[{"data":1,"prerenderedAt":-1},["ShallowReactive",2],{"doc-seo-297618-105":3,"detail-sidebar-cat-0-en-105":81,"doc-detail-297618-en":130},{"code":4,"msg":5,"data":6},0,"ok",{"site_id":7,"language":8,"slug":9,"title":10,"keywords":11,"description":12,"schema_data":13,"social_meta":74,"head_meta":76,"extra_data":78,"updated_unix":80},105,"en","koma-thuto-and-19th-century-basothos-refusal-to-choose-between-the-two-a-remarkable-instance-of-intercultural-engagement","KOMA, THUTO AND 19TH CENTURY BASOTHO’S REFUSAL TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TWO - A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF INTERCULTURAL ENGAGEMENT","","African postcolonial theological reflections analyze the ethnocentric naiveté and arrogance shaping 19th-century Euro-American Christian missionary thought and practice, even when intent was to affirm and empower marginalized communities. Rather than merely rereading missionary literatures to keep “culprits” at the discourse center, the paper asks how intercultural binaries like “centre” and “margins” shift when writings from marginalized voices are foregrounded. It argues that mutually critical engagement yields benefits for all, drawing on a text that launched Leselinyana la Lesotho by a mid-nineteenth century Mosotho writer.",{"@graph":14,"@context":73},[15,34,56],{"@type":16,"itemListElement":17},"BreadcrumbList",[18,23,27,31],{"item":19,"name":20,"@type":21,"position":22},"https://docshare.wps.com","Home","ListItem",1,{"item":24,"name":25,"@type":21,"position":26},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/","Document",2,{"item":28,"name":29,"@type":21,"position":30},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/research-report/","Research & Report",3,{"item":32,"name":10,"@type":21,"position":33},"https://docshare.wps.com/document/koma-thuto-and-19th-century-basothos-refusal-to-choose-between-the-two-a-remarkable-instance-of-intercultural-engagement/297618/",4,{"url":32,"name":10,"@type":35,"image":36,"author":41,"headline":10,"publisher":44,"fileFormat":47,"inLanguage":8,"description":12,"dateModified":48,"datePublished":49,"encodingFormat":47,"isAccessibleForFree":50,"interactionStatistic":51},"DigitalDocument",{"url":37,"@type":38,"width":39,"height":40},"https://docshare.wps.com/thumbnails/koma-thuto-and-19th-century-basothos-refusal-to-choose-between-the-two-a-remarkable-instance-of-intercultural-engagement/297618.png","ImageObject",300,407,{"name":42,"@type":43},"Kurz","Person",{"url":19,"name":45,"@type":46},"DocShare","Organization","application/pdf","2026-11-04","2026-09-18",true,{"@type":52,"interactionType":53,"userInteractionCount":55},"InteractionCounter",{"@type":54},"ViewAction",10,{"@type":57,"mainEntity":58},"FAQPage",[59,65,69],{"name":60,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":62},"What main issue does the paper investigate regarding 19th-century missionary activity among the Basotho?","Question",{"text":63,"@type":64},"It examines how intercultural engagement between missionaries and Basotho people affected the cultural binaries of “centre” and “margins,” especially when marginal voices are used as the basis for interpretation.","Answer",{"name":66,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":67},"Why does the paper critique conventional postcolonial theological reflections on missionaries?",{"text":68,"@type":64},"It argues that such reflections often rely on subversive rereading of literatures produced by missionaries, which keeps the missionaries at the center of discourse while the marginalized remain side-lined.",{"name":70,"@type":61,"acceptedAnswer":71},"How does the paper explain the benefits of mutually critical engagement?",{"text":72,"@type":64},"It contends that when both parties engage critically with each other, benefits accrue to all concerned, illustrated through the Sesotho Christian developments that neither side could fully anticipate.","https://schema.org",{"og:url":32,"og:type":75,"og:title":10,"og:site_name":45,"og:description":12},"article",{"robots":77,"canonical":32},"index,follow",{"doc_id":79,"site_id":7},297618,1789746318,{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":83},"success",[84,88,92,96,101,106,111,115,120,123,126],{"id":22,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":85,"show_sort_weight":86,"slug":87},"Story & Novel",90,"story-novel",{"id":26,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":89,"show_sort_weight":90,"slug":91},"Literature",80,"literature",{"id":33,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":93,"show_sort_weight":94,"slug":95},"Exam",70,"exam",{"id":97,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":98,"show_sort_weight":99,"slug":100},5,"Comic",60,"comic",{"id":102,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":103,"show_sort_weight":104,"slug":105},6,"Technology",50,"technology",{"id":107,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":108,"show_sort_weight":109,"slug":110},7,"Healthcare",40,"healthcare",{"id":112,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":29,"show_sort_weight":113,"slug":114},8,30,"research-report",{"id":116,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":117,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":119},9,"Religion & Spirituality",20,"religion-spirituality",{"id":118,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":121,"show_sort_weight":118,"slug":122},"World