Repatriating Namibian sounds

New Era filed this fascinating report, by Robin Tyson, on a unique sound archive.

“The ultimate irony, of course, is that, although the motives for conducting these recordings were suspect, the result is that we now have a valuable collection of voices from the past.”

The recent repatriation of Namibian skulls from Germany and the high degree of emotion that accompanied the event brings to a resolution just one aspect of the anthropomorphic experimentation that was conducted on Namibians in the mid part of the last century by German scientists and academics.

Toivo Ndjebela, writing in New Era (5 October 2011, page 13) notes the work of Eugen Fischer, a racist scientist who influenced the thinking of Hitler, and his study of ethnicity and the theory of racial superiority and inferiority. Ndjebela chillingly notes that another “scientist”, Fetzer, used the skulls in experiments “meant to measure the similarities between the Namas and apes”

But racial experiments on Namibians during the last century took on other forms as well. In 2009, the Basler Afrika Bibliographien organised a conference and exhibition in Basel, Switzerland, on “What we See: Images, Voices and Versioning’ which reconsidered the anthropometric collection of material from Namibia.

In particular, the exhibition displayed material by the German artist Hans Lichtenecker, who travelled to Namibia in the early 1930s. He recorded, on wax cylinders, the voices of people living in the south, particularly those speaking Nama and Otjiherero.

Participants included representatives from the Swiss National Sound Archives, the Universities of Njimegen and Basel as well as representatives from the Department of Information and Communication Studies and Archives Division at the University of Namibia.

But recording the voices was only part of the work conducted. It was accompanied by a more inhumane form of experimentation, as wax “face masks’ were also taken of each of the participants. The process, involving the suffocating application of wax to the face, allowing only a small breathing hole, was uncomfortable and must have been terrifying for those involved.

Indeed, one of the ethical issues that the organisers of the exhibition faced was whether or not to display those disquieting face masks. In the end, it was decided not to, and so the exhibition focused on the aspect of sound.

And it is these recordings that turn out to be a vital key to the real thoughts of those who were the victims of Namibia’s racial experimentations. Being given a microphone and the opportunity to express themselves allowed people to express their true thoughts in their own language, knowing that the German academics involved could not understand what was being said!

From the point of view of the Germans, these recordings were only being made for a ;scientific study’ of voice patterns and tones in various African languages and not for their content.

Thus, we find that Namibians used the new medium of sound recording for sending messages that were brave and revolutionary and expressed their feelings regarding the occupation of their land. Some of those who spoke sent direct messages to the colonisers to leave and let Namibians again have peace and control over their land.

This exhibition was unique in focusing not on images or sculptures, but on sound, and in particular the historic nature of these, some of the first recordings of Namibians and of the Nama and Otjiherero languages.

The material has since been donated to Namibia and is available at the National Archives in Windhoek where members of the public can access the sound recordings.

The National Museum is also in possession of photographs and the notorious masks taken from the period.

However, let us hope also that the NBC in particular can gain access to this sound material and broadcast these historical Namibian recordings on radio services, particularly the NBC Damara/Nama and NBC Otjiherero Service. A regular series of broadcasts of these recordings would surely be riveting material for listeners and would also uncover hitherto unidentified aspects of the content of the material as well as ancestral recollections of how it was collected.

The ultimate irony, of course, is that, although the motives for conducting these recordings were suspect, the result is that we now have a valuable collection of voices from the past.

Robin Tyson is a lecturer in Media Studies at the University of Namibiaw

Source: New Era website

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