{"product_id":"9798216396185","title":"Language of Myth and Art Performance and Orality in San Bushman Expressive Culture","description":"\u003ch1\u003eLanguage of Myth and Art\u003c\/h1\u003e\u003ch2\u003ePerformance and Orality in San Bushman Expressive Culture\u003c\/h2\u003e\u003ch3\u003eDavid M. Witelson | J David Lewis-Williams\u003c\/h3\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cb\u003eSocial Science \/ Anthropology \/ Cultural \u0026amp; Social\u003c\/b\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003eIn 'primary oral societies', notions of repetition, addition, malleability of characters and agonistic contexts in narrative myths differ markedly from Western notions of time, orthodoxy and tediousness. What Western audiences and image-viewers expect as a consequence of their cultural background does not match the expectations of those who belong to oral societies. In \u003ci\u003eThe Language of Myth and Art\u003c\/i\u003e, Witelson and Lewis-Williams strive to distance the language of Western myth and art from that of San myths and rock art.\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003eThe book argues that Western categories such as 'myth' and 'art' obscure the inner logic of Indigenous San (Bushman) expressive culture. Drawing on performance theory and the principles of orality, they show that nineteenth-century |Xam and related San languages illuminate the chains of allusion and metaphor that pervade everyday speech and performances of myth, ritual, and image-making. By placing language at the center of interpretation, \u003ci\u003eThe Language of Myth and Art\u003c\/i\u003e offers a new approach to the expressive culture of oral societies, with implications far beyond southern Africa.\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cdiv\u003e\u003cp\u003e\u003cb\u003eDavid M. Witelson\u003c\/b\u003e is a Marie Sklodowska-Curie Post-doctoral Fellow in the School of Archaeology at the University of Oxford researching unity and diversity across southern African hunter-gatherers. He has authored two monographs on rock art and performance, \u003ci\u003eA Painted Ridge\u003c\/i\u003e (2019, Archaeopress) and \u003ci\u003eTheatres of Imagery\u003c\/i\u003e (2023, BAR Publishing).\u003cbr\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003cb\u003eJ. David Lewis-Williams \u003c\/b\u003eis Professor Emeritus in the Rock Art Research Institute in Johannesburg. He is the author of numerous books on hunter-gatherer religion, myth and rock art, including\u003ci\u003e Believing and Seeing\u003c\/i\u003e (1981, Academic Press), \u003ci\u003eThe Mind in the Cave \u003c\/i\u003e(2002, Thames and Hudson) and\u003ci\u003e Image-Makers\u003c\/i\u003e (2019, Cambridge University Press).\u003c\/p\u003e\u003c\/div\u003e\u003cbr\u003e\u003ctable\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublication Date: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e15 October 2026\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePublisher: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eImprint: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eBloomsbury Academic\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eISBN-13: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e9798216396185\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eFormat: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eHardback\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003ePage Count: \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e344\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003ctr\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003eWeight (oz): \u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003ctd\u003e23.2\u003c\/td\u003e\n\u003c\/tr\u003e\n\u003c\/table\u003e","brand":"Bloomsbury Academic","offers":[{"title":"Default Title","offer_id":51333862457484,"sku":"9798216396185","price":108.0,"currency_code":"USD","in_stock":true}],"thumbnail_url":"\/\/cdn.shopify.com\/s\/files\/1\/0710\/9545\/1788\/files\/getimage_509cb60a-7c64-4d2d-9936-83cb8a048296.jpg?v=1783617187","url":"https:\/\/fh90cf-fv.myshopify.com\/products\/9798216396185","provider":"Late Knight Books and Services, LLC","version":"1.0","type":"link"}