Structure, meaning & ritual in the narratives of the southern San

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Title:

Author:

Hewitt, Roger.

ISBN:

9781868144709

Personal Author:

Hewitt, Roger.

Edition:

2nd ed.

Publication Information:

Johannesburg : Wits University Press, 2008.

Physical Description:

x, 254 pages ; 23 cm.

Series:

The Khoisan heritage series

Khoisan heritage series.

General Note:

First ed. published: Hamburg, Germany : H. Buske, 1986.

Contents:

Ethnographic background -- Introduction to the narratives: their context, performance and scope -- Legends and stories of!Khwa -- Sidereal narratives: the story of the Dawn's Heart and his wife the Lynx -- Animal narratives -- /Kaggen in belief and ritual -- The /Kaggen narratives: (1): characters and content -- The /Kaggen narratives (2): sequence and structure -- /Kaggen in belief, ritual and narrative: a synthesis -- Two /Kaggen narratives: compositional variations -- The verbal surface: a note on the narrators.

Abstract:

"Structure, Meaning and Ritual in the Narratives of the Southern San 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 the traditions of the /Xam, South Africa's "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.

Subject Term:

San (African people) -- Folklore.

Tales -- South Africa.

San (African people) -- Social life and customs.

Electronic Access:

Contributor biographical information http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1402/2009521217-b.html
Publisher description http://catdir.loc.gov/catdir/enhancements/fy1402/2009521217-d.html

Copies:

Available:*

Library	Material Type	Item Barcode	Shelf Number	Copy	Status
Searching... 1:IIEMSA	1:GEN-BOOK	33168025762879	398.2089961 H611S 2008	1	Searching... Unknown

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Summary

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.