Founded In    1999
Published   quarterly
Language(s)   English
     

Fields of Interest

 

Humanities and Social Sciences

     
ISSN   1543-1304
     
Publisher   Routledge (Taylor and Francis)
     
Editorial Board

FOUNDING EDITOR
  Andrew Offenburger, Yale University

EDITORS
  Rita Barnard, University of Pennsylvania
  Christopher Saunders, University of Cape Town

REVIEW EDITOR
  Andrew Van der Vlies, University of Sheffield

EDITORIAL BOARD
  Azeem Badroodien, University of Nottingham
  Surendra Bhana, University of Kansas
  Derek Catsam, University of Texas of the Permian Basin
  Greg Cuthbertson, University of South Africa
  Leigh Anne Duck, University of Memphis
  Norman Etherington, University of Western Australia
  George M. Fredrickson, Stanford University
  Christopher J. Lee, University of North Carolina, Chapel Hill
  Alex Lichtenstein, Florida International University
  Peter Limb, Michigan State University
  Sabine Marschall, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  Lesley Marx, University of Cape Town
  Pearl McHaney, Georgia State University
  David Chioni Moore, Macalester College
  Peter Rachleff, Macalester College
  Renée Schatteman, Georgia State University
  Robert C.-H. Shell, University of the Western Cape
  Sandy Shell, University of Cape Town
  Keyan Tomaselli, University of KwaZulu-Natal
  Luvuyo Wotshela, University of Fort Hare

Submission Guidelines and Editorial Policies
     
Mailing Address
     

Safundi Publications
P.O. Box 206788
New Haven, CT 06520
(203) 548-9155 / Phone
(203) 548-9177 / Fax
info@safundi.com

Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies

ALTTEXT

Safundi -- "S" represents "South Africa," "a" stands for "America," and "fundi" comes from the Xhosa verb, "-funda," which translates as "to read/learn."

Safundi is an online community of scholars, professionals, and others interested in comparing and contrasting the United States of America with the Republic of South Africa.

Our journal, Safundi: The Journal of South African and American Studies, is the centerpiece of our online community. We believe that analyzing the two countries in a comparative and transnational context enhances our perspective on each, individually. While new comparative research is the focus of the journal, we also publish articles specifically addressing one country, provided the articles are of interest to the comparative scholar. Furthermore, our subject matter is as permeable as any country's border: we will consider research addressing other colonial and postcolonial states in Southern Africa and North America.

Articles that Safundi publishes are academic in nature. Research papers are reviewed as they are submitted. Scholarly essays are welcomed. Any topic may be addressed. We hope to provide our readers with a diverse and insightful collection of articles in each issue.

We publish on a quarterly basis. Our journal is peer-reviewed. Submissions are vetted by the editors-in-chief and the editorial board before they are accepted for publication.

The views expressed in the articles are those of the authors and not of the editors or of Safundi itself.

 

» Visit Journal Web Site

October 2005, Issue 20

"The History of the Cape is Already Written in that of America": The Colonization of America in South Africa's Discourse of Empire, 1820s-1850s


This paper examines the influence that historical discussions about conquest and Indian/white relations in America played in the discourse about colonial expansion in the South African Cape during the 1830s, 1840s, and 1850s. It examines how the so-called “liberal humanitarians” in the Cape, like the editor of the South African Commercial Advertiser, John Fairbairn, and the missionary John Philip, used the history of colonization of Native Americans to condemn efforts at territorial expansion in South Africa. However, their political opponents, like the editor of the Graham’s Town Journal, Robert Godlonton, also examined America’s history of conquest to justify and defend their pro-expansionist agenda. This paper examines the different motivations, strategies, and goals that led different interest groups to articulate such dissimilar versions of American history.

Resistance, Memory, and Hope: The Photographic Art of Peter Magubane


From October 7, 2004 through May 28, 2005, thousands of Southern California residents and visitors viewed a large-scale exhibition at the California African-American Museum in Los Angeles that simultaneously afforded a rare opportunity to explore recent South African history, to reflect on the power of documentary photography, and to discover and celebrate the life of acclaimed South African photojournalist and artist Peter Magubane. Entitled “Deconstructing Apartheid: The Photography of Peter Magubane,” the exhibition showcased eighty-four photographs and artifacts documenting the egregious practices of apartheid and the stirring resistance that eventually led to a nonracial democracy in 1994. The first comprehensive display of Magubane’s iconic works in the United States, the exhibition received outstanding reviews and attracted civic leaders, teachers, students from all educational levels, and the general public to the Museum, one of the premier African-American cultural institutions in the nation. Several events augmented the educational objectives of the exhibition itself. At the opening, Peter Magubane spoke about his life and works to a large audience. Throughout the eight months of the show, South African dancers, poets, and others added additional artistic dimensions that appealed especially to young visitors, including children from many area public schools. Shortly before the exhibition closed, an academic symposium with the curator and local African scholars reviewed the current prospects for South African democracy and indicated the political, economic, social, and healthcare challenges that its residents face in the early years of the new century. Written in conjunction with the exhibition, the present essay likewise invites audiences to deepen their curiosity about South African history, politics, and culture. Seeking to locate Magubane within the longer tradition of documentary photography, it provides an overview of his decades of brilliant work in the context of the turbulent history of his native land.

Struggling for Freedom: The Divestment Movement at the University of Illinois at Urbana-Champaign, 1977-1987


The author explores the divestment activism at UIUC between the years 1977 and 1987, and in the process highlights the central arguments and themes that arose as the movement developed. In particular the author stresses issues that became salient during the movement’s existence: the proper role of a university in society, the moral grounds for divestment, issues of democracy within the university, and racism on campus. In highlighting the intense debate and activity that took place at UIUC, this study remembers a forgotten historical development in the history of the university, and, by providing a micro-study of one particular grass-roots group and its achievements, plays a small part in countering the “great man” historical approach that threatens to skew the historical record by ignoring the significant impact of grassroots organizations in the U.S. anti-apartheid movement

Culture without Borders: A Dialogue with Robert J.C. Young


On behalf of Safundi, Antony Adolf spoke with Robert J.C. Young during the twenty-ninth summer session of the School of Criticism and Theory (SCT) at Cornell University from June 19 to July 29, 2005.

Other Issues

April 2007, Volume 8, Number 2
January 2007, Volume 8, Number 1
Deterritorializing American Culture, 23
Safundi Issue 22, Issue 22
George Fredrickson's White Supremacy , Issue 21
July 2005, Issue 19
April 2005, Issue 18
January 2005, Issue 17
October 2004, Issue 16
July 2004, Issue 15
April 2004, Issue 13-14
October 2003, Issue 12
July 2003, Issue 11
April 2003, Issue 10
May 2002, Issue 09
February 2002, Issue 08
November 2001, Issue 07
July 2001, Issue 06
April 2001, Issue 05
January 2001, Issue 04
October 2000, Issue 03
July 2000, Issue 02