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Look And Learn - Flip Side Of The AZW Campaign
Colin
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This is something I asked on the AZW FB Pages, which is about the more unseen aspects of the campaign in modern depictions, being the burning of kraals by soldiers, Zulu civilian refugees fleeing the oncoming British columns, etc., but only seem to be images of such in distant or uninvolved sketches, undetailed unlike this art which is in a Look And Learn publication, I�m assuming meant for younger readership, of all places, not really in AZW history books by authors..though confess to not having seen every book.

https://www.lookandlearn.com/history-images/A000113-03/English-soldiers-burning-a-Zulu-village

Why then, do these aspects of AZW warfare seem to be excluded, mostly covering the battles, etc., soldiers and warriors...but less the frightened civilians fleeing, or standing nearby as in this painting watching their homes destroyed.

It intrigues me, as with other campaigns including more recent, this element is usually depicted, at least by some authors, in order to show Zululand wasn�t just inhabited by warriors.

Not trying to be controversial, just wondering how many of these aspects of the civilian impact have actually be covered in art, which are not excluding the Zulus present, that aren�t showing just the soldiers beginning the this task, or during as well as the aftermath of the burning kraals showing the ruins.

There were no convincing images added in FB that showed modern interpretations of these other incidents...which is surprisingly not covered in numbers, due to the injustice of the war which has been known about for decades, and how the whole Zulu population was affected, not just the King and the Zulu Army.
Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Colin,

I'm not sure where you're coming from on this. There are lots of aspects in all wars which are not covered closely.
In the Zulu war there are also many things carried out on both sides which are not pleasant.

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Colin
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Alan

Nothing sinister, it is in connection with my interest in the Zulu perspective of the campaign, if there had been counter-publications showing the campaign from the other side written by authors who were actual modern Zulus.

There are some books telling the story of the Zulus, but they are authors like Ian Knight, John Laband, etc., who are not obviously Zulus themselves.

I�ve often wondered if the campaign we know about all these years, had actually only been written from the Zulu perspective, including their thoughts on the British soldiers, our way of fighting, in-depth coverage of our actions at Isandhlwana/Rorke�s Drift, etc., including our Commanders, and the affect on their population.

I�ve always been intrigued if our part in this specific history, would have been accepted by us, if we had not the opportunity of writing counter-publications to their conclusions, which would be the reverse of now.

I asked this on FB, and I did get an answer from a Zulu member, along the lines of �Ian Knight speaks for us� - however, my question was, would we have accepted this too, if a well-known (actual) Zulu author well-versed in the study of the campaign spoke for us all these years.

This is something I can�t be sure of, as there is a lot of guessing by other authors of the Zulus, their actions, motives, reasoning, and performance in battle, how such things affected them, etc.

How would the subject of the Zulu civilians be covered then, when not mainly following the British actions and how the Zulus reacted.

It always feels like half a study without the modern Zulu inclusion in the literature to balance out the vast British materials on the subject.
Alan
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Joined: 30 Aug 2005
Posts: 1530
Location: Wales
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Colin,

I'm not expert on Zulu culture and traditions but since they didn't have a written record
from Zulus themselves, details of their history is in the main that which has been gleaned
and recorded by the 'white man'. We do have details which are from the Zulu perspective,
written now by Zulus but this to a great extent is passed down by word of mouth.

Traditions and practices on both sides of the conflict when viewed today are considered
appalling. It's a trait of today's society to condemn outright actions carried out throughout
our history, ignoring the fact that the mindset then was totally different throughout
the world. I'm sure Zulus would today think some of their rituals in their history to be
disgusting.

Aspects like this should be included in any coverage but should not become the main focus.

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Look And Learn - Flip Side Of The AZW Campaign
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