FROM THE MADRASAH TO THE MUSEUM: THE SOCIAL LIFE OF THE "KIETAABS" OF CAPE TOWN.

The article traces the social history of "kietaabs," manuscripts in Arabic script produced by the Muslim community of Cape Town, South Africa. The author investigates the historical context of the "kietaabs" shifting role as social objects using an approach based on work by anthropologists Arjun Appadurai and Carolyn Hamilton emphasizing the study of the social life and value of objects. Various roles of the "kietabbs" are described including their origins as practical communicative objects, their eventual status as family heirlooms, and their use as historical sources for the study of Cape Town's Muslim population.