Another Look at John Marshall and the Ju/’hoansi: Reassessing a Documentary Lifetime

Abstract

A reassessment of the Marshall family expeditions in the 1950s and the films in the Kalahari is offered. What was learned by the Marshalls, as pioneers of visual anthropology, is examined through the investigations of several later scholars, filmmakers and archivists. This article draws on the semiotics of C. S. Peirce in light of his discussion of how things appear (phaneroscopy), backgrounded research and image ethics, and my own field work amongst Kalahari Desert communities. It examines the principles and contradictions that arise from the Marshalls’ research and imaging with the Ju/’hoansi people. Some new semiotic insights regarding representation and researcher position, and observer–observed relationships, are offered here.

ACKNOWLEDGMENTS

Aspects of my discussion on Peirce resulted from discussion with the late Arnold Shepperson. My thanks also to Julie Grant and Varona Sathiyah, and a National Research Foundation ratings grant that sponsored the 2019 visit. Our thanks to TUCSIN, the University Centre for Studies in Namibia, for its assistance and seminar on the topic, held in Windhoek in October 2019. Ilisa Barbash assisted with the provision of photographs taken in the mid-1950s. Partial funding for the 2019 visit was provided by the National Research Foundation.

Additional information

Notes on contributors

Keyan G. Tomaselli

Keyan G. Tomaselli is a Distinguished Professor in the Department of Communication, University of Johannesburg in South Africa. He also serves as a book review editor for this journal. E-mail: [email protected]