Women in Religio-Cultural History: A Reflection on their Representation in Hugo Hinfelaar’s Scholarly Work in Zambia,1960s to 1990s

Authors

Nelly Mwale, University of Zambia
Joseph Chita, University of Zambia

Abstract

Although Catholic missionary historians have contributed to the writing of Zambia’s many histories, the attempt at documenting women’s place in religio-cultural history in the country has been overshadowed by the prominence of masculine histories. Using the example of Hugo Hinfelaar who captures women’s histories in his scholarly work, this article explores the representation of the place of women in the religio-cultural history of Zambia in order to highlight Hinfelaar’s contributions to the study of women and to Zambia’s religio-cultural history. Informed by African feminist theory, it draws on a historical study which utilises document review and analyses the data through ‘restorying’ of purposively selected themes in Hinfelaar’s work. The article shows that Hinfelaar represents women as pillars in the growth of the church and active players in religio-cultural heritage, as seen from their religious vocations and reactions to missionary subordination of indigenous knowledge. The article advances that Hinfelaar’s representation of women ignites discourses which affirm that although unrecognised, women do play important roles in religio-cultural history. It also provides insights for the study of women’s history in ways that reveal the historian’s favouring of the minority in the wider web of history often grounded in patriarchy.

Recommended Citation

Mwale, Nelly and Chita, Joseph (2021) "Women in Religio-Cultural History: A Reflection on their Representation in Hugo Hinfelaar’s Scholarly Work in Zambia,1960s to 1990s," Zambia Social Science Journal: Vol. 7: No. 2, Article 4.
Available at: https://scholarship.law.cornell.edu/zssj/vol7/iss2/4