PLACES OF DISCOURSE AND DIALOGUE: A STUDY IN THE MATERIAL CULTURE OF THE CAPE DURING THE RULE OF THE DUTCH EAST INDIA COMPANY, 1652 - 1795. YVONNE BRINK August 1992. University of Cape Town Thesis submitted in fulfillment of the Requirements for the Degree of Doctor of Philosophy, Department of Archaeology, University of Cape Town. The copyright of this thesis vests in the author. No quotation from it or information derived from it is to be published without full acknowledgement of the source. The thesis is to be used for private study or non- commercial research purposes only. Published by the University of Cape Town (UCT) in terms of the non-exclusive license granted to UCT by the author. University of Cape Town "Toon mij uw huis, en ik zal zeggen wie u bent". (Show me your house and I will tell you who you are - Old Dutch proverb). Dwelling: Vrymansfontein, Paarl ACKNOWLEDGEMENTS I need to thank a number of people who, by means of a variety of gifts - film, photographs, various forms of work and expertise, time, and encou­ ragement - have made it possible for me to produce this thesis. They are: My husband, Bredell, and my children and their spouses - Hilde and Raymond, Andre and Lynnette, Bredell Jr. and Salome. My family has sup­ ported me consistently and understood my need to complete this research project. Bredell Jr.'s contribution was special: not only has he been my main pillar of support through all the hard work, but he taught me to use a word processor with great patience, and undertook the important job of printing the manuscript. Without his assistance the task would have been much more daunting. Raymond's photographic expertise has been invalu­ able. My sister, Anne, whose joyful presence on field excursions was a great antidote to flagging spirits. My colleagues in the Historical Archaeology Research Group, especially Antonia (for taking me seriously and allowing me the use of her data base), Jane (for making me laugh and helping with photography) and Cathy (for her calming influence). My general well-being in the Department has been largely dependent on my "old" friends in the Spatial Archaeology Research Unit, Royden and Tony, and also on "newcomer" Chopi. Their stimulating discussions keep me in touch with Stone Age archaeology. Professor John Parkington has read some of my work and criticised it from a different theoretical viewpoint. I value his opinions greatly and ap­ preciate his always finding time for discussion. I have benefitted a great deal from provocative exchanges of ideas with Anne Solomon, especially about various theoretical problems in arch­ aeology. She has frequently directed me towards useful source material. Secretary Dawn is a pillar of strength to everyone. Without her the Department would simply not be "the Department". ii Mrs. Reickert of Kenhardt lent me the original of a precious family photograph to copy. Carol Hampshire drew the map. I also thank the owners of the farms I visited and photographed, especially Mr. and Mrs. Myburgh of Joostenberg, and the Briers-Lauw family of Eenzaamheid. In Professor Martin Hall I have had a very special supervisor on whom I could rely in all respects. While well aware of his eagle-eyed, critical watch, I nevertheless felt entirely free to research the topic in my own way. I am deeply grateful to him. ABSTRACT The main object of study in this thesis is the architectural tradition commonly known as "Cape Dutch". The aim is to make sense of this archi­ tecture by answering questions about its coming into being, the people who created it, and their reasons for doing so. Contrary to the suggestions of most existing works on Cape Dutch architec­ ture, an earlier substantial form of domestic architecture, which resembled the town houses of the Netherlands, underlies the tradition . Analysis of existing literature, archaeological excavation, and inventories, indicates that gradual changes towards the basic traditional form during the first decades of the the eighteenth century took a dramatic leap during the 1730s. Moving away from the shapes of the dwellings to the people who changed them involves a major theoretical shift, away from formalism towards post­ structuralist theory: discourse theory, literary criticism, feminism. These frameworks enable me to identify contradictions underlying historical events; to deconstruct documents, thus revealing their rhetorical devices for constituting subjectivities and establishing social hierarchies; and to see the architecture as a body of works or texts - a discourse. From 1657 free burghers were given land to farm independently. These farmers were an anomalous group whose view of themselves no longer coincided with the lesser subjectivities structured for them by Dutch East India Company (VOC) documents. Together the latter constituted