraught, malleable, periodically fragmented to the point of civil war, and is still under contestation. (Two years ago I was privileged to attend a mass meeting, called by King Zwelithini at one of his rural palaces, engineered to reconcile "core Zulu" and "Mkhize" segments of what has sometimes, and sometimes not, functioned as a unitary Zulu identity.) In the 2008 xenophobia, knowledge of abstruse, even archaic Zulu concepts, also sometimes associated with the royal core, would be used as a test for foreigners; failure could provoke violent expulsion.

As with "standard Shona" in Zimbabwe, which only emerged, through the efforts of missionary lexicographers comingling and choosing between the various related-but-different dialects, in around 1910, the status and solidification of a standard or "pure" Zulu, evolving through the efforts of Colenso, Grout, Bleek and other literate dictionary-makers, was a fraught and politically contingent business. So too then is the business of translation, not centrally theorised but a necessarily constant presence in this study.

Sanders makes mileage of two particular Zulu phrases. The first is the sentence ngicele uxolo (I beg forgiveness), which becomes a sign of Sanders's "making good", a reparation. The shadow of the Truth and Reconciliation Commission is unavoidable here, and the author's grappling with this impulse governs the study.

The second phrase is ulimi lwebele, language-of-the-breast, Zulu as the "mother-tongue", literally that which one imbibes with one's mother's milk. Sanders meshes this with an underpinning of psychoanalytic theory, invoking Freud and Melanie Klein. I'm personally not convinced by it all, perhaps because it is rather patchily explicated: "To continue the endeavour to make good would be to summon the courage to bring the words of the language themselves into one's mouth [...] and so to master the phallic meaning of the name of the language, in other words the threat of castration that led to the name being used as a fetish." (98)

Really? Sanders anticipates precisely such a bemused reaction early on, asserting that if his "use of psychoanalysis might from time to time sound hyperbolic, that is deliberate". He is using it, he says, as a "brake" on his own confessional mode; even as he searches for a generalizing theory, he evidently worries about a propensity to feel a troubling "superiority" (63) to other whites who haven't studied Zulu as he has. While this may be true enough, there recur traces of something slightly defensive, as if allaying persistent anxieties-and incidentally drawing us (other South African whites, that is) into them.

The case of Zuma's rape case seems tailor-made for Freudian-Kleinian phallic theories. Sanders's discussion hinges on subtle yet crucial (mis)translations of a key line Zuma uttered in his defence, to the effect that "in Zulu culture" a woman's arousal needed to be satisfied or the man risked being accused of rape. Again somewhat melodramatically, Sanders now-because he has been trying so hard to suckle at the breast of Zulu-feels himself obscurely implicated in a distasteful quasi-nationalist form of masculinism. This intersects with doubts about Zuma's own "Zuluness", since he is ancestrally Nxamalala, a group incorporated by Shaka but that "remained peripheral and also subaltern". Such marginalities have to be suppressed in the project of learning a generalizable "isiZulu". He ends this section with what works as a summation of the book, as well as on a self-mocking re-simplification:

If realizing this generalization of learning is not ready to be admitted to consciousness, it nevertheless remains for the learner of Zulu, as historically determined-the Jarvis boy, the white reader of Fanakolo handbooks and Nyembezi's Learn More Zulu, the non-Zulu African migrant, me-to join the critical Zulu scholar or intellectual in order to effect this generalization by loosening the identification with the name-which in the story I am telling myself about myself-is also the masculinist and heteronormative phantasy-identification with the agent of sexual violence. Whatever the size of the phalli outside the court, and of the carnivalesque wooden imishini [machine guns], the Presidential penis is just a penis. And Zulu is, after all is said and done, just another language. (114)

Coming from a scholar whose previous books are entitled Complicities: The Intellectual and Apartheid (2002) and Ambiguities of Witnessing (2014), one might expect an attunement to deep complexities-even when Sanders injects some critical jibes about academics' propensity to overcomplicate things. Yet there were places I wanted to wield my Occam's Razor in the midst of some rather abstruse and entangled passages: at one point he employs, almost self-parodically, that common academic impulse to cite several fashionable sources in rapid succession: "what N P Van Wyk Louw called a bestaanreg [...] what Freud calls Nachträglichkeit [...] what Jacques Lacan called the Symbolic [...] what Lacan called the Imaginary" (78), these all within twelve lines. He admits theory has limits: "the sheer contingency of some of the events narrated in turn challenges the final say of psychoanalysis as a theoretical framework" (10). He has covered his back, all right.

