Akira Takada | Akateeminen Kirjakauppa

The !Xun are a San people living in the Kalahari Desert in Namibia, Botswana, and in Angola. In this book, the cultural and ecological foundations of ethnicity of the !Xun provide a case study for an intensive regional structural comparison of Ju societies. Long known to Western Europe as the 'Bushmen', the San consist of various groups distinguished by language, locale, and practice.

Narratives on San Ethnicity focuses on the !Xun who have lived in north-central Namibia for centuries, and it adopts a life story approach to understand the lived histories of the people. The book looks at inter-ethnic relationships and the multi-dimensional associations with neighbouring groups, particularly the Owambo and Akhoe. It scrutinises kinship and naming terminologies, transitions of ethnicity, the interplay between ethnicity and familial/kin relationships, and the reorganisation of environmental features that effect child socialisation. Narratives on San Ethnicity provides a valuable research perspective in San studies and in the emerging anthropology of their life-world. It is a significant addition to the small body of anthropological studies on the !Xun.