South Africa Books

Mesthrie's book consists of over 20 articles on many topics of sociolinguistics in South Africa today, written for academics. It has some predictable chapters, including an overview of the history of languages, language interactions, and language policies in South Africa. Also, there are chapters on specific languages and groups of languages, e.g. Khoekhoe/Koisan/Bushmen languages.

In addition, it has some topics that many readers would not expect, including one on sign language(s), which argues that South Africa should be understood as having one sign language, not several (based on ethnic lines). A fascinating article, but it left me with the clear impression that this one, national sign language is still an ideologically driven hope rather than a present fact.

Chapters on women's speech were also fascinating, on in-law name avoidance (hlonipha) and the resistance of Thoga women to shifting to the Zulu language as the men have done.

Other topics include: Fanakalo pidgin, code-switching, varieties of English in Sotuh Africa, the spread of clicks, lexical borrowing, the diminishing use of German and Indian languages, etc.

The chapters on contemporary language policy and language policy in education were brief, too brief for my tastes after having read Vic Webb's similarly titled "Language in South Africa" (2002). (Webb's book is much more narrowly focused on policy issues, both books are valuable.)

Some chapters were weak, others great. The book lacks a chapter on the use of Afrikaans today.

But it is the single most comprehensive overview of language issues in South Africa today.

Webb describes the overall sociolinguistic situation in South Africa today, with some relevant historical background explained. But Webb does not content himself with merely a description of the present situation. He proposes and argues for an integrated languge policy that calls for promoting and enhancing the public image of all nine of the official South African languages. His proposal includes requiring civil servants to pass a test in at least one indigenous African language, thereby forcing both Whites and Blacks to study and (hopefully) value these languages that are generally stigmatized as less valuable and important, even by their speakers. This proposal also calls for major changes in the language policies of education in South Africa, but he admits that part of this will require major efforts to promote positive views of African languages in the minds of Black parents and teachers.

Not everybody, inside or outside of South Africa will agree with Webb, and even those who want to agree with his dream may find it unreachable. But Webb is to be applauded for a well-explained dream that is clearly intended to benefit all South Africans.

Webb's book must be distinguished from the similarly titled "Language in South Africa" edited by Rajend Mesthrie (2002 Cambridge, ISBN: 0521791057). Mesthrie's volume is a collection of articles describing the language and related social situations in different parts of South African society. The two books are complementary, if confusingly titled.

There are several books about languages of south Asia,but this is a book with detail of every important language.There is history and classification of every family of lamguage like Indo-Aryan,Dravidian languages,Austro-Asiatic languages,Tibeto-Burman languages.Author also discuss about the groups of every fanily .There are several tables of languages'families.There are several examples of old scripts of languages

Indeed it is a good book but some times i feel that author copy the informations from other book .Dived crystal is not aware about siraiki language ,he write it Lahnda and the same position is the author of this book ,although he was working on south Asian languages ,but he is not aware about latest position ,although another linguist Russian linguist Simernov khnows it and he describe the new sitution in his book Lehndi language

This book includes the basic important information on the Leaders of the Civil War(both in the north and south). This book is very helpful for research.

Anthony Marx brings a short history of the South African anti-apartheid movement in a descriptive, enriching way. Marx starts his time frame in 1960, but he does provide a brief history of the origins of the country and its harsh segregated policy of apartheid. the book deals with the evolution of domestic groups in their aims to reform the state. this is done, obviously, chronologically, stopping along the way for descriptions and analysis of the groups' activities and actions against the government. his stance holds him from giving an objective view of both sides of the historical picture in South Africa. the anti-apartheid groups discussed, such as the Black Consciousness movement, the ANC-aligned United Popular Front, and a myriad of trade unions, all are adequately described, analyzed, and reviewed, however the government's understanding of apartheid (even though it was catagorically WRONG) as well as the white minority's jaded thoughts of the non-white peoples of South Africa are not discussed for me to have seen their reasoning for holding on to the apartheid policy. nonetheless, if the reader wants to see how black movements succeeded and the an evaluation of their actions towards success, this book will be beneficial. i enjoyed his thoughts of each period in the thirty-year timeframe, and his ability to intelligently weigh the positive and negative outcomes. other respected persons (such as Tilly and Skocpol) credit Marx's ability to communicate the opposition movements development and evaluate their effectiveness.

If you believe, as I, that the United Nations is a bloated, corrupt, inept, inefficient, and arrogant organization then this book is for you. The author spent several years in Huambo, Angola working on a development project under the auspices of the United Nations Development Program (UNDP). UNDP could not account for money spent, who it went to or for what purpose. Meanwhile, the author and his staff struggled without salaries, supplies, and guidance while still making a meaningful contribution. Plus, Huambo was in the middle of a civil war. I'd give the book 5 stars, but Kukkuk really delves into the contracts, booklets, and correspondence as he struggles to save his project. It can get to be too much, but then again, he suffered through the time period. The book has an excellent account about the Angolan civil war, but the main focus of the text is the author's unbelievable struggle with UNDP. For a program designed to help the less fortunate, UNDP in Angola, at least, does nothing but worry about glossy reports, avoiding responsibility, and waiting for pay day and the chance to go on holiday paid for by the UN. A stunning indictment of the arrogance and condescending attitude shown not only to the people they are suppose to serve, but the host government as well.