Cup","world-cup",{"id":55,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":124,"show_sort_weight":55,"slug":125},"Lifestyle","lifestyle",{"id":127,"doc_module":4,"doc_module_name":25,"category_name":128,"show_sort_weight":97,"slug":129},19,"General","general",{"code":4,"msg":82,"data":131},{"doc_id":79,"user_id":132,"nickname":42,"user_avatar":133,"doc_module":4,"category_id":112,"category_name":29,"doc_title":10,"doc_description":12,"doc_content":134,"file_id":135,"file_url":136,"file_type":137,"file_size":138,"view_count":55,"is_deleted":4,"is_public":22,"is_downloadable":22,"audit_status":22,"page_count":139,"language":140,"language_code":8,"site_id":7,"html_lang":8,"table_of_contents":141,"faqs":142,"seo_title":143,"seo_description":12,"update_tm":80,"read_time":144,"preview_page_count":4},2336478945635,"https://ap-avatar.wpscdn.com/davatar_6f874abed73319feea01a86fa6f0fab8","KOMA, THUTO AND 19TH CENTURY BASOTHO’S REFUSAL TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TWO: A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF INTERCULTURAL ENGAGEMENT  \nM S Tshehla  \nUniversity of South Africa  \nAbstract  \nAfrican postcolonial theological reflections presuppose and regularly demonstrate the ethnocentric naiveté and arrogance which pervaded the thought and conduct of otherwise well-intentioned Euro-American Christian missionaries of especially the 19th century. But in their commendable struggle to affirm and empower the once marginalized, such historical reviews generally proceed on the basis of subversive rereading’s of literatures produced by those ‘culprits’ ; this keeps the latter at the centre of the discourse whilst simultaneously perpetuating the lamentable historical state of the side-lined. But what happens if yesteryear’s intercultural interactions are explored on the basis of writings composed by voices from the margins? Specifically, how are binaries like ‘centre’ and ‘margins’ affected in such instances? This paper argues that where mutually critical engagement obtains , benefits accrue to all concerned ; it takes its lead from a piece written to launch Leselinyana la Lesotho by one pioneer mid-nineteenth century Mosotho writer.  \nKeywords: 19th century Basotho, intercultural engagement, Leselinyana la Lesotho, missionary instruction, Filemon Rapetloane  \nINTRODUCTION  \nGeneralizations follow after and/or presuppose exposure to and interaction with an Other about whom such sweeping submissions can then tolerably be made. By seeking to order and simplify perceived reality, generalizations prove to be an indirect admission that reality is in fact far more complex than the oversimplifications imply. In other words, a generalization’s utmost significance lies in its role as an invitation to look deeper, an encouragement to peel off layers upon layers of the Other’s (as well as layers of the Self’s) “culturally bound and culturally defined common sense”(LeBaron 2003 :n. p.) . By presupposing some interaction between entities, generalizations also serve as guideposts meant to make future engagements more predictable, more manageable or, at the very least, less awkward. So, sweeping observations are crutches first, and may serve only secondarily as weapons of mass denigration. That is to say, one who believes that s/he has grasped another’s defining qualities tends also, in subsequent engagements, to seek to use “that understanding to one’s own advantage”(Rogoveanu 2010:14) .  \nTo answer the question why an advantage should so desperately be sought during intercultural exchanges as well as among students of cultures, we turn to another generalization: “most of the ways of studying culture, communication and negotiation are derived largely from Western concepts”and/or Western “cultural assumptions” (LeBaron 2003) . That culture’s intellectual assumptions prominently include the overwhelming desire to explain, predict and control the Other; this is its common sense. It is a common sense inspired by a  \nstrong sense of Self as distinct from (and thus superior to) the Other, if we may linger on in the world of generalities:  \nBefore an object, the European distinguishes the object from himself, keeps it at a distance. He dissects, and somehow kills the object. This is in order to make use of it; to make a means of the object…The African on the other hand does not form distance, he does not analyse the object. Rather, with his inner being he discovers the Other. He is more faithful to the stimulus of the object. He is atone with its rhythm. (Oguejiofor 2005:87-88 , paraphrasing Leopold Senghor)  \nThe foregoing bold claims serve only to indicate general tenors pertaining to the interlocutors here under investigation and thus do not warrant extensive critique. Furthermore, ongoing engagements with one another have enabled a continuous give and take which benefits all concerned. On the one hand, the African has come to appreciate her innate analytical cap","cbCaibjCs81CdAcw","https://ap.wps.com/l/cbCaibjCs81CdAcw","pdf",148364,31,"English","# Abstract\n# Introduction","[{\"question\":\"What main issue does the paper investigate regarding 19th-century missionary activity among the Basotho?\",\"answer\":\"It examines how intercultural engagement between missionaries and Basotho people affected the cultural binaries of “centre” and “margins,” especially when marginal voices are used as the basis for interpretation.\"},{\"question\":\"Why does the paper critique conventional postcolonial theological reflections on missionaries?\",\"answer\":\"It argues that such reflections often rely on subversive rereading of literatures produced by missionaries, which keeps the missionaries at the center of discourse while the marginalized remain side-lined.\"},{\"question\":\"How does the paper explain the benefits of mutually critical engagement?\",\"answer\":\"It contends that when both parties engage critically with each other, benefits accrue to all concerned, illustrated through the Sesotho Christian developments that neither side could fully anticipate.\"}]","KOMA, THUTO AND 19TH CENTURY BASOTHO’S REFUSAL TO CHOOSE BETWEEN THE TWO - A REMARKABLE INSTANCE OF INTERCULTURAL ENGAGEMENT | PDF",78]