One sees in Shepstone the outcome of linking language mastery to whiteness. In one way, his mastery of native dialects joined the work of the missionary and that of the colonial agent in the colonization of language. Yet in another way, his language mastery shows the growth of colonialist operations from missionary roots. It would certainly be unfair to paint these missionaries as nothing more than colonialists. However, one must not miss the point of the unintended consequences of language acquisition and the cultivation of intimate relations. Personal (missionary) knowledge is put to
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