Portal de Periódicos da CAPES

Des murs d'Augsbourg aux vitrines du Cap. Cinq siècles d'histoire du regard sur le corps des Khoisan

1999; Éditions de l'EHESS; Volume: 39; Issue: 155 Linguagem: Inglês

10.3406/cea.1999.1764

1777-5353

François-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar,

Historical Studies and Socio-cultural Analysis

<i>Abstract From the Walls of Augsburg to the Showcases of the Cape: Five Centuries of Viewing Khoisan Bodies. </i>— The inhabitants of the southern most part of Africa were, quite early, taken to be objects at which Westerners gazed with curiosity. As a liminal population, they hold a major place in the way the West views Others. The long history of the exhibition places of Khoisan bodies sheds light on shifts in the way the Hottentots and Bushmen were viewed. From murais to showcases, from tropical gardens to museums, we see body postures, poses, and shapes. This history of the construction of a radically strange object brings to light variations in the West's ontological quest. The "authenticity" of objects is a key problem; it is still raised in the same terms now that a Khoisan identity is being revived.