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Lädt ... The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Agesvon François-Xavier Fauvelle
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Melde dich bei LibraryThing an um herauszufinden, ob du dieses Buch mögen würdest. Keine aktuelle Diskussion zu diesem Buch. There is a dearth of information about the Africa's history before European colonization. François-Xavier Fauvelle's "The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages" tries to fill that gap with 34 vignettes. Unfortunately, the book's focus is too narrow and the writing often meandering. With only a few exceptions, each chapter is about either European trade through the Sahara or Arab trade along the east coast. Readers hoping to find information about sub-Saharan or West African history will be disappointed. One vignette deals with the entire history of Great Zimbabwe and three deal with Mali, all in the context of trade to Europe via the Sahara. There are several chapters on Christian Ethiopia and the Moroccan coast. Because Arab scholars and traders were so active during this time, it's no surprise that Fauvelle should use their writing to make the point that African civilization at the time was dynamic, powerful, and economically important. Unfortunately, he leaves out nearly everything else. He is able to go on tangents about Italian traders paying taxes for not being Muslim, but is unable to write anything about the kingdoms of Kongo or the Sao civilizations that existed well into traditional Medieval times? Perhaps this is because Fauvelle is more interested in making the point that Africa existed within the wider world, within the world of trade with other civilizations. While that is true, it's also true that African civilizations were economically independent. A reviewer on Amazon observed that this book is more series of stories about people who went to Africa to trade, rather than people who lived there. Within the vignettes, there is a tendency to meander. Fauvelle makes mention of interesting topics, sometimes going down rabbit holes, sometimes leaving the reader to wonder what he is talking about. In the end, each topic is given a very cursory look. With 34 chapters, I should have expected that. The translation is a bit stilted. I don't know if this is because the translator is going word-for-word from the author's original writing or whether there is a lot of dressing added to the prose with little effect. The book does include a solid index. Because this book is translated from French, most of the scant sources are French. I understand why someone might not like this book. It's less than 250 pages long, and has 34 discrete chapters. So, you don't get a whole lot of depth on anything, and you could easily find that frustrating. If, on the other hand, you find your own ignorance of African history frustrating (as I do), and also find the astonishing lack of good writing about pre-colonial African history frustrating, this is a charming place to start. A very reviewer wrote that 'maps would have helped.' There are maps following page 118. In short, it's a bit like those 'History of X in 100 objects' books, but with more scholarly chops, less fancy design, and a far more neglected subject. It's a higher-brow version of Henry Louis Gates' PBS series (which is solid!) And, best of all, it encourages one to search out more knowledge. L’historien et archéologue François-Xavier Fauvelle raconte des histoires de l'Afrique précoloniale en 34 courts chapitres et rend accessible aux non-spécialistes une période qui est malconnue dans le monde occidental. Le Moyen Âge africain, dit Fauvelle, c'est la période entre l'Antiquité tardive et le fin du XVe siècle à cause de l'absence générale de sources écrites. Donc, Fauvelle utilise d'autres sources africaines—les sources orales, les rapports de fouilles archéologiques, les objets—et par nécessité les textes externes (européennes, arabes) pour évoquer les empires du Mali et Grand Zimbabwe. Le Rhinocéros d'Or comble un vide dans l'histoire populaire de l'Afrique, et fournit aussi une bibliographie très utile pour les chercheurs. Zeige 5 von 5 keine Rezensionen | Rezension hinzufügen
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Rezension: Der französische Historiker und Archäologe Fauvelle ist Afrikaspezialist und hat den vorliegenden Titel 2013 in Frankreich veröffentlicht. Er wurde mit dem Preis des Geschichtsfestivals "Rendez-vous de l'histoire" ausgezeichnet. Anders als die kürzlich erschienenen Bände von A. Sonderegger: "Kurze Geschichte des Alten Afrika" (2017) und A. Jones: "Afrika bis 1850" (2016) werden hier "nur" die Jahre vom 8. Jahrhundert bis zum Ende des 15. Jahrhunderts thematisiert. Da für diese Zeit zwischen Antike und Neuzeit nur wenige Quellen verfügbar sind, werden in 34 jeweils recht kurzen Kapiteln eher Schlaglichter und begründete Spekulationen präsentiert (über den Goldhandel, Herrschaftshäuser, Umgang mit Sklaven, arabische Eroberer, Sahara-Durchquerungen). Der Titel des Buchs verdankt sich dem archäologischen Fund eines goldenen Nashorns aus dem 13. Jahrhundert, Symbol für das vorkoloniale Zeitalter Afrikas. Das wissenschaftliche Werk ist ausgestattet mit Anmerkungen und einem Glossar. Es enthält Farbfotos, Karten und ist ansprechend gestaltet. (3) Keine Bibliotheksbeschreibungen gefunden. |
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Google Books — Lädt ... GenresMelvil Decimal System (DDC)960History and Geography Africa AfricaKlassifikation der Library of Congress [LCC] (USA)BewertungDurchschnitt:
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So I enjoyed it - particularly the chapters on the Great Zimbabwe, Vasco de Gama and the Kingdom of Mali - and recommend it. But don't expect depth ( )