Savage Delight: White Myths of Shaka

Myths outdistance known facts about Shaka, the Zulu founder- king. Through case studies of the mythology generated by four influential 19th- and 20th-century white writers on Shaka (N. Isaacs, F. Flynn, A.T. Bryant, and E.A. Ritter), Wylie analyzes ambivalent conceptions of identity underlying these narratives. Illustrations include a map and media depictions of Shaka (e.g., from a 1986 South African TV series and US promotion of the video version). Based on an undated doctoral dissertation in E…