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The treatment of cultural colonial objects is one of the most debated questions of our time. Calls for a new international cultural order go back to decolonization. However, for decades, the issue has been treated as a matter of comity or been reduced to a Shakespearean dilemma: to return or not to return. Confronting Colonial Objects seeks to go beyond these classic dichotomies and argues that contemporary practices are at a tipping point. The book shows that cultural takings were material to the colonial project throughout different periods and went far beyond looting. It presents micro histories and object biographies to trace recurring justifications and contestations of takings and retu...
"Many masterpieces of central African sculpture were created to amplify the power of sacred relics that affirm a family's vital connection to its ancestral heritage. This important volume, focusing on some 130 works representing a diverse variety of regional genres, illuminates the purpose and significance of these icons of African art, which first came to prominence because of their appeal to the Western avant-garde. While providing an overview of sources ranging from colonial explorers, missionaries, critics, artists, and art historians, the book breaks new ground in its examination of the complex aesthetic and spiritual dimensions of the reliquaries. Its interdisciplinary approach brings together the perspectives of scholars in African and medieval art history along with those in African history, religion, and ethnography." -- Publisher.
At Home in Our Sounds examines the ways Black artists reacted to the heightened visibility of racial difference in interwar Paris, illustrating the effect jazz music had on the enormous social challenges Europe faced in the aftermath of World War I.
Diasporas are nodes of cultural exchange, connecting different systems of values, beliefs, and social organization. Throughout history and the present, diasporas have provided important contributions to economies, politics, and culture, both for the home countries and for societies of residence. This book contains case studies from different disciplines, exploring diaspora as a resource, both on collective and on individual levels. Common themes are the structure and use of diaspora networks, as well as relations between different diasporas, ranging from co-existence to competition or strategic co-operation, and the complex interdependence between diaspora and urbanity. (Series: Freiburg Studies in Social Anthropology / Freiburger Sozialanthropologische Studien / Etudes d'Anthropologie Sociale de l'Universite de Fribourg - Vol. 36)
The history of European nation-building and identity formation is inextricably connected with museums, and the role they play in displaying the acquired spoils and glorious symbols of geopolitical power in order to mobilize public support for expansionist ventures. This book examines the contemporary debate surrounding the museum in postcolonial Europe. Although there is no consensus on the European colonial experience, the process of decolonization in Europe has involved an examination of the museum’s place, and ethnic minorities and immigrants have insisted upon improved representation in the genealogies of European nation-states. Museological practices have been subjected to greater scr...
9/11 has been described as an "absolute event" that radically changed the course of history. It reinforced the opposition between Christian and Muslim worlds and led to the declaration of a unilateral war against a global network of terrorists that broke up the classical definition of war as a war between nation states. Yet, 9/11 also created responses in parts of the world that were not directly involved in the unfolding "war on terror." In Africa, local conflicts were re-mapped into an emerging new geography of anger that also reflects the effects of marginalization in a globalized world. The essays of this volume explore local remediations of 9/11 in African popular culture (posters, photographs, videos, cartoons, etc.) and visual arts. They give evidence of the fundamental ambivalence towards the event of 9/11 and provide insights into the various ways distant conflicts are translated into intense proximities. (Series: African Art and Visual Cultures - Vol. 3) [Subject: African Studies, Cultural Studies, Art]
A former professor and museum director offers a fascinating, in-depth look at the culture and history of beaded objects around the world. From a beaded dress found in an ancient Egyptian tomb to the beaded fringe on a 1920s Parisian flapper’s hem, humans throughout history have used beading as a way to express, adorn, and tell a story. Bol explores beadwork across the world and through the ages, showing how beading has taken on many different styles, forms, and purposes for different cultures. She looks at children’s clothing, puberty ceremonies, burials, emblems of social status and leadership, festivals, and many other cultural occasions that involve the use of beadwork. Images of artifacts and heirlooms as well as photography of people and their beadwork enhance the scholarship of this book for a beautiful, enlightening addition to art, history, multicultural collections everywhere.
The ancient kingdoms of the Cameroon Grassfields are famous for their splendid artworks--ornamented thrones, wooden figures, enormous drums, finely carved jewelry made from ivory and brass, and fabulous masks. This book presents 150 masterpieces from the courts of the Grassfield kingdoms. Historical photographs illustrate the magnificent life at the courts encountered by European visitors in the late 19th century. Additional field photographs taken in recent years show that the traditions in the Grassfields are still alive today. Two leading scholars in the field of Cameroonian art give an important introduction to the fascinating and complex world of the Grassfield kingdoms: their rituals, secret societies, and, above all, the meaning of art in this context.
Ansätze der postcolonial studies, vor allem die topologischen Konzepte zur Analyse des Schreibens zwischen verschiedenen geographischen Sphären werden immer wichtiger für die Analyse französischsprachiger Literaturen und Filme. Auch in literarischen Texten selbst kommt die Reflexion räumlicher Bewegungen im Zeitalter von Migration und Globalisierung zum Ausdruck - das Schreiben auf der Grenze und in Bewegung spielt eine immer größere Rolle. Der Band fokussiert eine Bandbreite an Texten von der Kolonialzeit des 19. Jahrhunderts aus der Karibik und des Orientalismus, über die Zwanziger Jahre bis hin zu postkolonialen Literaturen und Filmen des 20. und 21. Jahrhundert aus Frankreich und Subsahara-Afrika, Kanada und der Karibik. Im Zentrum steht die Relevanz der kulturwissenschaftlichen Kategorie Raum - in den Blick gelangt zugleich der Raum im Text und der Text als Raum. Der Band verbindet erstmals den spatial turn mit Ansätzen der postcolonial studies und erprobt in exemplarischen Analysen ihren methodischen Wert für die Frankoromanistik.
This volume approaches literary representations of post and neocolonialism by combining their readings with respective theoretical configurations. The aim is to cast light upon common characteristics of contemporary texts from around the world that deal with processes of colonization. Based on the epistemic discourses of postimperialism/postcolonialism, globalization, and world literature, the volume’s chapters bring together international scholars from various disciplines in the Humanities, including Comparative Cultural Studies, Slavic, Romance, German, and African Studies. The main concern of the contributions is to conceptualize an autonomous category of a world literature of the colonial, going well beyond established classifications according to single languages or center-periphery dichotomies.