A Luta Continua: Toward Trickster Intellectuals and Communities

1 See Musa W. Dube, (: , ), .

2 It was directed by Ridley Scott, who directed Gladiator, and was released on 12 December 2014.

3 See Dube, , –, where I began proposing a luta continua hermeneutics.

4 The term “trickster intellectuals,” as used here, is drawn from Nadia Naar Gada, who uses it to describe creative writers of postliberation disappointments, as they apply their work to engage critically the unjust structures of the postindependence nation-state headed by heroes of the liberation ( [, , ]). In this response, the trickster intellectuals and communities represent those who remain vigilant and critical of all structures of oppression in their worlds.

5 See Musa W. Dube, in , ed. A. K. M. Adam (: , ), –, where I propose divination as a framework of reading.

6 The trickster as a border crosser and an ambiguous figure has been read in two ways—articulating the position of the vulnerable and powerless as well as representing the powerful, who trick everyone for their own ends. In the postwar and postindependence context, some critics have seen the ruling elites as tricksters who have tricked all members of the nation for their own ends. Colonizers who came as minorities and tricked the majority by dispossessing them of the lands have also been read as tricksters. See, e.g., Tinyiko S. Maluleke, , no. (): –. There will always be multiple ways of reading trickster figures, depending on the contexts and agendas of readers. As said above, in this article trickster intellectuals and communities refer to those who remain vigilant and critical toward all structures of oppression in their worlds.

7 See Frederick Cooper, in , ed. Kwame Anthony Appiah and Henry Louis Gates Jr. (: , ), –.

8 For the historical narration that follows, see the appropriate entries in Appiah and Gates, .

9 See Eric Young, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

10 See Elisabeth Heath, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

11 Heath writes that “the logic of indirect rule was first articulated by F. J. D. Lugard,” who “recommended that colonial powers take advantage of existing African authority structures.… Under indirect rule tribal authorities rather than European personnel would be given responsibility for regional administration and justice … while encouraging their subjects to appreciate modern European values” (ibid., –).

12 Kate Tuttle, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

13 See Eric Young, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

14 See Eric Young, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

15 Ibid., .

16 See Grace Wamue and Matthew M. Theuri, eds., , African Christianity (: , ).

17 Ezra Chitando and Sophia Chirongoma, eds., (: , ).

18 See Eric Young, in Appiah and Gates, , –.

19 See Tinyiko S. Maluleke, . (): –.

20 Be that as it may, critics of the Truth and Reconciliation project hold that it was emotionally and historically important, but it has not addressed the prevailing structural inequalities of the apartheid regime—particularly, land remains in the hands of the white minority South Africans. See the engagement with the current neoliberal economies and its impact on the majority, who remain marginalized from economic resources, in ANSA Secretariat, (: , ).

21 See Dube, , .

22 See Musa W. Dube, in , ed. Francisco Lozada Jr. and Greg Carey (: , ), –.

23 Avtar Brah argues that, with the historical and contemporary movements of people, both indigenous and immigrants need to construct their identities and spaces along the framework of diaspora ( in , ed. Reina Lewis and Sara Mills [: , ], –). She holds that diaspora space is “the site where the native is as much a diasporian as the diasporian is the native” (p. ).

24 See Peter Tosh, studio album, , recorded at Randy's Studio, Kingston, Jamaica, 1977.

25 For detailed discussions of ubuntu, see in Munyaradzi Felix Murove, (: , ), –.

26 Such a philosophy works best when adhered to by all members of the community. In cases where it is received but not given, practitioners of ubuntu become vulnerable. A good example is the colonial case, where African people welcomed foreign nations into their communities and kingdoms, allowed them to settle and gave them land, only to find themselves dispossessed of their lands. Nonetheless, the validity of ubuntu remains, reminding us of the value of defining ourselves through the capacity to receive and welcome the Other who is different from us. Such an ethical stance offers a possibility of building liberating communities.

27 See Joyce Hope-Scott, in , ed. Edris Makward, Thelma Ravell-Pinto, and Aliko Songolo, Annual Selected Papers of the ALA 3 (: , ), –.

28 See Henry Louis Gates Jr., (: , ), which is one of the most comprehensive treatments of the African Trickster, Eshu, as a theory of reading literature.

29 See Musa W. Dube, forthcoming in , where I develop the Hare perspective of reading in detail.

30 See Gada, .

31 See Renita Weems, (): –.

32 See Gada, .