Education in Africa 
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| Title: | 'Because it's Our Culture!': Renegotiating the Meaning of Lobola in Southern African Secondary Schools |
| Author: | Ansell, Nicola |
| Year: | 2001 |
| Periodical: | Journal of Southern African Studies |
| Volume: | 27 |
| Issue: | 4 |
| Period: | December |
| Pages: | 697-716 |
| Language: | English |
| Geographic terms: | Lesotho Zimbabwe |
| Subjects: | pupils bridewealth Peoples of Africa (Ethnic Groups) Women's Issues Education and Oral Traditions |
| External link: | https://www.jstor.org/stable/823409 |
| Abstract: | Payment of bridewealth or lobola is a significant element of marriage among the Sotho of Lesotho and the Shona of Zimbabwe. However, the functions and meanings attached to the practice are constantly changing. In order to gauge the interpretations attached to lobola by young people today, this paper analyses a series of focus group discussions conducted among senior students at two rural secondary schools, one in Lesotho (Mahloko High School) and the other in Zimbabwe (Ruchera Secondary School). It compares the interpretations attached by students to the practice of lobola with academic interpretations (both historical and contemporary). Among young people the meanings and functions of lobola are hotly contested, but differ markedly from those set out in academic literature. While many students see lobola as a valued part of 'African culture', most also view it as a financial transaction that necessarily disadvantages women. The paper then explains the young people's interpretations by reference to discourses of 'equal rights' and 'culture' prevalent in secondary schools. Young people make use of these discourses in (re)negotiating the meaning of lobola, but the limitations of the discourses restrict the interpretations of lobola available to them. Notes, ref., sum. |
