Reddy, Vasu2018-02-222018-02-222017-03Reddy, V 2017, 'Antropologiese aantekeninge by Opperman se 'Ringdans van die Hamerkoppe'', Stilet: Tydskrif vir die Afrikaanse Letterkundevereniging, vol. 28, no. 1, pp. 117-135.1013-4573http://hdl.handle.net/2263/64025This article provides an anthropological reading of one of Opperman’s early poems, “Ringdans van die hamerkoppe” (Blom en Baaierd, 1956). The argument motivates a perspective on Opperman that emphasises his role as a poetethnographer who in this poem also displays elements of the poem-shaman in recuperating salient elements of the cultural world of the Zulu, as seen through the focalisation of the speaker in this text. The article motivates a reading that challenges initial reception of the text that viewed the text as a depiction of the tragedy of an old man, and opts for a perspective that recognises the multi-layered meanings that the text espouses. The article concludes that an anthropology, and an anthropological interpretation cannot disallow the rhetorical dimensions of the text.AfrikaansAfrikaanse LetterkundeverenigingPoet-ethnographerPoemZuluRingdans van die hamerkoppeArticle