Philosophizing in isiZulu
Language Focus
Coordinated by Lindokuhle Shabane
Part of the Research Focus Philosophies in Africa
IsiZulu is a Southern Bantu language of the Nguni branch. It is one of South Africa’s 12 official languages and widely understood in the country. IsiZulu is primarily spoken in the province of KwaZulu-Natal of South Africa. It is mutually intelligible with some other Nguni languages, e.g. isiSwati and isiXhosa.
Similar to other Bantu languages, Zulu nouns are classified into noun classes, visible in the prefixes. Other parts of sentences related to the noun, such as verbs or adjectives are brought into agreement (concord) with the noun via corresponding prefixes. As other languages of the Nguni branch, IsiZulu phonetics include click consonants.
During the focus, our fellow, Lindokuhle Shabane, is identifying relevant sources for philosophizing in isiZulu, which encompasses academic essays, historiographic writings, and notions. He is in close exchange with Lerato Posholi who works on philosophical sources in the closely related language Sesotho. The results of this research will contribute to our database initiative Hildesheim Encyclopedia of Philosophical Sources (HePS).
Shabane further investigates the use and misuse of the Nguni concept ubuntu. While ubuntu emerges genealogically from a specific linguistic and experiential context, it is increasingly abstracted within global philosophical, ethical, and political discourses, often under decolonial aspirations. Shabane cautions that ubuntu’s most celebrated “uses” frequently coincide with forms of misuse. He will present insights into these tensions during the lecture series Transatlantic Resonances: Philosophical Entanglements between Africa and the Americas.
Lindokuhle Shabane’s research spans the history of philosophy, African philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of logic, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. He received his PhD from the University of Bremen, Germany. He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (2018), a Bachelors of arts, honours, (2019), and a Master of Social Sciences in History (2021), all from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa.
Participating Researchers
Lindokuhle Shabane is a long-term fellow at the Center for Advanced Studies “Philosophizing in a Globalized World” (GloPhi). He holds a Bachelor of Arts in Philosophy (2016), an Honours degree in Social Arts (2019), and a Master of Social Sciences in History (2020–2021), all from the University of KwaZulu-Natal in South Africa. His research spans the history of philosophy, African philosophy, epistemology, and the philosophy of logic, with a regional focus on sub-Saharan Africa. He engages philosophically in English, isiZulu and related languages, and French.
Latest Activities
-
It is a truism that the Southern African concept of ubuntu is not a stable concept, or even, despite being typically treated as such, a cultural essence. Rather, it is a historically situated orientation that…
-
In conversation with Monika Rohmer, research fellow Lindokuhle Shabane discusses his doctoral research, his approach to conceptual decolonization, and his current work on philosophizing in isiZulu.Shabane’s dissertation examines the role of logical contradiction in the…
-
The School of Arts of the College of Humanities at the University of KwaZulu-Natal (South Africa) invites you to a guest talk by Dr. Lindokuhle Shabane, UKZN alumnus and postdoctoral fellow at the Center for…