Miscast. Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen

Miscast: Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen explores the term "Bushman" and the relationships that gave rise to it.
Martin, Marilyn; Davison, Patricia; Greenblatt, Stephen; Chidester, David; Glenn, Ian; Ross, Robert; Morris, Alan G.; Penn, Nigel; Deacon, Janett; Godby, Michael; Landau, Paul S.; Hall, Martin; Wilmsen, Edwin; Mazel, Aron; Jolly, Pieter; Prins, Frans E.;
05-0000
0-7992-1652-6
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Title: Miscast
Subtitle: Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen
Editor: Pippa Skotnes
Contributers: Marilyn Martin; Patricia Davison; Pippa Skotnes; Stephen Greenblatt; David Chidester; Ian Glenn; Robert Ross; Alan G. Morris; Nigel Penn; Janette Deacon; Michael Godby; Paul S. Landau; Martin Hall; Edwin Wilmsen; Aron Mazel; Pieter Jolly; Frans E. Prins; Mathias Guenther; Alan Barnard; Andrew B. Smith; Rob Gordon; Ciraj Rassool; Leslie Witz; Barbara Buntman; John Parkington; Anne Solomon; Deirdre Hansen; J. David Lewis-Williams; Thomas Dowson; John Sharp; Stuart Douglas; Paul Weinberg; Carmel Schrire

Publisher: University of Cape Town Press
Cape Town, South Africa 1996
ISBN 0799216526 / ISBN 0-7992-1652-6
Original softcover, 23 x 29 cm, 383 pages, throughout illustrated

About: Miscast. Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen

In Miscast: Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen, eminent scholars explore the term 'Bushman', and the relationships that gave rise to it, from the perspectives of anthropology, archaeology, comparative religion, literary studies, art history, and musicology. Topics as diverse as trophy heads and museums, to the destruction of the Cape San, and appraisals of nineteenth-century photographic practices, are examined. A parallel text runs throughout the book and provides a counter narrative to the central discourses.

Miscast: Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen is richly illustrated with previously unpublished photographs and documents from many archives and museum collections. Although the category 'bushman' is a European construction, the images and representations of Bushmen which survive are not merely products of the European imagination. While an examination of these images tells us more about the Europeans than about the people they sought to represent, it tells us most about the relationships that existed between Khoisan communities and individuals, and the strangers who came and occupied their land.

That these relationships were severely imbalanced in terms of power is witnessed by the extreme objectification of individuals in, for example, the anthropometric studies of the late nineteenth century. That these relationships resulted in the loss of thousands of lives, in multiple language death and cultural genocide, is evidenced in the images of trophy heads, hangings, prison victims and starvation. That these relationships also reflected the rarer moments of mutual respect and a common humanity, is witnessed in the life work of Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd, which resulted in the closest thing we have to a 'Bushman voice' from the nineteenth century.

Content: Miscast. Negotiating the Presence of the Bushmen

Contents
Essays and Parallel Text
Forewords
(Marilyn Martin and Patricia Davison)
Acknowledgements
Introduction
(Pippa Skotnes)
Mutilation and Meaning (Stephen Greenblatt)
Mutilating Meaning: European Interpretations of Khoisan Languages of the body (David Chidester)
Running before that wind: A Parallel Text (Pippa Skotnes)
The Bushman in Early South African Literature (Ian Glenn)
Bushman Religion: Open, Closed, and New Frontiers (David Chidester)
The Self-Image of Jacob Adams (Robert Ross)
Trophy Skulls, Museums and the San (Alan G. Morris)
"Fated to Perish": The Destruction of the Cape San (Nigel Penn)
A Tale of Two Families: Wilhelm Bleek, Lucy Lloyd and the /Xam San of the Northern Cape (Janette Deacon)
Images of //Kabbo (Michael Godby)
With Camera and Gun in Southern Africa: c. 1880 to 1935 (Paul S. Landau)
The Proximity of Dr Bleek's Bushman (Martin Hall)
!Khwa-Ka Hhouiten Hhouiten, "The Rush of Steps Toward Cleansing the Bushman Stain (Edwin Wilmsen)
In Pursuit of San Pre-colonial History in the Natal Drakensberg: A Historical Overview (Aron Mazel)
Between the Lines: Some Remarks on 'Bushman' Ethnicity (Pieter Jolly)
Praise to the Bushman Ancestors of the Water: The Integration of San-related Concepts in the Beliefs and Ritual of a Diviners' Training School in Tsolo, Eastern Cape (Frans E. Prins)
From 'Lords of the Desert' to 'Rubbish People': The Colonial and Contemporary State of the Nharo of Botswana (Mathias Guenther)
Laurens van der Post and the Kalahari Debate (Alan Barnard)
Khoi/San Relationships: Marginal Differences or Ethnicity? (Andrew B. Smith)
Fashioning the Bushman in Van Riebeeck's Cape Town, 1952 and 1993 (Rob Gordon, Ciraj Rassool and Leslie Witz)
Bushman Images in South African Tourist Advertising: The case of Kagga Kamma (Barbara Buntman)
What is an Eland? Mao and the Politics of Age and Sex in the Paintings of the Western Cape (John Parkington)
Some Questions about Style and Authorship in Later San Paintings (Anne Solomon)
Bushman Music: Still an Unknown (Deirdre Hansen)
"The Ideas Generally Entertained with Regard to the Bushmen and their Mental Condition" (J. David Lewis-Williams)
Re-production and Consumption: The Use of Rock Art Imagery in Southern Africa Today (Thomas Dowson)
Prisoners of their Reputation? The Veterans of the 'Bushman' Battalions in South Africa (John Sharp and Stuart Douglas)
Footprints in the Sand (Paul Weinberg)
Native Views of Western Eyes (Carmel Schrire)
Notes on the Contributors
Notes
Abbreviations and References
Index