Reading Colonial Landscapes

The topic of today's lecture is the development of colonial science and the boundary between humanity and nature.  We will also focus on archaeology as a science in the Western Cape.  We will look at rock art as evidence and ask humanities-based research questions.  Dr. Mitchell claims that the colonial development was intertwined with the development of science.  Europeans grew more interested in South Africa as they pursued scientific knowledge about the land, flora, fauna and local people.  Collaboration was often needed from the locals, although the white scientists were often in a significant position of power over the locals.

Wilhelm Bleek, a linguist, studied the Zulu language in the 19th language.  His first exposure to the language was through prisoners.  He eventually received permission to have prisoners and their wives live with him and his family.  Bleek, his wife Jemima Lloyd, his daughter Dorothea and his sister-in-law, Lucy Lloyd, created a series of notebooks.  The notebooks began as linguistic inquiry and eventually transformed into ethnographic interviews about the Khoisan culture.  These books are now stored in an archive at the library at the University of Capetown.  An archive is a selected series of materials stored together and made available to scholars to have an in-depth set of materials to study.

It is unclear to what extent some of the locals participated willingly in helping European scientists and researchers.  In some cases, travelers interacted with locals as equal in market exchange.  In another case, a group of Khoisan were captured and brought to London on display.  Some of Bleek's collaborators were perhaps less than enthusiastic, but many seem to be very interested in participating. But we cannot deny that there were differences in power.  Consider the authors for the books Speciments of Bushman Folklore.  Both Wilhelm and Lucy are listed as authors, even though Bleek had been dead for decades and Lucy was responsible for the bulk of the content.  Because a woman had limited authority and legitimacy, a male author gave legitimacy to the project.  Also, there may be a dedication "To All Faithful Workers", but none of the collaborators, including ||kabbo, who was a significant contributor, are listed as authors.

Now let's consider representation of landscape and local people.  The cover for Le Vaillant's book is an image of animals and the landscape with a single European gentleman looking on.  There are no buildings or interactions with locals depicted in the image.  At this time, there was also a strong interest in phrenology, or head size and shape.  Archaeology has been and still is a main way of studying the culture of locals in the area.  Rock art has been a main subject of inquiry for archaeologists.   The rock art depicts initiation rituals and significant animals and experiences.  Entoptic lines, or series of zig-zag lines, indicate a spiritual importance and transformation.