Megan Biesele - Academia.edu (original) (raw)
Papers by Megan Biesele
Routledge eBooks, Jul 11, 2022
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1994
Cultural survival quarterly, 2002
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa
To dress is a uniquely human experience, but practices and meanings of dress vary greatly among p... more To dress is a uniquely human experience, but practices and meanings of dress vary greatly among people. In a Western cultural tradition, the practice of dressing 'properly' has for centuries distinguished 'civilised' people from 'savages'. Through travel literature and historical ethnographic descriptions of the Bushmen of southern Africa, such perceptions and prejudices have made their mark also on the modern research tradition. Because Bushmen were widely considered to be 'nearly naked' the study of dress has played a limited part in academic writings on Bushman culture. In Dress as Social Relations Vibeke Maria Viestad challenges this myth of the nearly naked Bushman and provides an interdisciplinary study of Bushman dress, as it is represented in the archives and material culture of historical Bushman communities. Maintaining a critical perspective, Viestad provides an interpretation of the signifi cance of dress for historical Bushman people. Dress, she argues, formed an embodied practice of social relations between humans, animals and other powerful beings of the Bushman world; moreover, this complex and meaningful practice was intimately related to subsistence strategies and social identity. The historical collections under scrutiny present a wide variety of research material representing different aspects of the bodily practice of dress. Whereas the Bleek & Lloyd archive of oral myths and narratives has become renowned for its great research potential, the artefact collections of Dorothea Bleek and Louis Fourie are much less known and have not earlier been published in a richly illustrated and comprehensive way. Dress as Social Relations is aimed at scholars and students of archaeology, anthropology, material culture studies, dress studies, ethnographic studies, museology, culture historical studies and African studies, but will also be of interest to people of descendant communities.
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 00671990902795889, Apr 1, 2009
Critical Arts, Jul 1, 2000
Botswana Notes and Records, 1996
... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way ... more ... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way or another their studies have attempted to document the pace of change and its impacts. For some anthropologists, however, the magnitude of the trauma experienced by the Ju/' ...
Cultural Anthropology, Mar 5, 2013
Cultural Survival Quarterly, 2002
Botswana Notes and Records, 1972
ZooKeys, 2016
The use of archery to hunt appears relatively late in human history. It is poorly understood but ... more The use of archery to hunt appears relatively late in human history. It is poorly understood but the application of poisons to arrows to increase lethality must have occurred shortly after developing bow hunting methods; these early multi-stage transitions represent cognitive shifts in human evolution. This paper is a synthesis of widely-scattered literature in anthropology, entomology, and chemistry, dealing with San ("Bushmen") arrow poisons. The term San (or Khoisan) covers many indigenous groups using so-called 'click languages' in southern Africa. Beetles are used for arrow poison by at least eight San groups and one non-San group. Fieldwork and interviews with Ju|'hoan and Hai||om hunters in Namibia revealed major differences in the nature and preparation of arrow poisons, bow and arrow construction, and poison antidote. Ju|'hoan hunters use leaf-beetle larvae of Diamphidia Gerstaecker and Polyclada Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) col...
Cultural Survival Quarterly, 2003
Routledge eBooks, Jul 11, 2022
The International Journal of African Historical Studies, 1994
Cultural survival quarterly, 2002
Transactions of the Royal Society of South Africa
To dress is a uniquely human experience, but practices and meanings of dress vary greatly among p... more To dress is a uniquely human experience, but practices and meanings of dress vary greatly among people. In a Western cultural tradition, the practice of dressing 'properly' has for centuries distinguished 'civilised' people from 'savages'. Through travel literature and historical ethnographic descriptions of the Bushmen of southern Africa, such perceptions and prejudices have made their mark also on the modern research tradition. Because Bushmen were widely considered to be 'nearly naked' the study of dress has played a limited part in academic writings on Bushman culture. In Dress as Social Relations Vibeke Maria Viestad challenges this myth of the nearly naked Bushman and provides an interdisciplinary study of Bushman dress, as it is represented in the archives and material culture of historical Bushman communities. Maintaining a critical perspective, Viestad provides an interpretation of the signifi cance of dress for historical Bushman people. Dress, she argues, formed an embodied practice of social relations between humans, animals and other powerful beings of the Bushman world; moreover, this complex and meaningful practice was intimately related to subsistence strategies and social identity. The historical collections under scrutiny present a wide variety of research material representing different aspects of the bodily practice of dress. Whereas the Bleek & Lloyd archive of oral myths and narratives has become renowned for its great research potential, the artefact collections of Dorothea Bleek and Louis Fourie are much less known and have not earlier been published in a richly illustrated and comprehensive way. Dress as Social Relations is aimed at scholars and students of archaeology, anthropology, material culture studies, dress studies, ethnographic studies, museology, culture historical studies and African studies, but will also be of interest to people of descendant communities.
Canadian Journal of African Studies / Revue canadienne des études africaines
Http Dx Doi Org 10 1080 00671990902795889, Apr 1, 2009
Critical Arts, Jul 1, 2000
Botswana Notes and Records, 1996
... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way ... more ... Ebert, Liz Cashdan, Renee Pennington, Helga Vierich, Jackie Solway and Eric Wood. In one way or another their studies have attempted to document the pace of change and its impacts. For some anthropologists, however, the magnitude of the trauma experienced by the Ju/' ...
Cultural Anthropology, Mar 5, 2013
Cultural Survival Quarterly, 2002
Botswana Notes and Records, 1972
ZooKeys, 2016
The use of archery to hunt appears relatively late in human history. It is poorly understood but ... more The use of archery to hunt appears relatively late in human history. It is poorly understood but the application of poisons to arrows to increase lethality must have occurred shortly after developing bow hunting methods; these early multi-stage transitions represent cognitive shifts in human evolution. This paper is a synthesis of widely-scattered literature in anthropology, entomology, and chemistry, dealing with San ("Bushmen") arrow poisons. The term San (or Khoisan) covers many indigenous groups using so-called 'click languages' in southern Africa. Beetles are used for arrow poison by at least eight San groups and one non-San group. Fieldwork and interviews with Ju|'hoan and Hai||om hunters in Namibia revealed major differences in the nature and preparation of arrow poisons, bow and arrow construction, and poison antidote. Ju|'hoan hunters use leaf-beetle larvae of Diamphidia Gerstaecker and Polyclada Chevrolat (Chrysomelidae: Galerucinae: Alticini) col...
Cultural Survival Quarterly, 2003
Writing Namibia: Literature in Transition, 2018