Abstract
Travelling retrospectively of the conference at Stellenbosch in 2010, this visual essay explores “the Cape and the Cosmopolitan” via a journey from Cape Town up to the Cederberg. Readers will remember this scene from Wicomb's 2006 novel, Playing in the Light. Following in the footsteps of Wicomb's fictional characters -- both to Clanwilliam and the German mission station at Wupperthal (Wuppertal) -- the trip leads to unexpected encounters. It also follows familiar routes. Khoisan rock art, the grave of the well-known Afrikaans poet C. Louis Leipoldt, rooibos tea, and a companionable aunt all feature in this illustrated record. A whimsical narrative about travelling lightly, it is also a critical intervention in debates about how to read cosmopolitanism regionally, and what it might mean to find the cosmopolitan Cape outside the southern metropolis.
Talk to us
Join us for a 30 min session where you can share your feedback and ask us any queries you have