Paper short abstract:

Ordinarily, good researchers are told to exclude sources falling outside their academic discourse or scientific paradigm. But what if traditional knowledge sources such as ancestral voices (spirit messages) are able to add to or go beyond that which the historical record or archive lets us know?

Paper long abstract:

This paper examines a common dilemma facing scholars of history and cultural studies alike. What should we do when the limits of the historical record have been reached or the archive has nothing more to offer? Should we include traditional knowledge sources that fall outside prevailing academic discourses or scientific paradigms?

Current scholarship demonstrates that traditional knowledge sources may not only fill gaps in the historical record or archive but can also reveal new links and offer fresh insights. In southern Africa such sources range from umlando ubuhlobo (kinship history) to ulwazi lwemvelo (indigenous knowledge) and from amathongo (ancestral spirits) to the isangoma (traditional healer empowered by the ancestors).

Three case studies will be examined. These are based on messages received by a local clairaudient regarding the political leadership in South Africa and Zimbabwe: from former presidents Nelson Mandela and Robert Mugabe to current presidents Cyril Ramaphosa and Emmerson Mnangagwa. According to the ancestors, these men come from a time and place in Africa's past that continues to shape their conflicts and achievements. In short, theirs is a karmic drama in which South Africa's transition from apartheid to democracy and Zimbabwe's recent coup d'état can be seen as re-enactments of events in ancient Egypt c.1292BCE and pre-colonial Zululand c.1828, respectively. Disgraced ex-president Jacob Zuma also comes under scrutiny.

This paper intends to show that spirit messages are both valid and legitimate sources of knowledge and that they will, inevitably, broaden our definition of cultural practices, representations and discourses in and about Africa.