h2g2 The Hitchhiker's Guide to the Galaxy: Earth Edition

Entry: Sarah Baartman (1789 - 1816) - 'The Hottentot Venus' - A48873667
Author: Opticalillusion- media mynx life would be boring without hiccups - U231227

Here's one for perusal

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Sarah Baartman (1789 - 1816)

Queen Victoria ascended the throne in June 1837 - so how did Sarah Baartman come "into contact with Victorian society"?


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How could they consider her hips enormous if they were wider than 18 inches? Don't you mean "waist"?


<> what is 1817 Extraits dobservations?


<> who is Georges Cuvier? Why is there a comma after his name?


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After apartheid, Africans


<> should be Fran&ccedil;ois


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No need for a comma after the month

GB

>>After apartheid Africans were keen to right a wrong and return the remains of the Hottentot Venus to her homeland in Africa.<<


President Nelson Mandela formally requested the return of her remains in 1994.

I've made changes

Just two things I wish to question

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How could they consider her hips enormous if they were wider than 18 inches? Don't you mean "waist"? Do you think I ought to change this quote then and assume they wrote the wrong word?

<> who is Georges Cuvier? He was Napoleon's surgeon as stated earlier in the entry

you two

That's strange, Opti, because I checked there was no prior mention of "Georges Cuvier" prior to my critique.

I reckon the quote is wrong

updated

"the Khoisan tribe, a collective name that groups together the original people of Africa."

-- there are many different races in Africa, most of them claiming to be the original African people. In fact there are more races within Africa than outside of it, so this sort of statement is dangerous. The Khoisan are only one of the many races of people in Africa.

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Opti, it was definitely her hips, not her waist.

The measurement was taken ACROSS the hips, from hipbone to hipbone.

Unfortunately, there is no mention of a measurement going AROUND the hips.

In that case I apologise, Opti



(across the hips?)

mops up the that was spilt. Most things can be sorted out.

Gnomon...I'm sorry but I'm not sure what to do with your comment

Well, the Khoisan were among the first inhabitants of the Cape region of S. Africa. This site says that they are recognised by the United Nations as a First Generation nation

http://www.zar.co.za/baartman.htm

This site also uses words like 'steatopygia' to describe the appearance of her buttocks. She also had enlarged labia which gave rise to the description, 'Hottentot Apron'

What I'd like you to do with my comment, Opti, is research what the term Khoisan means and then use it appropriately.

updated

I remember this story. It is an interesting one, and horribly sad.

Although I realise you want to avoid a lot of postcolonial theorising in your account, it might be good to talk just a bit about what Baartman's story tells us: That people in 'civilised' countries were treating people in the colonies as objects.

Some proofreading:

who's = whose

'Extraits observations after observing Baartman...' This sentence is still a little awkward. Prehaps it would be improved with the word 'examining' instead of 'observing'? Or is that not what he did?

'Alexander Dunlop, who' - comma needed here.

'discovered Baartman as a teenager living in Cape Town' - a bit confusing. Could you rewrite the sentence so that it was clearer that Baartman was the teenager?

'tried to put a stop to Baartman being treated' - It needs to be 'tried to put a stop to Baartman's being treated...'

'in and around Paris, where' - needs comma.

President Nelson Mandela - of what country? Think we need 'South African President Nelson Mandela'.

'it wasn't until an act was passed in February 2002' - don't need comma.

Now, the iffy stuff:

I am an American dialect speaker, so I get in trouble with irregular past participles.

Where I caome from, there is no such word as 'strived'. It would be 'striven'. In the UK, it might be strived, for all I know. Just a thought.

A query: Could somebody sort this out for me? I am familiar with the Xhosa language group. Nelson Mandela is a native speaker of this group, according to sources. This is a click-language group. The word Xhosa is pronounced by clicking your tongue in your cheek.

What I'm finding is that Xhosa is part of the Khoisan group. Is it possible to know which tribe Sarah Baartman was from, specifically?

Just for general interest: Here's an explanation of Xhosa along with a song by Miriam Makeba:

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=2Mwh9z58iAU

dmitrigheorgheni

I have corrected many of the imperfections and I have also added some quotations at the bottom of this entry which shine a little light on her and their treatment.

Not sure about the words striven/strived ...I thought I was correct...now I'm not so sure

I wonder whether there are any South Africans on h2g2 that could answer that question on Xhosa.

I think the quotations add perspective to the story.

And I'm hoping somebody who's an expert on South Africa will give us more background on the Xhosa and the Khoisans

striven/strived > strove

A

U168712 <--- just the chap, although you'll have to go knock on his door and bring him here, Opti, as he doesn't usually frequent PR

GB

Actually, having now re-read it in context, it should be striven .

It's reading well, Opti

Right I've sorted the 'striven' out BigAl

GB have written a note to the researcher