ABSTRACT Although the nineteenth-century black press has functioned as a useful resource in understanding the political organizations and associations created by southern Africa’s educated elite, rarely is it used to think about this elite’s consumption patterns. Consumption is often assumed to be a frivolous activity unworthy of consideration in the historiography of the kholwa (the converted Africans). Yet, the language and tone of the bilingual newspapers, created and edited by this kholwa elite, suggest a different relationship between social status and the Christian lifestyles introduced by religious conversion. Although these newspaper men continued to exemplify the sobriety, modesty and industriousness preached to them, they also escaped missionary edicts through luxurious sartorial and consumption choices. Christianity and consumption jostled for space on newspaper pages, constituting what may be termed a grammar of consumption and advertising that involved the translation and transplantation of foreign objects into an indigenous idiom. The interpellation of these newspaper readers through the language of consumption challenges assumptions about the supposedly precarious position of the African bourgeoisie. This article considers the kholwa as consumers – both of secular and religious items – and argues for a more nuanced reading of advertisements in the bilingual newspapers of the late nineteenth and early twentieth centuries.

中文翻译：

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“时代的艰辛和所有生活必需品的珍贵”：19 世纪双语报纸中的阶级和消费

摘要 尽管 19 世纪的黑人新闻媒体在了解由南部非洲受过教育的精英创建的政治组织和协会方面发挥了有用的资源作用，但很少用于考虑这些精英的消费模式。在 kholwa（皈依的非洲人）的历史编纂中，消费通常被认为是一种不值得考虑的琐碎活动。然而，由这个 kholwa 精英创建和编辑的双语报纸的语言和语气表明，社会地位与宗教皈依所引入的基督徒生活方式之间存在不同的关系。尽管这些报业人员继续向他们宣扬清醒、谦虚和勤奋的榜样，但他们也通过奢华的服装和消费选择逃避了传教士的法令。基督教和消费在报纸页面上争夺空间，构成了所谓的消费和广告语法，其中涉及将外国物品翻译和移植为本土习语。这些报纸读者通过消费语言的质询挑战了关于非洲资产阶级所谓的不稳定地位的假设。本文将 kholwa 视为消费者——包括世俗和宗教项目——并主张对 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初双语报纸上的广告进行更细致的阅读。这些报纸读者通过消费语言的质询挑战了关于非洲资产阶级所谓的不稳定地位的假设。本文将 kholwa 视为消费者——包括世俗和宗教项目——并主张对 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初双语报纸上的广告进行更细致的阅读。这些报纸读者通过消费语言的质询挑战了关于非洲资产阶级所谓的不稳定地位的假设。本文将 kholwa 视为消费者——包括世俗和宗教项目——并主张对 19 世纪末和 20 世纪初双语报纸上的广告进行更细致的阅读。