tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post116281356568046779..comments2024-03-10T20:46:19.274-04:00Comments on In the Middle: Futures of the Field II: The Postcolonial, the Caribbean, the MedievalCord J. Whitakerhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/06224143153295429986noreply@blogger.comBlogger5125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1163176650592104402006-11-10T11:37:00.000-05:002006-11-10T11:37:00.000-05:00...and, if you're going further back, you might, i......and, if you're going further back, you might, if you haven't already, look at Jerome's discussion of cultural relativism in Against Jovinian, Chapter II.7. His ethnography, it strikes me, might have some kind of connection with your work, although I'm not sure how just yet.Karl Steelhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/03353370018006849747noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1162955258373862862006-11-07T22:07:00.000-05:002006-11-07T22:07:00.000-05:00Thanks for these references too. I've been thinkin...Thanks for these references too. I've been thinking about Old English literatures in relation to all this - you're right, the Old English is completely ignored in all of this, except for in Kathleen Davis's "National Writing in the Ninth Century: A Reminder for Postcolonial Writing of the Nation."<BR/><BR/>I was just about to tackle the _Wonders_ seriously. It was so influential on Crusader literature and subsequent constructions of the "Orient." <BR/><BR/>And I'll be sure to check into Foy's work. Thanks againAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1162947950999612652006-11-07T20:05:00.000-05:002006-11-07T20:05:00.000-05:00Kofi--thanks for your kind words as well, re: BABE...Kofi--thanks for your kind words as well, re: BABEL. I agree with you that forums such as "In The Middle," among other emerging "under the radar" sites, are providing new venues for intellectual exchange that are leading to important scholarly projects. For myself, I'm not sure if "books" are where I want all of this to go, although that's a start, but I'm hoping we can also envision new models of collaborative scholarship that also go beyond mere books, which are, in some ways, kind of static.<BR/><BR/>I also just remembered something else I wanted to say in response to your GWU talk that has to do with the ways in which early modern studies have delineated "slavery," or "chattel slavery" as a distinctly early modern/"new world" institution. Great pains are often taken to distinguish, in early modern studies of chattel slavery, the differences between, say, early Roman practices and laws re: slavery and early modern colonialist/missionary practices, with the institution of slavery in the Middle Ages often left completelty unattended. One of the results of this is that racism is seen as a manifestation of a certain kind of modernity that emerges out of a post-colonial world that is both post-classical and post-medieval. Anyway, this is just my way of saying that the work you are doing is an important corrective to this, not just to the East-West dichotomy that typically underwrites most post-colonial scholarship. And I guess, too, as an Anglo-Saxonist, I would ask you not to overlook Old English texts that are often not studied at all in relation to the kinds of questions you are asking in your work: that includes things like the OE "Wonders of the East," which is part of the "Beowulf" manuscript , but also AElfric's "Lives of Saints," which includes references to African culture. Anglo-Saxon mappamundi are also instructive [Martin Foys is working on these.]Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1162906831391661172006-11-07T08:40:00.000-05:002006-11-07T08:40:00.000-05:00Hi Eileen - thanks for your kind words, and for th...Hi Eileen - thanks for your kind words, and for the reference. I've just finished going through the Babel website, and following some of the links. Very exciting stuff. Had I read it before, I would certainly have included it in my thought. I think that fora such as Babel and this blog are becoming increasingly important to medieval studies (and scholarship generally, of course). Whole books have been outlined in some of the discussions here, and it provides a great forum for us all to meet and exchange ideas.<BR/><BR/>CheersAnonymousnoreply@blogger.comtag:blogger.com,1999:blog-21165575.post-1162878136809733362006-11-07T00:42:00.000-05:002006-11-07T00:42:00.000-05:00Kofi--thanks for allowing your talk to be shared h...Kofi--thanks for allowing your talk to be shared here; most instructive and thought-provoking. Have you ever read the under-appreciated Francois Hartog? You might check out, as you are working, especially, on your chapter for JJC's anthology, "The Mirror pf Herodotus: The Representation of the Other in the Writing of History" [Univ. of California Press, 1988]. This is an often-overlooked book that I think you will find very useful in what you are working on. Cheers, Eileen.Eileen Joyhttps://www.blogger.com/profile/13756965845120441308noreply@blogger.com