Overview

Description

CALENDAR DESCRIPTION:

An examination of the way in which South African society evolved in the 19th and 20th centuries. Particular attention will be paid to the problem of race relations. Content may vary from offering to offering; see course outline for further information. HIST 473W may be repeated for credit only when a different topic is taught. Writing.

COURSE DETAILS:

Gender, Sexuality, Race, and Family in Colonial South Africa

The anti-miscegenation laws of the Apartheid era (1948-1990) were infamous for their restriction of sex and marriage to intra-racial categories, and for the harsh penalties imposed on those, often blacks, who allegedly broke these laws. However such laws, and the desires of those who broke them, have a long history within colonial South Africa (mid-seventeenth-twentieth centuries). Furthermore, the formation of families was informed by local marriage conventions (often female exogamous and patrilocal), raiding and taking of human captives, inheritance patterns, and the construction of power through marriage alliances. In this class we will explore how individuals identified with their sexual desires (and those of others), how families were created (legitimate and otherwise), and how individuals and families performed with/against ideals set out by the government, church, and racial/class/gendered expectations. We will consider the formation of mixed-race communities such as the Griqua and follow their politicization against pressures from the Boer Republics and white mining interests. We will also investigate how historians have constructed histories of sexuality and the family in southern African using texts and oral histories.

This is a reading and research seminar with writing-intensive components. Students will be assessed on class participation (including submission of discussion questions), one book review, and an independent research project (including abstract/ bibliography, class presentation and peer-editing). In addition to the text and novel listed below, students will read primary sources and scholarly articles available through Canvas or the SFU library website. No prior knowledge of or experience with Southern African history is required, just an interest in the subject matter and willingness to learn and contribute to class.

Grading

Materials

REQUIRED READING: