Contested Images : Diversity in Southern African Rock Art Research

Thomas A. Dowson ; David Lewis-Williams (eds.)

ISBN 10: 1868142469 / ISBN 13: 9781868142460

Verlag: Witwatersrand University Press, 43, 2001

Beschreibung

Text in English. 437 pp. Rock art, once considered by most to be merely a 'quaint' representation ot the lite-style and vision of a 'primitive' people, is assuming an ever greater importance in academic debate. Rock art research, believed by some to be the field of the future, may well play a prominent role in the understanding of Southern African history at this time when received colonial perspectives are being rejected. Certainly, its integration with archaeology is producing an increasingly complete picture of changing settlement and ideology over the last two thousand years. New theoretical developments are opening up the field in ways that were undreamed of in the past and, in exploring some of them, this collection of papers offers a way to better understanding of a once neglected art form. The volume brings together the work of a number of scholars who have critically examined what has come to be known as the 'trance hypothesis'. Though they reach consensus about the value of the hypothesis, they raise questions 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, demonstrating the relationship between them and rock art. The work includes an overview of the development of rock art studies, showing how the approach has been modified in the light of criticisms and new insights. Bestandsnummer des Verkäufers 4693

Bibliografische Details

Titel: Contested Images : Diversity in Southern ...

Verlag: Witwatersrand University Press, 43

Erscheinungsdatum: 2001

Einband: Soft Cover

Zustand: Near Fine

Über diesen Titel

Inhaltsangabe:

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.