a dis­ course of domination against which the anomalous group, in the process of establishing new identities for themselves, developed a discourse of resistance. Since the voe maintained a strict monopoly over the word, the discourse of discontent was manifested in other forms of inscription, most notably in free burgher architecture. Using a particular type of gender theory, it becomes possible to envisage the two discourses in conversation with each other. The theoretical component of the thesis involves, first, writing historical archaeology into the gaps of existing post-structuralist perspectives which were not designed for archaeology; second, demonstrating the two discourses at work in the practice of their everyday existence by the people concerned. iv NOTE ON ARCHIVAL DOCUMENTS The term "inventories" refers to the probate inventories compiled for the Board of the Orphan Chamber at the Cape from the seventeenth to the nineteenth centuries. These documents are lodged in the Cape Archives, Roeland Street, Cape Town under the reference MOOG. The various MOOG categories are denoted by a number, for example MOOG 8/1. Each document within the category is also numbered and dated, for example MOOG 8/1 :69, 1701. Spelling in these documents varies, as there was no standardisation of Dutch spelling in the eighteenth century. When quoting from them, I have used the spelling of the original. V CONTENTS Acknowledgements ............................................................................. Abstract iii Note on Archival Documents . .. .. .. 1v Contents V List of lllistrations . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. vi Map ix Chapter 1 Beginning ....................................................................... 1 Chapter 2 The Origins and Development of Cape Dutch Architecture: A Critical Review ......................... .. 8 Chapter 3 The Voorhuis as a Central Element in Early Cape Houses ......................................................... 31 Chapter 4 "People out of Place": An Anomalous Group at the Cape During the Seventeenth and Eighteenth Centuries ............................................... 47 Chapter 5 Texts as Artefacts: A Discourse of Domination Manifested in voe Documents .................. 65 Chapter 6 Discourse at Work in Rural Areas .................................. 89 Chapter 7 Artefacts as Texts: A Cape Colonial Discourse of Dwelling ..................................................... 105 Chapter 8 Hermeneutics and Historical Archaeology .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ..... 121 Chapter 9 The Theory and Practice of Visiting ............ .' .................. 135 Chapter 10 lntertextuality and the Discourse of Dwelling .......................................................................... 161 Chapter 11 Concluding ..................................................................... 181 Illustrations 186 List of References ................................................................................ 221 VI LIST OF ILLUSTRATIONS Frontispiece "Toon mij uw huis, en ik zal zeggen wie u bent". Dwelling: Vrymans­ fontein, Paarl End of Text Sunshine and shadow at Rhone, 1795, Franschhoek . .. .. 186 Figure 1 A traditional Cape Dutch dwelling, Meerlust, 1776 . .. .. .. ... 187 Figure 2 Pearse's tracing of a map of Cape Town in 1693 .................................................................. 188 Figure 3 Floor plan of Meerlust showing the unusual T /H-combination ........................................ 189 Figure 4 Huis Reinier de Klerk, Batavia ........................................ 190 Figure 5 Longhouse at Eenzaamheid ........................................... 191 Figure 6 Gabled house at Eenzaamheid 192 Figure 7 Stone cottage near Sutherland 193 Figure 8 Dungblock longhouse near Brandvlei . .. .. .. 194 Figure 9 Dutch town house plan with undivided voorhuis . .. .. .. 195 Figure 10 Dutch town house plan with the voorhuis divided to provide a side room ........................ 196 Figure 11 Dutch town house with inside room ............................... 197 Figure 12 Dutch town house with very narrow voorhuis . .. .. 198 Figure 13 The wider Dutch house . .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .. 199 Figure 14 House in the Bo-Kaap . .. .. .. .. .. .. .. .. ... .. .... ... 200 vii Figure 15 The wider Dutch house with narrow central voorhuis . .. .. .. .. 201 Figure 16 Mulder's drawing of Oude Molen, ca. 1700 . .. .. 202 Figure 17 The "Braak", Stellenbosch, by Davis 1779, with the Oude Molen dwelling on the left . .. .. 203 Figure 18 Floor plan of Libertas, Stellenbosch ............................... 204 Figure 19 Plan of Stettyn, near Worcester ..................................... 205 Figure 20 Floor plan of Nederburg showing development of H-plan from T-plan