A decolonial (Re)turn to class in South African Biblical Scholarship

South African Black Theology of the 1960–1980s characterised its primary site of struggle as the racial capitalism of apartheid. Intersecting race and/as class has been a distinctively South African contribution to African biblical scholarship. Less common, but equally significant, is the intersecti...

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Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Gerald West
Format: Article
Language:Afrikaans
Published: Old Testament Society of South Africa 2021-10-01
Series:Old Testament Essays
Subjects:
Online Access:https://ote-journal.otwsa-otssa.org.za/index.php/journal/article/view/460
Description
Summary:South African Black Theology of the 1960–1980s characterised its primary site of struggle as the racial capitalism of apartheid. Intersecting race and/as class has been a distinctively South African contribution to African biblical scholarship. Less common, but equally significant, is the intersection of culture and/as class. This article analyses this trajectory, reflecting on how three South African biblical scholars (Gunther Wittenberg, Makhosazana Nzimande and Hulisani Ramantswana) have discerned the need for the African decolonial project to recognise and recover the class divisions within a culture. A recurring cultural trope across the three scholars is their use of proverbs to discern class distinctions within culture. The works of each of these three scholars and their dialogue partners in South African Contextual Theology and South African Black Theology are interrogated for how they intersect notions of class and culture. https://doi.org/10.17159/2312-3621/2020/v34n2a13
ISSN:1010-9919
2312-3621