The Mfecane Macro-Narrative: An Exploration of Sovereignty and Time in Southern African Literature

The project builds on two assumptions. One is that the problem of sovereignty in the postcolonial world can be engaged and explored with precision through literary fiction. The other is that in southern Africa, the long historical tail of the 19th-century upheavals known as the Mfecane has generated a wide range of literary responses in the region of South Africa, Mozambique and Zimbabwe. Through comparative readings of this corpus, the intention is to discern transnational patterns and contrasts - across different periods - in how writers have dealt with sovereignty and power in this historical context. This can be seen as a contribution to the decolonisation of the region's historiography.