“Midts conditie dat sy vee souden brenghen”: Representasies van koloniale kontrakte uit die 17de eeu
Year: 1998
Type: article
Abstract: Summary Through representations in their travel texts Europeans possessed the new worlds. Representation in the seventeenth century was more than just descriptions of the other; there was a relationship to order and knowledge; and a coherence between representation and language, nature, wealth and value. The signs of the mercantilists of the VOC (Dutch East India Company) for exchange and trade transactions from the first descriptions of encounters with the indigene raise the question of contact between one system of representation with another. The patterns of these contacts are mapped regarding the first gifts and exchange “contracts”, and the reactions of the indigene regarding exchange and value. The first visitors’ and settlers’ necessity is initially stronger than the desire for wealth. Unsatisfactory transactions are made through unequal exchanges and the representative roles of mediators. From the descriptions of exchanges and contracts an attempt can be made to read the reactions of the Khoikhoi ‐ from their actions and silences. The ultimate contracts and unequal exchanges happened with acquisition of land.
Source: Journal of Literary Studies
Author: Ampie Coetzee
Institution: University of the Western Cape
Language: Afrikaans
Subfield: History
Field: Arts and Humanities
Domain: Social Sciences
Open Access status: gold
Estimated APC paid: $388
OpenAlex ID: W2031216476