Secular savages, religious natives: inventions of religion in colonial southern Africa

In this chapter the author goes back through the historical relations between imperial center and colonized periphery in order to replace everyone involved in the production of these categories back in the same time zone. The focus on the category "religion" will be situated primarily in the context of colonial dreams and colonial adventures in southern Africa. Christian Missionaries and adventure novelists and a host of other, were all involved in the process of producing knowledge about religion for a secular science of religion.

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Publication Details

Journal
Human Science Research Council SA
Published
2026-07-01
DOI
https://doi.org/10.14749/32866283
Primary Topic
South African History and Culture
Type
article
Field-Weighted Citation Impact
0.00
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article

Secular savages, religious natives: inventions of religion in colonial southern Africa

Human Sciences Research Council
Human Science Research Council SA
South African History and Culture
article

Secular savages, religious natives: inventions of religion in colonial southern Africa

Human Sciences Research Council
article en

Abstract

In this chapter the author goes back through the historical relations between imperial center and colonized periphery in order to replace everyone involved in the production of these categories back in the same time zone. The focus on the category "religion" will be situated primarily in the context of colonial dreams and colonial adventures in southern Africa. Christian Missionaries and adventure novelists and a host of other, were all involved in the process of producing knowledge about religion for a secular science of religion.

Human Science Research Council SA
Openalex Percentile: Top 4%
South African History and Culture
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Secular savages, religious natives: inventions of religion in colonial southern Africa — Human Sciences Research Council · Human Science Research Council SA (2026) | TGRS Research Map | TGRS