An Analysis of the Contributions of Black Academics to Epistemology and Decolonisation in Higher Education in South Africa, 1940s-1990s
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Abstract
This paper looked at the contributions of black academics in the humanities and social sciences and uses their autobiographies as an analytical tool to help us understand their contribution to epistemology in the African higher education space. It also looks at debates on decolonisation and how their work has shaped these debates. Autobiography is one lens of doing critical analysis and understanding the progression of a scholar. This paper analyses different scholars in different generations and hopes to contribute to the search for genealogies of intergenerational Black South African scholars whose work has been forgotten and marginalised in the academic project in the humanities and social sciences curriculum in South Africa and beyond. Using autobiography as a critical method, the paper shows how black scholars from different generations navigated institutions of higher learning to achieve excellent results and produce knowledge that challenged racialised inferiority and white supremacy. The findings suggest that there is a body of work by black scholars and shows that where support is given, black scholars can shape discourse and take leadership positions in the academy.
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References
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Chisholmy, L. 2017. Between Worlds: German missionaries and the transition from mission to Bantu Education in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University. https://doi.org/10.18772/12017111746
Biko, H. 2021. Black Consciousness: A Love Story. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers.
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Davis, A. 2013. Angela Davis: An Autobiography. New York: International Publishers and Co.
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Du Bois, WEB. 2014. The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: Oxford University Press.
Franklin, J. 2005. Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Fuze, M. 1979. The Black People and Whence They Came. University of Natal Press: Pietermaritzburg.
Jacobs, N & Bank, A. 2019. Biography in post-apartheid South Africa: A call for awkwardness, African Studies, 78:2, 165-182, https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2019.1569428
Jansen JD 2003. Guest editorial. On the state of South African universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 17(3):9-12. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v17i3.25399
Keto. C. 2001. Vision and Time: Historical Perspective of an Africa-Centered Paradigm. Lanham: University Press of America.
Khunou, G, Phaswana, E, Khoza-Shangase, K and Canham, H (Eds). 2019. Black Academic Voices: The South African Experience. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
Khuzwayo, E. 2018. Call Me Woman. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Larkin, C. (2021). The University College of the North, student politics and the National Union of South African Students, 1960-1968. Southern Journal for Contemporary History, 46(1), 3-28. https://doi.org/10.18820/24150509/SJCH46.v1.2
Lekgoathi, S. 2009. ‘Colonial’ Experts, Local Interlocutors, Informants And The Making Of An Archive On The ‘Transvaal Ndebele’, 1930–1989. The Journal of African History. 50. 61 - 80. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853708003976
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Mabokela, R and Magubane, Z (Eds). 2004. Hear Our Voices: Race, Gender and Black South African Women in the Academy. Pretoria: UNISA Press. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004492479
Mabokela, R. 2007. Soaring Beyond Boundaries : Women Breaking Educational Barriers in Traditional Societies. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087901684
Mabokela, R. 2016. Voices of Conflict: Desegregating South African Universities. London: Routledge.
Magubane, B. 1971. A Critical Look at Indices Used in the Study of Social Change in Colonial Africa. Current Anthropology, 12(4/5), 419–445. https://doi.org/10.1086/201229
Magubane, B. 2010. My Life and Times. Pietermaritzburg: University of Kwa Zulu Natal Press.
Makgoba MW. 1997. Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair: A Reflection on Transformation.Johannesburg: Vivlia Publishers.
Manganyi, NC. 2016. Apartheid and the Making of a Black Psychologist: A memoir. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/12016058622
Masilela, N. 2014. An Outline of the New African Movement in South Africa. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Matebeni, Z. 2014. Why are there so few black professors in South Africa? The Guardian Newspaper. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/south-africa-race-black-professors
Matthews, ZK with Monica Wilson. 1983. Freedom for My People the Autobiography of Z. K. Matthews: Southern Africa 1901 To 1968. Cape Town: David Phillip.
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Modisane, B. 1990. Blame me on History. New York: Touchstone Books.
Mofolo, T. 1981. Chaka. London: Heinemann Publishers.
