The work of David Lewis-Williams, as it has been developed through the Rock Art Unit at the University of the Witwatersrand, has been seminal in providing a paradigm which places the problems of the interpretation of South African rock art in an entirely new light. This volume brings together the work of a number of scholars in the field of rock art studies who engage the so-called "trance hypothesis" in terms of their own empirical data and theoretical interests. The consensus is that the hypothesis is basically correct, but questions are raised about points of detail and the applicability of the hypothesis to all paintings and engravings. Many of the chapters engage in wider issues that impinge on other disciplines, such as linguistics and folklore studies, and demonstrate the relationship between them and the art. The editors give an overview of the development of rock art studies which aims to provide a contribution to the epistomological problems of this type of research, showing how the approach has been modified in the light of criticisms and new insights.

Contested Images

History

Dowson, Thomas

Lewis-Williams, David

Africa

Witwatersrand Univ Pr

<p>A guide for interpreting the mfecane's role in history Was the mfecane a figment of historians' imagination as Julian Cobbing contends? How large a responsibility do Shaka and the Zulu people bear for the social turbulence in South-central and South-east Africa in the early decades of the 19th century? These are some of the issues explored in this collection, which is designed as a response to the radical critique of Dr. Cobbing and other scholars. The mfecane, suggests Cobbing, must be seen as a myth lying at the root of a set of interlinked assumptions and distortions that have seriously twisted our understanding of the main historical processes of late 18th- and early 19th-century Southern Africa. Contributors to this collection assess the implications of this critique for scholars from a range of disciplines, notably history, anthropology, archaeology, history of art and African languages. But the book is not only about the debate over Cobbing's work; it is also an indicator of the state of current scholarship in Southern Africa in the 18th and 19th centuries and, because it raises questions about the nature of sources and, indeed, about the nature of historical debate itself, it is also about historiography. This book should provide a useful guide for students starting out in this field, as well as a resource for established scholars seeking their way through the textual intricacies of varied editions and secondary texts that become the primary sources for historiographical debate. </p>

The Mfecane Aftermath: Reconstructive Debates in Southern African History

Wright, John

Hall, Simon

Hamilton, Carolyn

Saunders, Christopher

Gewald, Jan-Bart

Wylie, Dan

Parsons, Neil

Eldredge, Elizabeth

ETHERINGTON, Norman

Hartley, Guy

Kinsman, Margaret

Manson, Andrew

Omer-Cooper, John

Peires, Jeff

Webster, Alan

Wits University Press

Images of Power: Images of San Rock Art [Jan 01, 2000] Lewis-Williams, David J. and Dowson, Thomas ... 1868725510

Images of Power: Images of San Rock Art

Struik Publishers (Pty) Ltd

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