Abstract
Contemporary African borderland is an area of intensive urban life concentrating people within the
cities, as well as creating origins of semi-urban culture. Borderness does not only have literal dimension,
but it can also be understood metaphorically – as a feeling of liminality, discontinuity, temporality, thus
resembling the middle stage of van Gennep`s rites of passage. Both general dimensions are equally
responsible for unique cultural reality.
In this article I will look into different manifestations of borderlandness in modern reality of Juba town – not only dynamic urban centre of African borderland, but also a capital of semi-independent country – Southern Sudan. In addition, I will present a specificity of local urbanism influenced by multidimensional borderlandness. Finally, I shall expose how useful the concept of borderland may be in an analysis of modern African urbanization. Presented phenomenon was an object of my ethnographic investigation during three field studies in Juba in 2007–2008. Conducted research project called “Juba – centre of cultures and conflicts” was financially supported by the Ministry of Science and Higher Education of the Republic of Poland.
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