Materiality and the making of the Tswana house from the early nineteenth century to the present

Abstract

This study explores the various factors that impacted on the materiality of the ntlo, the house of a married Tswana woman and her children, from the earliest recorded examples in the early nineteenth century, to the present. While the kgotla (the traditional male meeting place) features prominently in settlement research, the vernacular Tswana dwelling has received less attention. The study contradicts the simplistic and popular perception, that pre-industrial communities simply built their vernacular constructions with whatever material was available. It is found that, in addition to the availability of material, the critical determining factors that shaped materiality include gender, the earth and cosmology.

Hierdie studie ondersoek die verskeie faktore wat ‘n invloed uitgeoefen het op die materialiteit van die ntlo, die huis van ‘n getroude Tswana vrou en haar kinders, vanaf die eersgenoteerde voorbeelde in die vroëe negentiende eeu tot op hede. Terwyl die kgotla (die tradisionele vergaderplek van mans) prominent in nedersettingsnavorsing gemeld word, het die volkseie Tswana-woning minder aandag ontvang. Die studie weerspreek die simplistiese en gewilde opvatting dat voor-industriële gemeenskappe eenvoudig hulle inheemse konstruksies gebou het met die materiaal wat tot hulle bekikking was. Benewens die beskikbaarheid van material, is die bevinding dat die kritiese bepalende faktore wat materialiteit gevorm het, geslag, die aarde en kosmologie insluit .