gifted and extraordinary leader and soul as he is--may not crystallize for some years, the myth of Shaka, as Hamilton points out, has retained the power to mobilize "Zulu identity" (1998, p. 3) for some 170 years.
The content of Zulu identity, however, does not necessarily coincide with the content of the Shaka myth, chiefly because the myth has had so many fathers. Indeed, there appears to be no single content for the Shaka myth; it is something of a moving target. Three monographs, one written in 1955 and two others written in the 1990s, demonstrate a variety of perceptions of Shaka, as well as the variety of political and cultural uses to which specific perceptions and interpretations have been put. This research will seek to identify the pattern of ideas informing each work as well as the means by which the authors present those ideas, with a view toward understanding why so many different versions of Shaka's life have achieved currency, not only with biographers and historiographers but also with politicians.
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