Griqua Past and the Limits of South African History, 1902-1994

Edward Cavanagh has studied various aspects of the history of settler colonialism in Australia, Canada and South Africa. He is the co-founder of the journal settler colonial studies and he has published work in several other journals. His postgraduate career has brought him to Johannesburg, where he currently shares the NRF Chair in Local Histories, Present Realities with a number of students and post-doctoral researchers at the University of the Witwatersrand.

• Contents: Outline of Griqua History, and introduction to South African historiography – Historical writing placed in context, 1902-1961 – 1961 as turning point – Eric M. S. Le Fleur; the writing of a Griqua Historian – Historical writing placed in context, 1961-1994 – Comparing and contextualising the Griqua – The Griqua in History after 1994: A Bibliographical Note.

«The author has presented a nuanced and well-written analysis of the changing image of the Griqua in South African historiography against the background of the many shifts and turns in the country’s eventful history. [...] The value of this book lies [...] in its succinct and focused analysis of a complex field of study, which should also provide important insights for international scholars who work in a comparative or transnational context on colonial history and academic discourses on race.» (Tilman Dedering, Postcolonial Studies 16, 2013/3)