Published in South Africa by:
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Compilation Editors 2020
Chapters Individual contributors 2020
Published edition Wits University Press 2020
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First published 2020
http://dx.doi.org.10.18772/22020024761
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Cover image: D.D.T. Jabavu, 1935, photographer unknown, Jabavu holdings of the Unisa Archives, Acc 47, of the Documentation Centre for African Studies
Figure 1: D.D.T. Jabavus itinerary on his journey between South Africa and India
Acknowledgements
Tina Steiner
There is something roundabout and serendipitous about the way in which this bilingual edition became a reality. Though rather than chance, it was the generosity and collaborative energy of colleagues that worked their magic behind the scenes. Isabel Hofmeyr mentioned the travelogue briefly in her ground-breaking article, The Black Atlantic Meets the Indian Ocean: Forging New Paradigms of Transnationalism for the Global South Literary and Cultural Perspectives, but it was her challenge put to conference audiences on at least two occasions which went something like this: someone ought to look in more detail at D.D.T. Jabavus trip to India that caught my attention.1 This was in 2016, when she kindly shared her thoughts on its significance with me. If it werent for her, this book would not exist.
In the search for an English translation of Jabavus isiXhosa account of his journey I found Catherine Higgs, who immediately offered to share the translation by Cecil Wele Manona that she had commissioned in the early 1990s. Her illuminating biographical pieces on Jabavu and Manona enrich this edition enormously, and I value her collaboration very much. She also commissioned the beautiful map included in this volume and we want to thank the cartographer, Eliane Macdonald, for drawing it at such short notice.
When making enquiries for an isiXhosa specialist who could come on board as the language editor of the original text, I got referred by word of mouth from one university to another, and how well this worked. I am deeply grateful to Mhlobo W. Jadezweni for the care and enthusiasm he showed in his engagement with the original as well as the translation. Without his expert help and advice, not to mention his time, this project would not have come to fruition. He! He also arranged our delightful meeting with Mrs Nobantu M. Manona in Makhanda. Her kind willingness to grant copyright to her late husbands translation is deeply appreciated.
Thank you also to Serah N. Kasembeli, who digitised both versions during her fellowship at Northwestern University, and to Babalwa Resha for her first round of edits of the original. The archivist Donald Davis, at the American Friends Service Committee Archive in Philadelphia, went beyond the call of duty to scan and send drafts of the World Pacifist Meeting invitation letters and reports of the planning committee; Ammi Ryke at the University of South Africa (Unisa) Archives, where a collection of Jabavus papers and photographs is held, assisted with generosity and good cheer. I thank the National Research Foundation for their financial assistance, which enabled the visit to the Unisa Archives.
We are grateful to the Andrew W. Mellon Foundation for its support. This edition of In India and East Africa/E-Indiya nase East Africa contributes to the Indian Ocean Epistemologies sub-theme of the project Global Theory in the South based at Northwestern University, funded by the Foundation. We thank the principal investigator of the project, Penelope Deutscher, and the competent administrative team at Northwestern for their enthusiastic support. If Evan M. Mwangi, my Mellon co-investigator, had not given me free rein to run with this idea, I am not sure I would have pursued it. Asante. His afterword on D.D.T. Jabavu and African-language translations serves as a reminder of the importance of preserving African narratives in all the continents languages.
The members of the lift club, Louise Green, Riaan Oppelt, Megan Jones, Nadia Sanger and Uhuru Phalafala, graciously listened and advised as this edited volume took shape; I thank them for their insights. My colleagues Nwabisa Bangeni, Dawid de Villiers, Jeanne Ellis, Annie Gagiano, Louise Green, Megan Jones, Wamuwi Mbao, Sally-Ann Murray, Riaan Oppelt, Uhuru Phalafala, Daniel Roux, Nadia Sanger, Tilla Slabbert, Eckard Smuts and Shaun Viljoen are very good at creating a collegial and affirming work environment that makes projects like this possible and I count myself fortunate to be working with them. I am also very appreciative of Brenda Cooper at Burnish Writing and the members of her workshop who offered valuable feedback on my introduction.
A special thanks to the two anonymous reviewers, whose enthusiasm and incisive suggestions buoyed the last round of revisions and the preparation of the manuscript for submission. We thank the University of British Columbias Okanagan Campus for the award of a Humanities and Social Sciences Research grant which helped support the publication of this volume.
We are immensely grateful to the team at Wits University Press, Roshan Cader, Veronica Klipp and Kirsten Perkins, whose expert care made everything run smoothly, and to the isiXhosa proofreader, Koliswa Moropa. What a privilege to have Karen Press as our editor: her meticulous and careful editing has made this a better book.
