Vukile Khumalo

The paper looks at how a coterie of writers used the technology of writing to redefine the cultural and political landscape in late nineteenth century Southern Africa. Most of these writers relied on the epistolary moment as a social system, that is, the constitution of networks of correspondence, circles and spheres to influence each others ideas. I suggest that through the creation of networks of communication, a new public forum in the political life of what was to become a Union of South Africa emerged. In sum, the emergence of this forum reconfigured these writers relationship to contemporary cultural structures.

∗ This is a literal translation of the Isizulu saying: “ukotha ibandla.”