Capturing the Soul: The Vhavenda and the Missionaries, 1870-1900

Published by Protea Boekhuis, 2005, softcover, index, illustrated,  318 pages, condition: new.

In Capturing  the  Soul.  The  Vhavenda  and  the  missionaries,  1870-1900, Kirkaldy  brings  together  much  of  his  work  on  the  activities  of  the  missionaries of the Berlin Missionary Society among the Vhavenda.  This book, drawing from his doctoral thesis, is largely a critical reading of the Berlin  Mission  records.    Instead  of  a  chronological  approach,  Kirkaldy  has used these records to investigate a number of themes.  These themes pick   up   various   post-colonial   concerns   such   as   landscape,   visual   representation, the body and relationships of power, and culminate in the case study of the Mphaphuli rulers. The title is apt, in particular the second half, The Vhavenda and the missionaries, as this is not so much a history of a missionary society as it is  an  examination  of  the  interaction  between  the  Berlin  missionaries  and  the  Vhavenda.    Kirkaldy's  book  is  a  contribution  to  the  study  of  Venda  history and throughout one is aware of his familiarity with this field.  For a  book  that  would  essentially  fall  into  the  category  of  missionary  historiography,  it  is  noteworthy  that  Kirkaldy  has  succeeded  in  making  the  voices  of  both  the  missionaries  and  the  Vhavenda  heard.    This  is  reinforced by the fact that the book starts with African converts and ends with an African ruler.