African-centred Understandings of Imbeleko as an Expression of the Value of Children in Nguni Communities through Retrospective Accounts of Young Adult Women

Abstract

Although there has been greater visibility of research on African childhood and African children, much of the ways in which this research has been produced and presented has been problematic. Firstly, narratives on African childhood/children are often produced by adults – often non-Africans – attempting to understand African childhoods using Eurocentric lenses. The research therefore tends to be undertaken on and about African children, but not with them. Secondly, the research is often preoccupied with the social problems that these children may face, creating a pessimistic view and one-dimensional image of African childhoods. In the pursuit for decoloniality, this study moves away from the stark representation of a ‘deprived’ African childhood and instead shifts the focus on narratives of African childhood that depict celebration and memorialisation of childhood. This study sought to qualitatively explore young adults’ (aged 18-25) retrospective experiences of Imbeleko (if they experienced it before age 13), a ritual celebrated with joy, singing and dancing to welcome a child into the family and into society and which can remain a memory of which children remember with fondness. Although this study did not work with children themselves, it sought to engage with young adults about their childhood experiences in a South African context. Notably, this study is framed within African psychology and Narrative theory. African psychology is a significant entry lens into exploring and making sense of African lives and the meanings that they attach to their experiences and Narrative theory treats the stories that participants tell as a legitimate means of knowledge production.