Mokgatle, N. 1971.The Autobiography of an Unknown South African. Berkeley: University of Carlifonia Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520316157
Mokhele, M. 2013. Reflections of Black Women Academics at South African Universities: A Narrative Case Study. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. Vol 4 No 3, 611-620. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p611
Molema, S. 2009. The Bantu, Past and Present: An Ethnographical & Historical Study of the Native Races of South Africa (1920). New York: Cornell University Press.
More, P. 2018. Looking Through Philosophy in Black: Memoirs. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Mpahlele, E. 1972. Voices in the Whirlwind and Other Essays. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-81570-8
Mphahlele, E. 1963. “On Negritude in Literature”. BlackPast.org. URL: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/speeches-global-african-history/1963-eskia-ezekiel-mphahlele-negritude-literature/
Mphahlele, E. 1984. Afrika my Music: An Autobiography 1957–1983. Cape Town: Kwela Books.
Mphahlele, E. 1985. Down Second Avenue. London: Farber and Farber.
Ndletyana, M. 2008. African Intellectuals in 19th and Early 20th Century: South Africa. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
Nkomo, M. (Ed.). Pedagogy of domination: Toward a democratic education in South Africa. Trenton: Africa World Press
Noble, V. 2013. A School of Struggle: Durban’s Medical School and the Education of Black Doctors in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: UKZN Press.
Nqulunga, B. 2017. The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme. Johannesburg: Penguin Random House South Africa.
Ntantala, P. 1992. A Life’s Mosaic: The Autobiography of Phyllis Ntantala. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ntsebeza, L. 2014. The Mafeje and the UCT saga: unfinished business? Social Dynamics, 40(2), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2014.946254
Ntshangase, D. 1995. Between the lion and the devil: The life and works of B.W. Vilakazi, 1906-1947. Seminar Paper presented to the Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of Witwatersrand. URL: https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/9603
Nyoka, B. (2019) Bernard Magubane’s critique of anthropology in southern Africa: an introductory essay, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 37:2-3, 169-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2019.1662892
Plaatjie, S. 2007. Native Life in South Africa. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Radebe, Y. 2009. The meaning of academic freedom in the former “open universities,” in post apartheid South Africa. Unpublished Masters Research Report: Wits University.
Ramoupi, NLL. 2017. Why are there so few black professors? Mail and Guardian Newspaper. URL: https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-15-00-why-are-there-so-few-black-professors/
Ramphele, M. 2014. A Passion for Freedom: My Life. London: IB Tauris.
SALA. 2022. SM Mofokeng. URL: https://sala.org.za/sm-mofokeng/
Sithole, J. 2009. Contestations over knowledge production or ideological bullying?: a response to Legassick on the workers’ movement. Kronos, 35(1), 222-241.
Sosibo, K. 2015. No Country for Brilliant Thinkers. Mail and Guardian. URL: https://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-15-no-country-for-brilliant-thinkers/
Thiongo, N. 1968. On the Abolition of the English Department. In Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Postcolonial Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Tiro, G. 2019. Parcel of Death: The Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Webster, A. 2021. South African Social Science and the Azanian Philosophical Tradition. Theoria 68 (168):111-135. https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2021.6816806
West, C. 2010. Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir. New York: Smiley Books.
White, C. 1997. From despair to hope: The Turfloop Experience. Sovenga: UNIN Press.
Wotshela, L. 2018. Fort Hare: from Garrison to Bastion of Learning 1916-2016. Johannesburg: KMM Review Publishing.
Aurell, J & Davis, R. 2019. History and Autobiography: The Logics of a Convergence, Life Writing, 16:4, 503-511, https://doi.org/10.1080/14484528.2019.1648198
Chisholmy, L. 2017. Between Worlds: German missionaries and the transition from mission to Bantu Education in South Africa. Johannesburg: Wits University. https://doi.org/10.18772/12017111746
Biko, H. 2021. Black Consciousness: A Love Story. Cape Town: Jonathan Ball Publishers.
Biko, S. 1987. I Write what I Like. London: Heinemann.
Davis, A. 2013. Angela Davis: An Autobiography. New York: International Publishers and Co.
Du Bois, WEB. 1903. The Souls of Black Folk. Chicago: A.C. McLurg and Co.
Du Bois, WEB. 2014. The Autobiography of W. E. B. Du Bois: A Soliloquy on Viewing My Life from the Last Decade of Its First Century. New York: Oxford University Press.