This may also be responsible for his ending the book somewhat inconclusively, rather like the classic meandering "familiar essay" (10), with "everything [rendered] unknowable and unverifiable" (144). This is probably wise-and his frustrations will echo others'. That said, this review has scarcely begun to reflect the book's attentiveness to nuance, the density of erudition, and the courage with which Sanders faces South Africans with both the necessities for, and the problematics of, cross-cultural language-learning. Learning Zulu is a very important, unquestionably groundbreaking study.

Dan Wylie Rhodes University. Grahamstown [email protected]

The Zulu Nation’s History and Culture Essay

The continent of Africa was home to a significant number of ancient tribes, some of which are still alive in the modern world. An important feature distinguishing African tribes from European peoples is their identity, culture, and exceptional values. The Zulu nation is one of the most significant ethnicity for African history. In addition to the militancy and toughness, this tribe is known for its rich language and specific culture. Parts of the representatives of the people exist today in a modified state. It is necessary to analyze the cultural history of the legendary tribe.

Before examining the uniqueness of the tribe, it is vital to identify it as a society. The Zulu people live on the continent of Africa, in the southern part of it, which is known as KwaZulu-Natal. In Zulu, “Zulu” means “sky,” and the word Zulu translates as “sky people” (BBC News Africa). The Zulu language is similar to the Middle African languages, so there is ample opportunity for explorers to research it (BBC News Africa). Many Zulu now speak English, Portuguese, Sesotho, and other South African languages (BBC News Africa). Although the Zulu tribes are predominantly pagan in their beliefs, Christianity is also widespread among the tribes. Zulu religion, in particular, includes belief in a creator god, and the spirit world can only be accessed through ancestors, who soothsayers contact (Giblin, 2019). One particular area of life among the tribes is the institution of death, which is associated with evil and is associated with people who do terrible things in life. It is important to note that most religious rituals have a unique factors: different utensils and dishes are often used for other foods, and believers perform ablutions up to three times a day (Giblin, 2019). Thus, the general Zulu religion combines certain aspects of European as well as a pagan religion.

The Zulu are the largest people in southern Africa. This is due to the migration of ancient peoples across the continent, whose goal was to get away from deserts and powerful established states, such as Egypt and Ethiopia (BBC News Africa). After finding an area free of people, the tribes decided to come to a settled way of life, settling and developing their own style of architecture, known as the Ikanda (BBC News Africa). Later an entire empire emerged, consisting of numerous tribes, united both by the government of one king and a common wide territory.

It is worth noting that the Zulu people can be characterized as a fast-growing yet extremely powerful state. This was due to the unique Zulu warriors, the Impi, who were more dangerous than other African armies (BBC News Africa). The structure of the state was unusual in that the empire was divided into clans based on kinship (Mahoney, 2019). For the Zulu, a wedding is a costly celebration, as it is customary for every Zulu who decides to marry legally to pay a bride price to her parents (Mahoney, 2019). In this family, the husband stands for the chief, and institution of marriage is hallowed.

Around the end of the seventeenth century, Zulu people left their habitat in the Congo and migrated to Natal, in the land of South Africa. The Zulu lived in small groups, nominally recognizing the authority of the paramount chief. By the beginning of the 18th century, however, the population was growing rapidly and steadily, agricultural production was improving, and trade competition with Europeans was increasing, which led to the need to centralize and expand the power of Zulu chiefs.

BBC News Africa. (2020). Gift of the Nile – history of Africa with Zeinab Badawi [Episode 3] [Video]. YouTube. Web.

Giblin, J. L. (2019). Kinship in African history . John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

Mahoney, M. R. (2019). Ethnicity in Southern Africa . John Wiley & Sons Ltd.

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IvyPanda. (2023, November 2). The Zulu Nation's History and Culture. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-zulu-nations-history-and-culture/

"The Zulu Nation's History and Culture." IvyPanda , 2 Nov. 2023, ivypanda.com/essays/the-zulu-nations-history-and-culture/.

IvyPanda . (2023) 'The Zulu Nation's History and Culture'. 2 November.

IvyPanda . 2023. "The Zulu Nation's History and Culture." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-zulu-nations-history-and-culture/.

1. IvyPanda . "The Zulu Nation's History and Culture." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-zulu-nations-history-and-culture/.

Bibliography

IvyPanda . "The Zulu Nation's History and Culture." November 2, 2023. https://ivypanda.com/essays/the-zulu-nations-history-and-culture/.

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Zulu culture and sexual orientation: South African study reveals the health costs of stigma

Postdoctoral Fellow, University of South Africa

Disclosure statement

Ikekhwa Albert Ikhile does not work for, consult, own shares in or receive funding from any company or organisation that would benefit from this article, and has disclosed no relevant affiliations beyond their academic appointment.

