This conceptual article argues that a pedagogy of poetic memory, or epipoetics, can be used to remember and 're-member' the past in the present in the history classroom. Epi-poetics as a theory encapsulates the dynamic interplay of language (including indigenous poetry), the body (both physical and psychological remembering of the past) and the socio-cultural and physical environments in memory construction. As a pedagogy, epi-poetics allows for the indigenisation of the curriculum by tapping into Indigenous Knowledge constructs, specifically indigenous poetry and how it relates to memory, trauma and history. The indigenous poetry is both a source of memory, and, therefore history, and a fount and font of inter-generational experience and trauma.

In Zambia, adult literacy education is mainly provided in the form of non-formal literacy classes, with a general emphasis on the economic purpose of alleviating poverty. The aim is to increase the number of skilled citizens who are literate. Exploring (1) the pedagogical practices used in this context and (2) facilitators' choices of certain teaching-learning methods, this article presents a study which was conducted in Katete District in Eastern Zambia. It involved two literacy programmes; one run by the Government of Zambia's Department of Community Development; and the other run by a non-governmental organisation (NGO) called Tikondane. The research was framed by international standards of both adult learning and non-formal learning pedagogies. In this qualitative case study, the participants comprised 9 literacy managers (5 female, 4 male), 12 facilitators (8 female, 4 male) and 78 adult learners (56 female, 22 male). Data were collected through interviews, observations and focus group discussions. Observing that both programmes' literacy classes were dominated by the teacher-centred lecture method, the researchers found that lecturebased instruction, when applied in a participatory manner, is capable of producing considerable learning gains. However, the authors contend that many learners would have benefited more from a learner-centred approach. Another finding was that the majority of the facilitators based their pedagogical decisions on their perception of the adult learners as illiterate and ignorant. Consequently, the facilitators saw their role as a mandate to eliminate illiteracy and ignorance. In sum, the authors conclude that the pedagogical practices applied in the two literacy programmes fell short of international pedagogical standards of both adult learning and non-formal learning.

The Somaliland Burgher Contingent, consisting of Afrikaans and English speaking South Africans, was the first South African volunteer unit who fought on foreign soil. Volunteers hailed not only from South Africa but from Britain, Rhodesia, America, Ireland, Scotland, Canada and Austria as well. This truly cosmopolitan unit fought during the Third Expedition (1902-1903) in Somaliland against Mohammed Abdulle Hassan (1856-1920) - the so-called Mad Mullah. During this expedition the South Africans fought side by side with British troops of the King's Royal Rifle Corps, Indian troops and the King's African Rifles whose members consisted of Somalis, Sikhs, Sudanese and Yaos (Africans). These troops endured many hardships during the campaign: they had to march in extreme heat in thick bush country with meager rations and water. The Somaliland Burgher Contingent was involved in skirmishes with the Dervish forces of the Mullah but not in the disasters of Gumburu and Daratoleh during which two British forces were cut up. The Third Expedition was a military failure for the British and a victory for the Mullah who wanted to rid his country of the British infidel. The Mullah resisted British and Abysinian intrigues in his country until his death in 1920. Apart from the campaign, the composition, character, mobilization, demobilization and compensation of the Somaliland Burgher Contingent as well as the reasons why volunteers joined up, are discussed.

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The creation of “poetic bodies” refers to the embodiment of poetic experience through an eclectic theoretical and methodological conceptualisation. This poetic embodiment allows for the re-membering and experiencing of poetic texts in general, and specifically, indigenous South African poetry in the classroom. At its core is the haunting of memory in poetic texts: the inter-generational experiencing of poetry is embodied in the students’ responses to literature. Conjuring these poetic bodies comprises three acts of meaning-making that are woven together to create a unique experience and understanding of poetry: the Bodily, which refers to the figurative devices and images in poetry; the Inner Bodily, which relates to intergenerational memory construction; and the Outer Bodily, which encompasses social, cultural and historical contexts. In South Africa, the process of poetic embodiment is characterised by a strong sense of loss due to the country’s colonial and apartheid past. The weaving of the different levels of re-membering and experiencing in indigenous South African poetry is illustrated in the war poetry of S.E.K. Mqhayi (1875–1945). His poems are used as a case study to illustrate how poetic bodies may be re-membered or reconstructed as a literary-theoretical approach to facilitate understanding and experiencing poetry with marked traces of loss.