A NAMA ‘EXODUS’? A POSTCOLONIAL READING OF THE DIARIES OF HENDRIK WITBOOI

Abstract

This contribution attempts to interpret the personal diaries and papers of Hendrik Witbooi, an icon of the struggle for liberation in Namibia, in view of postcolonial criticism. It is argued that Witbooi's diaries and papers indicate how he responded to colonial discursive practices by means of assimilation and resistance. Special attention is given to the possibility that an 'exodus theme' was employed as a rhetorical strategy to mobilize the Witboois to relocate to new territory and eventually used to resist colonialism by inciting an uprising against the German authorities. The question will also be posed what type of Bible interpretation Captain Witbooi employed to come to such an understanding of the exodus theme in his diaries within the nineteenth century theological context of providentialism. The article forms part of a research project on "The negotiation of identity and narratives concerning origin and migration in Africa." doi: 10.7833/108-1-6