Franklin, J. 2005. Mirror to America: The Autobiography of John Hope Franklin. New York: Farrar, Straus and Giroux.
Fuze, M. 1979. The Black People and Whence They Came. University of Natal Press: Pietermaritzburg.
Jacobs, N & Bank, A. 2019. Biography in post-apartheid South Africa: A call for awkwardness, African Studies, 78:2, 165-182, https://doi.org/10.1080/00020184.2019.1569428
Jansen JD 2003. Guest editorial. On the state of South African universities. South African Journal of Higher Education, 17(3):9-12. https://doi.org/10.4314/sajhe.v17i3.25399
Keto. C. 2001. Vision and Time: Historical Perspective of an Africa-Centered Paradigm. Lanham: University Press of America.
Khunou, G, Phaswana, E, Khoza-Shangase, K and Canham, H (Eds). 2019. Black Academic Voices: The South African Experience. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
Khuzwayo, E. 2018. Call Me Woman. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Larkin, C. (2021). The University College of the North, student politics and the National Union of South African Students, 1960-1968. Southern Journal for Contemporary History, 46(1), 3-28. https://doi.org/10.18820/24150509/SJCH46.v1.2
Lekgoathi, S. 2009. ‘Colonial’ Experts, Local Interlocutors, Informants And The Making Of An Archive On The ‘Transvaal Ndebele’, 1930–1989. The Journal of African History. 50. 61 - 80. https://doi.org/10.1017/S0021853708003976
Lissoni, A and Ally, S (Eds). 2019. New Histories of South Africa’s Apartheid-Era Bantustans. London: Routledge.
Mabokela, R and Magubane, Z (Eds). 2004. Hear Our Voices: Race, Gender and Black South African Women in the Academy. Pretoria: UNISA Press. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789004492479
Mabokela, R. 2007. Soaring Beyond Boundaries : Women Breaking Educational Barriers in Traditional Societies. Rotterdam: Sense Publishers. https://doi.org/10.1163/9789087901684
Mabokela, R. 2016. Voices of Conflict: Desegregating South African Universities. London: Routledge.
Magubane, B. 1971. A Critical Look at Indices Used in the Study of Social Change in Colonial Africa. Current Anthropology, 12(4/5), 419–445. https://doi.org/10.1086/201229
Magubane, B. 2010. My Life and Times. Pietermaritzburg: University of Kwa Zulu Natal Press.
Makgoba MW. 1997. Mokoko: The Makgoba Affair: A Reflection on Transformation.Johannesburg: Vivlia Publishers.
Manganyi, NC. 2016. Apartheid and the Making of a Black Psychologist: A memoir. Johannesburg: Wits University Press. https://doi.org/10.18772/12016058622
Masilela, N. 2014. An Outline of the New African Movement in South Africa. Trenton: Africa World Press.
Matebeni, Z. 2014. Why are there so few black professors in South Africa? The Guardian Newspaper. URL: https://www.theguardian.com/world/2014/oct/06/south-africa-race-black-professors
Matthews, ZK with Monica Wilson. 1983. Freedom for My People the Autobiography of Z. K. Matthews: Southern Africa 1901 To 1968. Cape Town: David Phillip.
Mkhize, N. 2021. John L Dube Lecture 2020 – Professor Nomalanga Mkhize. Critical Investigations into Humanitarianism in Africa. URL: http://www.cihablog.com/john-l-dube-lecture-2020-prof-nomalanga-mkhize/
Modisane, B. 1990. Blame me on History. New York: Touchstone Books.
Mofolo, T. 1981. Chaka. London: Heinemann Publishers.
Mokgatle, N. 1971.The Autobiography of an Unknown South African. Berkeley: University of Carlifonia Press. https://doi.org/10.1525/9780520316157
Mokhele, M. 2013. Reflections of Black Women Academics at South African Universities: A Narrative Case Study. Mediterranean Journal of Social Sciences. Vol 4 No 3, 611-620. https://doi.org/10.5901/mjss.2013.v4n3p611
Molema, S. 2009. The Bantu, Past and Present: An Ethnographical & Historical Study of the Native Races of South Africa (1920). New York: Cornell University Press.
More, P. 2018. Looking Through Philosophy in Black: Memoirs. New York: Rowman and Littlefield.
