Structure, Meaning and Ritual in the Narratives of the Southern San. Quellen Zur Khoisan-Forschung Band 2 [Association Copy]

Hewitt, Roger L.

ISBN 10: 3871187623 / ISBN 13: 9783871187629

Published by Helmut Buske, Hamburg, 1986

About this Item

305pp, [5], bound in stiff paper covers, with the binding and hinges tight. From the personal collection of Lorna Marshall (1898-2002], a well known anthropologist that lived among the !Kung people of the Kalahari Desert, and author of several books based on her studies. With Lorna Marshall's notes in this copy.

Seller Inventory # 008059

Bibliographic Details

• Title: Structure, Meaning and Ritual in the Narratives of the Southern San. Quellen Zur Khoisan-Forschung Band 2 [Association Copy]
• Publisher: Helmut Buske, Hamburg
• Publication Date: 1986
• Language: English
• ISBN 10: 3871187623
• ISBN 13: 9783871187629
• Binding: Soft cover
• Condition: Good++
• Seller catalogs:
  • Archaeology/Anthropolgy/Ethnology

About this title

Synopsis

Analyses texts drawn from the Bleek and Lloyd Archive, arguably one of the most important collections for the understanding of South African cultural heritage and in particular the traditions of the /Xam, South Africas first people.

Initially appearing in a now rare 1986 edition and here re-issued for the first time, the doctoral thesis on which the book is based became the catalyst for much scholarly research. The book offers an analysis of the entire corpus of /Xam narratives found in the Bleek and Lloyd collection, focusing particularly on the cycle of narratives concerning the trickster /Kaggen (Mantis). These are examined on three levels from the 'deep structures' with resonances in other areas of /Xam culture and supernatural belief, through the recurring patterns of narrative composition apparent across the cycle and finally touching on the observable differences in the performances by the various /Xam collaborators.
Hewitt's text remains the only comprehensive and detailed study of /Xam narrative, and it has become itself the object of study by researchers and PhD candidates in South Africa, the United Kingdom, Canada and elsewhere. This new edition at last makes Hewitt's important work more widely available. It will be a welcome addition to the recently burgeoning literature on the place of the /Xam hunter-gatherers in the complex history of South African culture and society.

About the Author

Roger Hewitt is Professor of Sociology and Deputy Director at the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London, United Kingdom.