"FROM THE WILDS TO WESTMINSTER": SAUL MSANE AND THE ZULU CHOIR IN LONDON, 1892

Between 1892 and 1893, Saul Msane (1856-1919), one of the ANC founders, made his fi rst trip abroad as part of the Zulu Choir. The Zulu Choir performed several times in London and other parts of the United Kingdom. The main purpose of the choir's travels was to raise funds for Msane's alma mater, Edendale Institute, and to showcase the Zulu Choir's talent abroad as the choristers were Amakholwa or Christian converts from Natal. This article explores how Saul Msane's perceptions, beliefs, and experiences of the 1892 performances in London determined his own behaviour, and how they affected the notion of mimicry and mockery associated with minstrelsy. Data was collected by analysing archival material such as historical newspapers and secondary sources such as journal articles and books focused on minstrelsy and the Zulu Choir. This enabled the author to fi ll the gap left by other minstrel scholars who marginalised Saul Msane within the historiography of minstrelsy.