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Diagram
of a sick man drawn by a !Kung youth
Dated 25 January 1880
Courtesy
of the National Library South Africa
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Bleek's studies of San languages
late
19th century
Wilhelm
Heinrich Bleek was the first person to conduct
a formal study of any of the Southern African
San languages. He travelled to South Africa in
the early 1850s, moving to Cape Town in 1856,
where he was able to concentrate on his major
work, the Comparative Grammar of South African
Languages.
Bleek
published an article in 1869 on 'Bushmen' languages.
The manuscript page on exhibition, from this article,
outlines Bleek's understanding of singular and
plural forms of various nouns. In 1870, following
the imprisonment by the colonial government in
Cape Town of groups of San men, Bleek had a unique
opportunity to study the !Xam language of the
San. With the assistance of his sister-in-law,
Lucy Lloyd, he spent from 1870 to 1875 diligently
recording as much information as possible. To
facilitate this process, Bleek arranged for the
prisoners to be released into his care, and they
moved onto his farm.
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Wilhelm
Heinrich Bleek (18271875)
A page from a manuscript detailing singular
and plural forms of the !Xam language 1869
Courtesy of the National Library South Africa |
W.H.
Hermann
A family portrait of #kasin, his wife
!kweiten ta//ken, their four young children
and another unnamed woman—together illustrating
one of the key !Xam groups that worked with
Bleek and Lloyd in documenting !Xam language,
mythology and customs.
Taken between June 1874 and January 1875
Courtesy of the National Library South Africa |
One
particular !Xam group is represented in the family
portrait on exhibition. This is the family of
#Kasin (an ex-prisoner), his wife !Kweiten ta//ken,
and their four young children. The portrait, which
also includes an unknown woman, was taken between
June 1874 and January 1875 when the family lived
as a group on Bleek's farm.
Bleek's
first Bushman Report was published in 1873.
The second report, A Brief Account of Bushman
Folklore and Other Texts, was published in
1875, the year of his death. Both Lucy Lloyd and
his daughter Dorothea continued and completed
Bleek's pioneering studies. Between 1879 and 1881,
Lloyd was able to learn about a San language other
than !Xam. At this time four !Kung youths lived
on the Bleek farm. They created a large collection
of illustrations in pencil, charcoal, colour pencils
and watercolours. The drawing on exhibition appears
to detail a !Kung healing ritual.
The
National Library of South Africa’s Wilhelm Bleek
Collection, along with the University of Cape
Town’s Wilhelm Bleek Collection, was inscribed
on UNESCO’s Memory of the World Register in August
2000.
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