Dreaming the Karoo: A People Called the /Xam

A new book by Julia Blackburn explores the /Xam, a group of indigenous people who were persecuted and denied the right to live in their own territories in South Africa. The Bleek-Lloyd Archive, which contains 60,000 notebook pages recorded by /Xam individuals, provides a voice to a way of living in the world that has been lost. Blackburn's journey to the Karoo was cut short by the pandemic, but she was able to write the book based on research and interviews. Dreaming the Karoo is a haunting and powerful masterpiece.

Format: Hardback
Length: 304 pages
Publication date: 16 June 2022
Publisher: Vintage Publishing

In the spring of 2020, acclaimed author Julia Blackburn embarked on a journey to the Karoo region of South Africa, driven by a deep fascination with the /Xam, a group of indigenous people who had been persecuted and displaced throughout the nineteenth century. The /Xam had been forced to leave their ancestral lands and were subjected to cultural extinction, with many individuals agreeing to teach their intricate language to a German philologist and his indomitable English sister-in-law in the 1870s in an effort to preserve their heritage. The result was the Bleek-Lloyd Archive, a remarkable collection of 60,000 notebook pages that documented the /Xam's dreams, memories, and beliefs, as well as the traumas of their recent history.

Blackburn's journey to the Karoo was cut short by the outbreak of the global pandemic, but she had gathered enough from reading the archive, seeing the /Xam lands, and talking to anyone and everyone she met along the way to write this haunting and powerful book. Dreaming the Karoo is a spellbinding new masterpiece by one of our greatest and most original non-fiction writers.

An astounding, disarming book, full of grief and beauty, Dreaming the Karoo weaves together the stories of the /Xam, the Bleek-Lloyd Archive, and Blackburn's own experiences during lockdown. Blackburn's wise, wonderfully idiosyncratic books are poetic, informed by a genius for serendipity, and offer a unique perspective on the complexities of human experience.

Through her journey, Blackburn explores the themes of displacement, loss, and the resilience of the human spirit. She delves into the /Xam's history, culture, and language, shedding light on the ways in which they have been erased and forgotten by the dominant narrative of colonialism. She also reflects on the power of language and memory, and how the Bleek-Lloyd Archive has become a symbol of hope for the /Xam and a testament to the importance of preserving cultural heritage.

Dreaming the Karoo is a testament to Blackburn's talent as a writer and her commitment to social justice and cultural preservation. It is a book that will resonate with readers of all ages and backgrounds, and that will inspire us to think critically about the past and the ways in which it shapes our present.

Weight: 588g
Dimension: 164 x 242 x 32 (mm)
ISBN-13: 9781787332171