University of South Africa provides funding as a partner of The Conversation AFRICA.

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Same-sex relationships are legal in South Africa and protected by the constitution. Unfair discrimination on the basis of sexual orientation is against the law.

But in practice many cultures don’t necessarily see this as a right.

Traditional Zulu culture, for example, perceives same-sex relationships and sexual intercourse as taboo and unAfrican . Statements like “real men are not gay” indicate some people’s ideas about masculinity and sexuality.

These cultural norms have profoundly negative effects on Zulu men who have sex with men.

This abuse often triggers depression, suicide and drug abuse .

As a public health specialist with an interest in marginalised groups, I conducted research looking into the role Zulu culture plays in discouraging men who have sex with men from accessing healthcare.

Stigma rooted in cultural beliefs was rife and many of the men we interviewed were too afraid to go to a health clinic.

This research is a tool for policymakers to use to ensure better healthcare for marginalised communities.

How we went about our study

In South Africa, men who have sex with men are categorised as a key population , a vulnerable group more likely to get sexually transmitted infections, due to their socio-economic isolation.

Our study participants were living in Umlazi , an urban area of least 400,000 inhabitants in the province of KwaZulu-Natal. The province is the home of the Zulu monarchy and the majority of Zulu people – the largest ethnic group in South Africa. More than 13 million people speak isiZulu as their first language.

Many Zulu people forced from “ white” towns during apartheid ended up in Umlazi. Informal settlements have also mushroomed around Umlazi as those desperate for work flock to urban areas in search of jobs.

In our study we interviewed 25 participants, men who have sex with men, between the ages of 21 and 55. They were representative of different areas of KwaZulu-Natal as they had roots in Ulundi, Nongoma, uPhongolo, eDumbe and Vryheid.

They shared their experiences in a very emotional way. They described how they were frequently forced to conceal their sexual orientation to avoid being rejected or discriminated against. Study participants were representative of different areas of KwaZulu-Natal as they had roots in Ulundi, Nongoma, uPhongolo, eDumbe and Vryheid.

Culture is very stigmatising, discriminatory, and depriving. I grew up in a community where people see same-sex relationships as culturally taboo, so tell me, how would you come out in such a community? People create culture; instead of discriminating against same-sex relationships, these same people must accept and embrace them as cultural norms. (Funani)

For some participants, the traditional rite of passage from boyhood to manhood at the age of 21 was a source of alienation and pain.

At the age of 21 you are celebrated as a man in the Zulu culture … you are dressed like a Zulu warrior with skin, a spear, and a shield. I was deprived of this because they said I am not a man. … I became sick because of this and was admitted to the hospital for weeks. I almost lost my life because I was deprived of my rights. (Linda)

Yet another participant spoke about his experiences of not being accepted:

I don’t care about culture because the culture has let me down as a gay man. Culture does not respect me … I would have killed myself in the more conservative rural areas because the culture does not accept me. I have suffered so many mental health crises because of this. (Sanele)

‘I could hear them laughing’

The men consistently cited fear of discrimination and a lack of understanding among healthcare providers as reasons they avoided health clinics.

I went to my local clinic because I had a sexually transmitted infection and needed care. When being attended to by the nurse, I was asked some silly questions that did not feel like they were taking my medical history. Then I was reprimanded about my sexuality as being culturally wrong and needing to change, which made me decide never to use my local clinic again. (Lindani)

Most of the participants related to these experiences.

I had a sexually transmitted infection and went to my local clinic for medical care. Getting there, a nurse attended to me, and during the section, she walked away to a separate room, where she went to tell other nurses about me. I could hear them laughing. I took my bags and left the clinic and never went back. (Siyanda)

The impact on the men’s health could be critical:

I would rather die with my sickness than use such facilities. (Anele)

Another said:

Due to my outfit I was kept in the queue for a long time, and when I was finally attended to, the nurse asked me if I am male or female. I respectfully answered her, and she called her other colleagues to make fun of me. (Solomon)

Cultural sensitivity

Collaboration with cultural influencers and community leaders is essential to protect the rights of men who have sex with men while honouring cultural values.

Such interventions should be culturally appropriate, holding in esteem and respecting the Zulu traditions and values, as well as embracing the full spectrum of health matters encountered by men who have sex with men.

Similarly, healthcare providers should receive training to support this community and establish discrimination-free healthcare environments.

Efforts such as these would promote inclusivity and healthcare access for all.

• Masculinity
• South Africa
• Men who have sex with men
• vulnerable populations
• KwaZulu-Natal
• Traditional culture
• Health challenges

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