Male initiation and circumcision : a South African perspective
Date
2020
Authors
Journal Title
Journal ISSN
Volume Title
Publisher
African Sun Media
Abstract
I have been interested in and following this rite of passage for a
long time, knowing that it creates contexts and opportunities within
which children can be extremely vulnerable1. On top of this, so many
responsible individuals and institutions have been relatively quiet –
especially since the dawn of our new democracy (1994) in South Africa
– about botched circumcisions, dehydration, infections and the annual
loss of lives during this ritual. This chapter does not rely on statistical
and other data as its primary resource, which would be a typical social
science approach, followed by a number of chapters in this book, but
rather on presenting important views and contributions by mostly
African people and scholars who are/were in different ways involved
in this ritual, with its accompanying culture. The role of religion in
this ritual will not be discussed. I will often refer to the significant
report on public hearings on male initiation schools in South Africa,
published by the Commission for the Protection and Promotion of
the Rights of Cultural, Religious and Linguistic Communities2 (CRL
Rights Commission)3. In their executive summary, they define culture
as “the totality of human creation and expression in both tangible and
intangible forms” (CRL Rights Commission 2014:5). For them, the
tangible forms of culture “include all material products created by a
society as a result of human ingenuity. Intangibles comprise, among
other things, language, beliefs, tastes, attitudes, rituals, religion” (:5).
Description
CITATION: Jones, C. 2020. Male initiation and circumcision : a South African perspective, in Grobbelaar, J. & Jones, C. (eds) 2020. Childhood vulnerabilities in South Africa : some ethical perspectives. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480952/06.
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
The original publication is available at https://africansunmedia.store.it.si/za
Keywords
Circumcision -- South Africa, Initiation rites -- South Africa
Citation
Jones, C. 2020. Male initiation and circumcision : a South African perspective, in Grobbelaar, J. & Jones, C. (eds) 2020. Childhood vulnerabilities in South Africa : some ethical perspectives. Stellenbosch: SUN PReSS, doi:10.18820/9781928480952/06.