- Title
- Aporias of Rock Art interpretation: advancing a phenomenological reading
- Creator
- Horwitz, Nomvuyo
- Date Issued
- 2017
- Date
- 2017
- Type
- text
- Type
- article
- Identifier
- http://hdl.handle.net/10962/145609
- Identifier
- vital:38451
- Identifier
- https://0-doi.org.wam.seals.ac.za/10.1162/AFAR_a_00342
- Description
- A porias—from the Greek a + poros (“without” + “passage”)—are defined by Jacques Derrida (1993) as philosophical expressions of doubt and confusion; they are irresolvable logical disjunctions in a given line of enquiry. Stuart Murray (2009:11) describes aporias as being constituted by “an intrinsic undecidability … a contradiction, a puzzle or a paradox.” In this article, I argue that academic interpretation of San rock art has been marked by certain aporias—moments of inherent, irresolvable confusion or doubt—because of the methodological tendencies that contemporary researchers have employed. By viewing the interpretation of San paintings as a detective-like “deciphering”—that is, as a journey that must end at the “arrival” of a static meaning— researchers have created pockets of contradictions: San rock art paintings are part of a process of perceptual meaning-making through aesthetic expression, not merely clues for deciphering a simplified “bygone” past. In this view, I advance a phenomenological approach to interpreting these paintings.
- Format
- 16 pages
- Format
- Language
- English
- Relation
- african arts
- Relation
- Horwitz, N., 2017. Aporias of Rock Art Interpretation: Advancing a Phenomenological Reading. african arts, 50(2), pp.30-45
- Relation
- african arts volume 50 number 2 30 45 May 2017 1937-2108
- Rights
- Publisher
- Rights
- Use of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the African arts Statement (https://0-www.jstor.org.wam.seals.ac.za/journal/africanarts)
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