A must-have if traveling through one of the most exotic parts of the world. Our family's journey took up the Matubu River in Bostwana and back across the wild plains of the Jelowi Game reserve in South Africa. There wasn't a day which went by, where my dear daughters did not consult the guide for local cultural tidbits and useful, if not a bit tiny, georgraphical maps. Other than a few dated portions, namely the prices and hostel locations, we highly recommend this book to first time travellers and returnees. Wonderful pictures, if not small again, and consice descriptions of the natural history. Once again, well done Lonely Planet!

Majuba 1881: The Hill of Destiny (Osprey Military Campaign Series, 45)by Ian Castle is a fine example of what the Ospery Campaign series can achieve. In 90 pages, using the ususal format, the author gives a compelling overview of the whys and wherefores relating to the battle. While one understands that there are things that are left out, when one finishes the book one at least knows the basics.

I would recommend this book for anyone who wants to get an overview before reading further regarding the Second Boer War (@1900)or the events that shaped South Africa. This is a positive read, is written in very readable prose, and I would recommend it.

Picking up where David Yudelman's The Emergence of Modern South Africa: State, Capital, and the Incorporation of Organized Labor on the South African Gold Fields, 1902-1939 (Contributions in Comparative Colonial Studies) this book seeks to complete the picture of the development of South Africa. However it primarily views this through a post-apartheid lens where there is a good versus evil approach where the 'indigenous' people are always suppressed by the 'evil' people from outside.

This is a narrow minded view. the idea that South Africa's history is primarily one of 'conquest' and 'Apartheid' is a mistaken view. Afrikaners lived in South Africa for two hundred years before the advent of Apartheid. The 'conquest' of South Arica was one that also involved Zulus conquering others. This book seems to ignore this diverse history, especially as it relates to the Coloured people and the Indian/Asian population of South Africa. This is unjust and an unfair telling of history, especially as it ignores the evils of the Boer War.

But this is history as it is being told.

Seth J. Frantzman

The structure and narrative of Nigel Worden's The Making of Modern South Africa: Conquest, Segregation and Apartheid is perhaps what makes this volume of the Historical Association Studies accessible not only to historians, but social historians who are looking beyond the nationalism of the African and Afrikaner to study how rural culture and townships in South Africa were affected from the colonial conquests of the 18th Century through the present. Maps of African societies in the nineteenth century; The Union of South Africa in 1910; "Native Reserves" of 1913 and 1936'; and the Bantustans, or Homelands, all provide a tangible, physical view of the changing nature of South Africa's political topography. Worden's extremely detailed Outline Chronology provides the reader with extensive information regarding South Africa from the "Pastoralist revolution" in c. 1000 BCE, through the British annexation of Natal in 1843, to the Introduction of Indian indentured laborers to Natal in 1860, which subsequently ended in 1911. Worden's Chronology illustrates how the making of apartheid was evident even before the South African "Boer" War in 1899-1902 with the Glen Grey Act of 1894 establishing separate land and tax systems for Africans on the eastern Cape.
One of Worden's arguments states that the two explanations for the changing map of South Africa after the Zulu defeated the British were 1) Britain's desire to unify the region in order to control and 2) Britain was at this point in time representative of "the wider scramble for empire, particularly in Africa, amongst European powers." Worden's answer to these theories posited by historians prior to 1970 is that it was, in fact "The discovery of valuable mineral deposits and the need to secure labor supplies to mine them made the South African interior a highly desirable region for the British to control directly." (19) Yet mining was not the only available labor force in migrant labor. Many South Africans avoided wage labor by cultivating crops for commercial production, supplying the necessary cash for taxes and good. (46) The effect was a backlash with the victory of Het Volk in the 1907 Transvaal elections by "promis[ing] to restore white rural hegemony at the expense of African producers." (48) The Natives Land Act of 1913 passed by the Union Government forbade the purchase of land by Africans outside known reserves. Conflicts and resistance by South Africans was omnipresent and pronounced, and brought in the Industrial and Commercial Worker's Union (ICU), which ultimately weakened by the late 20s.
After providing a heavy dose of the background against which Apartheid is placed, Worden proceeds to explain how racial discrimination in South Africa came to be. The process was part of European imperialism, into which ideas of the west being obligated to "civilize" natives hastened expansion, and the Darwinist idea of evolution was being applied to the human race. Unlike other nations where white supremacism was strong (like other British colonies in Africa, Asia, and the U.S.), in South Africa it was the lines on which the economic and political structure was shaped. Worden carefully examines the origins of the structured form of racial superiority, and notes that almost immediately they emerged with the Dutch East India Company Officials maintaining the hierarchy. (66) Apartheid eventually emerged as a facet of Afrikaner nationalism. Apartheid became a means of excluding Africans from political power, and in the 1950s, while experiencing its "heyday," it also met substantial protest. The protests declined in the 1960s, but gained momentum in the 70s and 80s. Worden concludes that it was the variety of civil wars in South Africa, with the population alienated from the state and sanctions effectively slowing the economy, which seriously began to force apartheid into decline. But his book is disturbingly written as though unfinished, possibly partially because Nigel Worden himself does not see apartheid, as we know it today to be finished.