'rbi- •• , not be soornece$$ary if the book is meant for enter- taiuentrather than asacontributionto the debate on the .e41a and search for appropriate 6o~ution6. CMr. Rusere Nyongoni - NairQb.i) Hans ..Joachim Heinz .and MarshaU.Lee- Namkwa: Lifeamoilg the BnsbUJen.JonathaoCape London . 1978. 271 ,p.£6.50 Hans-Joachim Heinz's narrative of his ~ife among the San communi ties of the Ka~ahari in Botswana, is technically a well written book. It is free of either linguistic or conceptual complications, and is vivid in terms of the pictures and situa- tions it evokes. Thanks to the cooperation of Marshall Lee who collaborated with Hans-Joachim Heinz in the writing of the book. If this book had peen written perhaps thirty years ago, it would have been even better received, for in a way, its total import lacks sensitivity to modern critical anthropological thinking, and the sensibilities of the post-war gener.ation of Africans. particularly in Southern Africa would find Heinz's story subtly distaBtefu~. In her foreword to the bOOk, the late Margaret Mead writes that; "This book is a unique story of one of the more romantic episodes in the .history of the encounters between a European scientist aild a primitive, people. The encounter began as a scientific eXPedi- tion by a middle-age4 parasitologist into the Kalahari desert, where he fell in love with a Bushman girl, becaMe eilamoured of BUshman culture, ani! returned again and again, to investigate new aspects Bushman life, and finally to attempt introduce the .Bushmen to"a classic.al lIIueic,Bach,Lehal', Stolt. and Stl'a\UUI.",11.<»u:l.1;1 ...t•.1,. surfaces in darkest Africa to ~arry a pri~itive Afrioan girl. The underlying paternalism is undeniable. Also. the Namkwa 8t~g. of Heinz's life seems to be .the final stageofa rathet', to sar the least, s~range history of a young first-gene.ration German.- Ameriean ..... ho leaves America tor tl1eattractions of emerged Hitlerian Germany with ~ommittment enough to right as $. soldier for the Third Reich. Theautho):' informs us that. although he and his first major love, " •••experienced. the shock of prOfOutid disillusionment ..... ith Hitler's Germany. Still it was liot enough to force llIeto turn my back on the Fatherland, or avoid ArbeitsdieMt,and militaryaer- vice. I didn't Wan.t to \:)ebranMd a fugitive ft'ommy duty.'. (page 9) The war waS fol~owed by a s.pell of s1:1.idies.afterwhich the all." thor came to Soutb. Africa, which count.x-Yat that time wae inaU- tutionalizing a state based on the salliephilosophY !?J fascism as the Third Reich, this time under the aegis of thllNatio.ll.albt Party of South Africa. What coinc!;dencet From South Africa Heinz went into the bush and to Natrikwa. 1nthe hueh with Namkwli the author led one life and in the RepUblic of South Afr;i.caanother. In order to protect his lif~ \n South Africa with its racist $e~a:l laws, the author tried to keep histelationship with Namkwa secret froIIISouth It- African society, to the extent that when Namkwa is raped by one of the white farmers of the1\:alahari he was l1nw;i.lling to t'ake the matter up to the authorities. He. writes that: "I would be\:)oundto confese my true relationship with Natnkwa,.and the.reby let 100$e the for'ce$ I sU$pected d.estroy the very thi*g .Iwe.s w0111d.. trying to prel;lerve•..I wantedretri ... bution but. I feared disclosure more. And the more I rationali.zed.the oon- sequeMes of any report orcha:rge the lesal felt able to.mabone". (page 18a) Yet when Namkwa on an occasion went off with a boyhood lover~ the author felt strong. enough to assert .hiltsel!. "!n day:s gone DYa husband might hav~ kill~d thelllan and thrown the woman on the fire. Now my impu1se was to throw him on the coals, but figures Sprang to stop me; 9Jhxale's father, Gruxa and sOlll~e;Lders••• I couldn 't throw him .orf without hor:ritying ev~ry Bushman there, and dem~e-ning all the norms I'd Come to live by. 1 drctpped Thxa1e, and when the men releasedlll~, I stood over him and 1:01dhilll to get out, to leave the Villag~ .and not comeback while I was there". (pe-ge 1.26) Namkwavas taken to America among other things, as "an ideal choice to demonstrate to Americans the intellectual capacity of the Kalahari Bushman" (page 246) •. All this and more leaves many question mar}ts about this "unique story of one of the more romantic episodes in the history of the encounters between a European scientist i!!,nda primitive people". But perhaps basically the book is written ferr "civilized westerners". That is why Margaret Mead writes that; "Not un1.ess we some day encounter men on some distant planet are .we likely to be afforded such a drama". For an African reader all the old assumptions of the westerner towards "nati"eslf and "primitives" are there to be read between the 1ines. (K. Prah. URS. Gaborone)