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Periodical article Periodical article Leiden University catalogue Leiden University catalogue WorldCat catalogue WorldCat
Title:Mormon impressions: locating Mormon footprints on the South African religious landscape
Author:Alston, Booker T.ISNI
Year:2012
Periodical:Journal for the Study of Religion (ISSN 1011-7601)
Volume:25
Issue:1
Pages:51-79
Language:English
Geographic term:South Africa
Subjects:Christianity
religious movements
Abstract:Since 1853, when the first three official missionaries arrived at the Cape of Good Hope, Mormons have been treading along the South African religious landscape, leaving in their wake a multitude of paths and trails filled with traceable footprints. These footprints have played a critical role in the formulation of impressions about Mormons throughout this church's history in South Africa. This article presents a history of Mormons and Mormonism in South Africa which relegates it spatially and structurally to the margins of both Mormon and South African religious studies. Studying religion from the margins offers an alternative perspective from which to view the more central, core aspects of society. The article first examines writings produced in South Africa by Mormons or about Mormons during the 19th century. Next it shifts from written footprints to physical ones, such as the building of chapels and temples, and the introduction of baseball to Cape Town. The final section traces footprints that are making impressions in South Africa today, in particular the tragic tale of South African Gobo Fango in the US, a white supremacist website and the murder of a Mormon caretaker in Paarl. Bibliogr., notes, ref., sum. [Journal abstract, edited]
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