Mpahlele, E. 1972. Voices in the Whirlwind and Other Essays. London: Palgrave Macmillan. https://doi.org/10.1007/978-1-349-81570-8
Mphahlele, E. 1963. “On Negritude in Literature”. BlackPast.org. URL: https://www.blackpast.org/global-african-history/speeches-global-african-history/1963-eskia-ezekiel-mphahlele-negritude-literature/
Mphahlele, E. 1984. Afrika my Music: An Autobiography 1957–1983. Cape Town: Kwela Books.
Mphahlele, E. 1985. Down Second Avenue. London: Farber and Farber.
Ndletyana, M. 2008. African Intellectuals in 19th and Early 20th Century: South Africa. Pretoria: HSRC Press.
Nkomo, M. (Ed.). Pedagogy of domination: Toward a democratic education in South Africa. Trenton: Africa World Press
Noble, V. 2013. A School of Struggle: Durban’s Medical School and the Education of Black Doctors in South Africa. Pietermaritzburg: UKZN Press.
Nqulunga, B. 2017. The Man Who Founded the ANC: A Biography of Pixley ka Isaka Seme. Johannesburg: Penguin Random House South Africa.
Ntantala, P. 1992. A Life’s Mosaic: The Autobiography of Phyllis Ntantala. Berkeley: University of California Press.
Ntsebeza, L. 2014. The Mafeje and the UCT saga: unfinished business? Social Dynamics, 40(2), 274–288. https://doi.org/10.1080/02533952.2014.946254
Ntshangase, D. 1995. Between the lion and the devil: The life and works of B.W. Vilakazi, 1906-1947. Seminar Paper presented to the Institute for Advanced Social Research, University of Witwatersrand. URL: https://wiredspace.wits.ac.za/handle/10539/9603
Nyoka, B. (2019) Bernard Magubane’s critique of anthropology in southern Africa: an introductory essay, Journal of Contemporary African Studies, 37:2-3, 169-190. https://doi.org/10.1080/02589001.2019.1662892
Plaatjie, S. 2007. Native Life in South Africa. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Radebe, Y. 2009. The meaning of academic freedom in the former “open universities,” in post apartheid South Africa. Unpublished Masters Research Report: Wits University.
Ramoupi, NLL. 2017. Why are there so few black professors? Mail and Guardian Newspaper. URL: https://mg.co.za/article/2017-06-15-00-why-are-there-so-few-black-professors/
Ramphele, M. 2014. A Passion for Freedom: My Life. London: IB Tauris.
SALA. 2022. SM Mofokeng. URL: https://sala.org.za/sm-mofokeng/
Sithole, J. 2009. Contestations over knowledge production or ideological bullying?: a response to Legassick on the workers’ movement. Kronos, 35(1), 222-241.
Sosibo, K. 2015. No Country for Brilliant Thinkers. Mail and Guardian. URL: https://mg.co.za/article/2015-01-15-no-country-for-brilliant-thinkers/
Thiongo, N. 1968. On the Abolition of the English Department. In Bill Ashcroft, Gareth Griffiths and Helen Tiffin. The Postcolonial Studies Reader. New York: Routledge.
Tiro, G. 2019. Parcel of Death: The Biography of Onkgopotse Abram Tiro. Johannesburg: Picador Africa.
Webster, A. 2021. South African Social Science and the Azanian Philosophical Tradition. Theoria 68 (168):111-135. https://doi.org/10.3167/th.2021.6816806
West, C. 2010. Brother West: Living and Loving Out Loud, A Memoir. New York: Smiley Books.
White, C. 1997. From despair to hope: The Turfloop Experience. Sovenga: UNIN Press.
Wotshela, L. 2018. Fort Hare: from Garrison to Bastion of Learning 1916-2016. Johannesburg: KMM Review Publishing.
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An Analysis of the Contributions of Black Academics to Epistemology and Decolonisation in Higher Education in South Africa, 1940s-1990s. (2023). Pan-African Conversations, 1(1), 100-121. https://doi.org/10.36615/pac.v1i1.2550
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An Analysis of the Contributions of Black Academics to Epistemology and Decolonisation in Higher Education in South Africa, 1940s-1990s. (2023). Pan-African Conversations, 1(1), 100-121. https://doi.org/10.36615/pac.v1i1.2550