From Royalism to E-secessionism: Lozi Histories and Ethnic Politics from the Early Twentieth Century

This chapter explores the ways in which successive generations of Lozi thinkers turned the potentialities of the book to political work and appropriated them with a view to advancing specific understandings of Lozi identity. It begins by placing the origins of Lozi historical literature in the context of the colonial encounter between the end of the 19th and the beginning of the 20th century. Our attention then turns to the emergence of a Lozi vernacular ethnography in the middle decades of the 20th century. Due emphasis is placed on the relationship between these literary efforts and the rise of ethnic particularism. The essay ends with a discussion of Barotseland's contemporary ethno-historical landscape.