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UCL Mellon Programme: Interdisciplinary Seminar 2006-2007

Seminar: 22 November 2006

Dr Roger Hewitt, Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths, University of London. More ...

Abstract: Translating the Political Aesthetics of Oral Literature

In late 19 th century South Africa an important collection of oral literature was made by linguist W.H. I. Bleek and his sister-in-law Lucy Lloyd. Narratives, songs and a vast amount of ethnographic information was gathered from /Xam ('Bushman') prisoners in prison in Cape Town harbour. This collection proved to be the last expressive moment of the /Xam who had suffered over 150 years of genocidal persecution from Boer farmers, aggravated by a later period of attack from Korana herders. Within a few years they were an extinct people. The talk will explore the task of the translators in the context of these realities and those of racism and European culture more widely.

Dr Roger Hewitt is Senior Research Associate in the Centre for Urban and Community Research, Goldsmiths. The relationship between language and the social has been a major thread in his work over a number of years. He is best known for his contributions to the sociology of racism. Both of these areas are reflected in his books White Talk Black Talk: Inter-racial Friendship and Communication Amongst Adolescents (CUP1986) and White Backlash and the Politics of Multiculturalism (CUP 2005.) He also published a book length study of /Xam oral narrative: Structure, Meaning and Ritual in the Narratives of the Southern San. (Buske, 1986.)

This page last modified 8 February, 2012 by UCL Mellon Admin