War, Racism, and the Taking of Heads
Revisiting Military Conflict in the Cape Colony and Western Xhosaland in the Nineteenth Century
Bibliographic Data
| ID | 8978596 |
|---|---|
| Authors | Derek A Webb (0000-0002-6388-2034, University of Fort Hare, corresponding author), Denver A Webb |
| Year | 2015 |
| Volume | 56 |
| Issue | 1 |
| Pages | 37-55 |
| Publication date | 2015-01-30 |
| Peer Reviewed | Yes |
| Open Access | Yes |
| Type | ARTICLE |
| Venue | The Journal of African History (JOURNAL) |
| Journal identifiers | ISSN: 0021-8537 • E-ISSN: 1469-5138 |
| Publisher | Cambridge University Press (CUP) (PUBLISHER) |
| DOI | 10.1017/s0021853714000693 |
| OpenAlex | W2047169712 |
| Language | EN |
| Citations received | 4 |
| References cited | 32 |
The emergence of scientific racism and the taking of heads and skulls in the nineteenth-century colonial wars in Southern Africa have received limited attention from historians. Closer examination of head-taking in colonial wars fought in the western parts of Xhosaland and the Cape Colony suggests that the rise of scientific racism alone does not explain the complex interplay between military discourse on Africans, atrocities committed, and commonplace racial attitudes. A detailed examination of the incidents of head-taking in the colonial conflicts against the Xhosa indicates the practice evolved over time, had several causes, and became an increasingly common part of the construction and re-enforcement of a racial identity and culture of domination by British and colonial soldiers. It also suggests that for the Xhosa, the taking of heads was a behaviour acquired from the British
Aesthetics · Archaeology · Art · Cape · Colonialism · Criminology · Ethnology · Identity (music · Racism · Sociology · Xhosa · African history and culture studies · Anthropology · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · South African History and Culture
The house of Phalo
Scientific racism in modern South Africa
The Shaping of South African society, 1652-1840
Colonial South Africa And The Origins Of The Racial Order
Campaigning in Kaffirland, or, Scenes and Adventures in the Kaffir War of 1851–2
Economy and society in pre-industrial South Africa
The races of men
The Image of Africa
The Ama-Xosa
The Dead Will Arise
The making of the colonial order
The Transkeian Rebellion of 1880–81
The Return of the Noble Savage
A Proper Degree of Terror
Nicholas Gcaleka and the Search for Hintsa's Skull
The traffic in heads
Of 'native skulls' and 'noble caucasians
Maqoma
The Kaffir Wars 1779-1877
On the shaping of South African society
The Journal of Charles Lennox Stretch
Of Revelation and Revolution, Volume 1
Morbid Curiosities
Skull trophies of the Pacific War
Skulls and Scientific Collecting in the Victorian Military
| Unique citing works | 4 |
|---|---|
| Citations per year | 0,5 |
| Citation span | 2018 - 2025 (8) |
| Citation velocity | recent |
| Highly cited | No |
| Citation types | Neutral: 4 |