Perceptions of Bushmen Culture Essay - 1399 Words

In the 1800s Europeans discovered Saartjie Baartman, a South African Bushman woman. They called her the Hottentot Venus and exploited her mainly because of her physical and cultural differences. Hottentot, Khoisan, San and Bushmen are all common names for the group of indigenous people of which she belonged. These people have been largely viewed by Western society as â€Å"savages who were part human, part animal† and considered to be â€Å"the lowest rung in the ladder of human development.† This unilateral yet widespread notoriety has existed since the 1800s and many of the banal conceptions of the Bushmen have remained unchanged through the course of modern history. This paper will be general overview of Bushmen culture. It will describe some of†¦show more content†¦Early anthropologists believed that because the Bushmen preserved a pre-industrial, pre-literate lifestyle, even throughout the 19th and 20th century, that they could be considered in likeness t o people that lived in prehistoric times. This misconception has aided the western world’s misunderstanding, lack of appreciation and caricature view of the Bushmen. It is also important to discern the terminology used to describe the people we call the Bushmen. â€Å"Bushmen† is probably the most common name used to describe the group of South Africans that are being talked about in this essay. Although they are commonly referred to as â€Å"Bushmen†, this is a generic name that does not take into account the many ethnic groups that exist under this umbrella. The word Bushmen itself has a negative connotation; meaning ‘orangutan’ in Malay, it can be considered a derogatory term not unlike ‘wetback’. Nineteenth and early twentieth century anthropologist have ascribed many of the names that are used to describe this group of people. The second most commonly used classificatory name is Khoisan. Alan Barnard explains that the word â⠂¬ËœKhoisan’ itself is like ‘Austronesian’ or ‘Indo-European’, it has been artificially constructed for concision. Anthropologists have also called populations of Bushmen, simply, the ‘San’. However, the name San originated within the native population to make a distinction aboutShow MoreRelatedEating Christmas in Kalahari Essay1000 Words   |  4 PagesCommunity College Sociology 111 November 8, 2014 Confusion in Cultures The perception of foreign cultures can at times be quite peculiar. The article â€Å"Eating Christmas in Kalahari† by Richard Borshay Lee, foretells a classic example of cross culture misunderstanding when people from different cultures operate in a culturally unfamiliar environment. 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