Professor Dr. Raevin Jimenez

Biography

Raevin Jimenez is a historian specializing in Africa's distant past. His forthcoming monograph, 'Gather Ancestors: Gender, Language, Belonging Southeast Africa' (University of Wisconsin Press), traces the roles of gendered performance in the relationships and construction of multi-lingual, mixed-descent communities in South Africa from the 9th to the 19th centuries. Employing an interdisciplinary approach and the methodology of comparative historical linguistics, Jimenez reveals how speakers of Nguni, East Bantu, Khoi, and San languages enacted gendered practices such as initiation rites and marriage—while employing a form of speech known as hlónipha—to channel the identities of young individuals and allow them to become shared ancestors over generations. His work demonstrates how the evolving concepts of ancestry have reshaped practices of togetherness and created a unique, hybrid character within South African Nguni languages.

Research Interests