J.D. Lewis-Williams one of the leading South African archaeologists and ethnographers excavates meaning from the complex mythological stories of the San-Bushmen to create a larger theory of how myth is used in culture. He extracts their “nuggets ” the far-reaching but often unspoken words and concepts of language and understanding that are opaque to outsiders to establish a more nuanced theory of the role of these myths in the thought-world and social circumstances of the San. The book -draws from the unique 19th century Bleek/Lloyd archives more recent ethnographic work and San rock art;-includes well-known San stories such as The Broken String Mantis Dreams and Creation of the Eland;-extrapolates from our understanding of San mythology into a larger model of how people create meaning from myth. |Myth and Meaning San-Bushman Folklore in Global Context | Anthropology
