The courage of //kabbo

About this book

"The year 2011 marked the centenary of the publication of Wilhelm Bleek and Lucy Lloyd's publication, Specimens of Bushman Folklore, a unique and globally important record of the language and poetry of the now-extinct language of the /xam Bushmen. This edited volume celebrates this anniversary. It is named after //kabbo, a prisoner released from the Breakwater Convict Station in the 1870s, who remained in Cape Town far from home and family and sacrificed the freedom of his final years to teach Bleek and Lloyd his language and make his stories known by way of books. The stories in the Bleek and Lloyd archive are now all that remains of the world view of the /xam. Chapters by a range of experts from a wide array of disciplines comment on the past and present treatment of Bushmen and attempts to keep their culture alive. They deal with issues of archival research and publication, with the difficulties of understanding oral literature through writing and with the active curation of archives. And they explore the world view of different groups of Bushmen through rock art, the paintings done for Bleek and Lloyd, their poetry and their language."--Publisher's website.