How is Bapedi marriage visualised in the Hoffmann and Van Warmelo ethnographic collections?

Abstract

This study compares two sets of ethnographic resources which were produced a generation apart, by two different ethnographers with the assistance of different groups of interlocutors working in the same area, amongst people claiming to have an association with the Mamabolo community. The first collection to be assessed is that of a Berlin Missionary Carl Adolf Hoffmann who was stationed in the area from 1904 till 1934. The second set of material is that of Dr. N.J. van Warmelo who was the chief ethnologist in the Department of Native Affairs from 1930 till 1969. In its comparison, this study analyses the marriage custom of Bapedi and how the ethnographers visualised it. The study does so by reviewing the collections in depth, looking at: the role of interlocutors and ethnographers, and establishing what the information in these collections represents (its visuality), as well as Hoffmann’s and Van Warmelo’s portrayal of Bapedi marriage custom. The study seeks to find similaries or disparities between the two collections’ rendition of Bapedi marriage, seeing that the ethnographers and interlocutors were from two different generations. The study addresses the limitations of the textual medium which seems, over the years, to have contributed to the misconception that tradition is fixed and rigid. Moreover, the study highlights how visuality is not only limited to images (pictures, drawings, diagrams, etc.) by advocating for orature as visuality. It does so by substantiating how words (especially written words) have the power and influence to create visuality.