Sigrid Schmidt (birth name: Sigrid Matthäi) (born 12 July 1930) is a German folklorist,
KATALOG DER DEUTSCHEN NATIONALBIBLIOTHEK, biography data citing ''Hildesheimer Literaturlexikon von 1800 bis heute'' best known for her ''Afrika erzählt'' ("Africa Narrates") series. The ten volumes are tales (with extensive commentary) collected by the author from 1959-1962 and 1972-1997 (volumes 1 to 7 in German, volumes 8 to 10 in English), mostly in
Namibia
Namibia, officially the Republic of Namibia, is a country on the west coast of Southern Africa. Its borders include the Atlantic Ocean to the west, Angola and Zambia to the north, Botswana to the east and South Africa to the south; in the no ...
.
Biography
Born in Berlin,
[ Sigrid Matthäi studied English and German literature at the Free University Berlin with a special interest in folklore,][''Die vere van die duiwel'' by Sigrid Schmidt]
an interview by Naomi Mayer about the book and gained her Ph.D. 1958 for her thesis ''Rittertum und Adel in den englischen und schottischen Volksballaden''. Following the defense of her thesis Schmidt married an hydraulic engineer and lived in South West Africa
South West Africa was a territory under Union of South Africa, South African administration from 1915 to 1990. Renamed ''Namibia'' by the United Nations in 1968, Independence of Namibia, it became independent under this name on 21 March 1990. ...
, now Namibia, from 1959 to 1962, mostly at the construction site of the Hardap Dam
The Hardap Dam is a dam close to Mariental in the Hardap Region of central Namibia. Built in 1963 while Namibia was under South African occupation, the Hardap Dam has been the largest dam in the country for more than five decades. After its compl ...
.[ She started collecting Namibian folklore in 1960 among the Nama and Damara people. After her return to Germany Schmidt to Namibia for folkloric fieldwork in 1975, 1981, 1987, 1991, 1993, 1995, and 1997.][''The Forgotten Bride'']
pp. 7, 10, 11 (available in the preview)
Books
*Catalog of the Khoisan Folktales of Southern Africa (2 vols.) Hamburg, Buske, 1989
*:This catalog was significantly updated in the subsequent ''Afrika Erzählt'' series[
*Aschenputtel und Eulenspiegel in Afrika, ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 1
*Zaubermärchen in Afrika ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 2
*Als die Tiere noch Menschen waren, ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 3
*Tiergeschichten in Afrika ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 4
*Sagen und Schwänke in Afrika, ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 5
*Scherz und Ernst ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 6
*Hänsel und Gretel in Afrika, ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 7
*Tricksters, Monsters and Clever Girls ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 8
*Children Born from Eggs, ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 9
*''The Forgotten Bride. International Tale Types in Namibia – Texts and Discussions'', ''Afrika erzählt'', Volume 10, 2009''The Forgotten Bride'']
includes book sample from the publisher[ The Oorlam Nama and ]Basters
The Basters (also known as Baasters, Rehobothers, or Rehoboth Basters) are a Southern African ethnic group descended from Cape Coloureds and Nama of Khoisan origin. Since the second half of the 19th century, the Rehoboth Baster community has ...
of South Africa
South Africa, officially the Republic of South Africa (RSA), is the Southern Africa, southernmost country in Africa. Its Provinces of South Africa, nine provinces are bounded to the south by of coastline that stretches along the Atlantic O ...
lived in contact with Boers
Boers ( ; ; ) are the descendants of the proto Afrikaans-speaking Free Burghers of the eastern Cape frontier in Southern Africa during the 17th, 18th, and 19th centuries. From 1652 to 1795, the Dutch East India Company controlled the Dutch ...
and most probably picked a substantial amount of tales from them. After they emigrated to Namibia in the 19th century, they brought these tales with them.[ The title refers to " The Forgotten Bride" folktale motif
*(with Helize Van Vuuren) ''Die vere van die duiwel: vergete ou Afrikaanse sprokies - opgediep in Namibië'' (''The feathers of the devil: forgotten old African fairy tales - unearthed in Namibia''), 2014, translated by Philip John][
]
References
Further reading
*
*
{{DEFAULTSORT:Schmidt, Sigrid
1930 births
Living people
German folklorists
German Africanists
Writers from Berlin