Colonialism and consent : rape in South Africa's Eastern Cape, 1847-1902
Abstract/Contents
- Abstract
- The 19th century Eastern Cape has long been recognized as one of the most violent eras of South African history, the result of a series of bloody frontier wars between the area's Xhosa-speaking inhabitants and British colonial forces. Colonization created political instability in which violence thrived; it also brought new systems for regulating that violence. This dissertation examines the effect of British colonization on African understandings of sexual violence in the Eastern Cape from 1848, when the colonial government began to exert administrative control over the area, through its incorporation into the Union of South Africa in 1902. During this period, the complex interactions between colonial culture and Xhosa sexual morality contributed to a rhetorical instability in Xhosa discussions of sexual consent. The spread of missionary Christianity, creation of a colonial legal system in the Eastern Cape, and the rise of a migrant labor economy all challenged the claims that men made to control the sexuality of their wives and daughters and placed new emphasis on the role of female consent in sexual relationships. The importance of consent, however, also made it more difficult for women to gain recompense from men who sexually assaulted them. Despite the proliferation of venues for prosecuting sexual assault, women in the Eastern Cape entered the twentieth century with substantially diminished protection from sexual violence.
Description
| Type of resource | text |
|---|---|
| Form | electronic; electronic resource; remote |
| Extent | 1 online resource. |
| Publication date | 2011 |
| Issuance | monographic |
| Language | English |
Creators/Contributors
| Associated with | Thornberry, Elizabeth Anne |
|---|---|
| Associated with | Stanford University, Department of History. |
| Primary advisor | Roberts, Richard, active 1899 |
| Thesis advisor | Roberts, Richard, active 1899 |
| Thesis advisor | Freedman, Estelle B, 1947- |
| Thesis advisor | Hanretta, Sean, 1972- |
| Advisor | Freedman, Estelle B, 1947- |
| Advisor | Hanretta, Sean, 1972- |
Subjects
| Genre | Theses |
|---|
Bibliographic information
| Statement of responsibility | Elizabeth Anne Thornberry. |
|---|---|
| Note | Submitted to the Department of History. |
| Thesis | Ph.D. Stanford University 2011 |
| Location | electronic resource |
Access conditions
- Copyright
- © 2011 by Elizabeth Anne Thornberry
Also listed in
Loading usage metrics...