The Social System of the Zulus (Eileen Jensen Krige)

Eileen Jensen Krige, The Social System of the Zulus. Pietermaritzburg: Shuter & Shooter, 1965. (first published in 1936)

Hard cover, dustwrapper, cloth, 420 pages, plates, map.

Minor wear to the dustwrapper, light foxing on the edges of the text-block. Very good condition.

Social System of the Zulus, first published in 1936, has become one of the standard books on the Bantu and remains the only complete and systematic account of the life and customs of the most romantic and best-known South African tribe.

The book presents Zulu culture and society largely as it was before the impact of western civilization. The author, a well-known South African anthropologist, has collected and systematised the scattered material contained in travellers accounts, missionary reports, periodicals of all sorts, and by further independent enquiry has completed the picture and filled in the numerous gaps.

A much wider area of tribal life and custom than the title would indicate is covered in the book. After an historical introduction showing the genesis of the Zulu nation, the fundamental bases of Zulu societythe kinship system and the village organisationare dealt with. Then followed chapters on the moulding of the individual and the main stages in his life, namely the ceremonies and customs associated with birth, childhood, transition to adulthood, marriage and death. From the significance of these rites the book proceeds to an account of the economic systemconceptions of property, the cycle of agricultural activities, the place of cattle in the life of the people, industry and trade. This leads to an examination of the political organisation, the role and functions of the king, law and justice and the military system, aspects of Zulu society that are intimately connected with the glamour that surrounds the Zulu people and that throw light upon the Napoleonic career of Shaka and his influence in welding together the native people of Natal.