Comments of S. Klopper's, George French Angas (re)presentation of the Zulu in the Kafirs illustrated

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Notes: Includes "Reply to Valerie Leigh", by Sandra Klopper, pp. 35-36. In Sandra Klopper's original article on Angas' The Kafirs illustrated, she faulted Angas for artistic inaccuracies, romanticizing Zulu culture, and pandering to Victorian tastes in (re)presenting the Other. Rushing to the defense of Angas, Leigh argues that Klopper has gone overboard in deconstructing this Victorian painter and that it is unfair to attribute racist and imperialist motives to him. His depictions of Zulus are reasonable and appropriate; he was after all an artist, not an anthropologist.; In reply, Klopper dismisses Leigh's critique as reactionary and self-serving (Leigh is a museum official in Natal). Using dubious sources, Leigh misses Klopper's central point: "that even seemingly 'realistic' images are mediated."

Author: Leigh, Valerie; Klopper, Sandra; Smithsonian Libraries African Art Index Project DSI
Subject: Angas, George French 1822-1886 Kafirs illustrated