Description

The Farmerfield Mission explores the history of a residential Christian community in South Africa established for Africans in 1838 by Methodist missionaries, destroyed in 1962 by the apartheid government when it was zoned as an exclusive area for white occupation, and returned to the descendants of the community under South Africa's land reform program in 1999. As a farm, a residential site, a Christian community on a violent frontier, and a ''black spot'' in a white area during the apartheid era, the history of the Farmerfield mission links the broad narratives of colonialism and Christian evangelism with the case study of a particular African Christian community. The genesis and evolution of Farmerfield over its 124-year history provide a distinct lens through which to view broader nineteenth and twentieth century debates about the African vernacularization of Christianity and assimilation of European cultural norms.

Features

• This is the first history of Farmerfield--one of the Methodists' longest running missions in South Africa.
• The book uses oral histories with descendants and former residents of Farmerfield to revisit South Africa's notorious forced removals policies and follows up with residents about their experience of South Africa's land restitution and reform efforts.

Product Details

416 pages; 6-1/8 x 9-1/4; ISBN13: 978-0-19-984340-4ISBN10: 0-19-984340-6

About the Author(s)