Leselinyana la Lesotho and Sotho Historiography

Abstract

On 3 November 1863 the first issue of Leselinyana la Lesotho, datelined Morija, was published by the Revd. Adolphe Mabille of the Paris Evangelical Mission Society. Leselinyana continues to be published today. Its contents have been recently used by two biographers of Moshoeshoe and in the present paper I hope to suggest some other ways in which the materials in this publication can be of value to historians of the Sotho.Mabille had arrived among the Sotho in 1860 and had already published several small pamphlets written by himself on a small primitive printing press. The first issue of Leselinyana comprised just a single sheet containing two pieces of writing -- an editorial signed “Leselinyana la Lesutho” in which, inter alia, the newspaper introduced itself in the first person to the Basotho. The other piece was the first of what came to be a series of articles with the general title “Mogaogeli oa Moetsalibe” (“The Sinner's Pardoner”). From the beginning Leselinyana emphasized articles of a religious and catechetical nature, clearly indicating its basic purpose as a vehicle for religious instruction and propaganda.According to Gérard the publication of Leselinyana was interrupted only twice. The first hiatus was from 1865 to 1869 when the Boers of the Orange Free State invaded and temporarily occupied areas west of the Drakensberg mountains, evicting the French missionaries who had supported the Africans there. The second occurred during the so-called Gun War of 1880/81 when the Sotho successfully resisted efforts by the Cape government to disarm them and to open Sotho lands to white settlement. In the following discussion I will touch briefly on a few representative materials in Leselinyana which suggest the richness of the paper as a source for historians, not only of the Sotho themselves but of their relations with the whites of the area and with the missionaries.

Narratives of nineteenth century drought in southern Africa in different historical source types

“…This is said to be one of the driest seasons known for many years. (Kunene, 1977). An article from November 1863, for example, notes social responses to drought in the form of religious practices:…”

Lexico-semantic analysis of names and slogans of Lesotho newspapers

“…This means that the newspaper uses its name and the slogan to persuade people to buy it so that they will always gain knowledge and/or wisdom. The newspaper advocates for religious instruction as per its founder Reverend Adolphe Mabille of the Paris Evangelical Mission society who arrived in Lesotho in 1860 (Kunene 1977). (Luke 1, 17) ["The Advisor of the Basotho -Prepares an informed nation for the king"] The newspaper is named The Advisor of the Basotho.…”

Words of Batswana: Letters to the Editor of Mahoko a Becwana, 1883–1896

“…10 The WMS and Paris Evangelical Missionary Society (PMS) also briefly published a few newspapers in Sesotho during that time, but the longest-running and most influential Sesotho newspaper was Leselinyana la Lesotho (Little Light of Lesotho), started by the PMS in 1863. 11 The first two newspapers in Setswana were monthlies that each appeared for less than two years during the late 1850s: Mokaeri oa Becuana (Instructor/Animator of the Batswana) produced by William Ashton of the LMS at Kuruman, and Molekoli oa Bechuana (Visitor/Consoler of the Batswana) by Joseph Ludorf of the WMS at Thaba Nchu. 12 After the LMS later intro-duced Mahoko a Becwana, German Lutheran missionaries started their own Setswana newspaper in 1893, Moshupa Tsela (The Guide), which continued intermittently into the twentieth century.…”