K. G. Olin. Afrikafeber. Jakobstad: Ab Olinex Oy, 2000. 279 pp. EUR 31.96 (paper), ISBN 978-952-9600-10-6.
Reviewed by Holger Weiss (Institute for Asian and African Studies, University of Helsinki)
Published on H-SAfrica (January, 2002)
The Adventures of Swedish-speaking Finns in Southern Africa
The Adventures of Swedish-speaking Finns in Southern Africa
Readers that are interested in how Europeans lived in Southern Africa at the end of the nineteenth century and the early twentieth century might find Olin's book quite amusing--provided that they can read Swedish. It tells the story about how Swedish-speaking youngsters from Ostrobothnia (Finland) found their way to the gold mines in Southern Africa at the end of the nineteenth century. It tells the story of emigration and survival in a strange country, culminating in the 'heroic' days of the Anglo-Boer War or 1899-1902 and the participation of these strangers on both sides of the war.
However, for someone interested in knowing more about how these strangers viewed Africans or Africa, the book does not tell much, and, to be fair to the author, it was not his intention to do so. In a way, however, Olin's book provides some additional information about the Nordic encounter with Africa and gives some valuable information, especially in his narration of the life-histories of young Ostrobothnians on the Rand, that adds to Lasse Berg's monograph När Sverige upptäckte Africa (When Sweden discovered Africa, Stockholm 1997), and Eero Kupiainen's study An African Alternative: Nordic Migration to South Africa 1815-1914 (Helsinki 1991).
Olin's book starts with a narration of the adventures and experiences of (mainly) Swedish-speaking Finns in Southern Africa before the 'gold rush' to the Transvaal during the latter half of the nineteenth century. The most well-known of these early adventurers was Henrik Jakob Wikar, who contributed to the exploration of the Orange River during the eighteenth century--a topic already covered in Berg's monograph. Two chapters in Olin's book cover what could be labelled as "among adventurers and game hunters north of the Transvaal", whereas the last chapter deals with a Finnish-Swedish joint expedition along the Zambezi river at the beginning of the twentieth century. This expedition was one of the many whose aim was to gain personal fame and wealth by locating a new Eldorado somewhere in the interior of Southern Africa. Not surprisingly, it ended in a total failure.
As already stated above, the main bulk of Olin's book covers the adventures and experiences of some two thousand Ostrobothnians in Transvaal. They had left Finland for employment in the gold mines on the Rand, but their intention was in most if not all cases to return to Finland after some years, not to settle permanently in South Africa--which eventually only but a few did. The 'golden era' for foreign--white--labour on the Rand was before 1908. After this period, first Chinese and thereafter local labour were used by the mining companies to cut down expenses and the Finnish engagement at the Rand came to an end.
The most valuable part of Olin's study is the list of every Ostrobothnian who left for South Africa. However, Olin's book is not an academic research, thus much of the information presented in the book is not commented or analyzed. Thus, Olin quotes many of the articles written by the Ostrobothnians in local journals and newspapers on the situation and conditions in South Africa, but makes no attempt to analyze his material or, which might have been very interesting from an African perspective, provide a discussion and overview of what kind of a picture of Africa was provided in the local press.
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Citation:
Holger Weiss. Review of Olin, K. G., Afrikafeber.
H-SAfrica, H-Net Reviews.
January, 2002.
URL: http://www.h-net.org/reviews/showrev.php?id=5820
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