Non-fiction relevant to our interests
Aug. 14th, 2020 08:32 pm![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png){kind=small}
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the_old_guardI came across this article yesterday, discussing a new non-fiction book which seems very relevant to some of our interests!
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/aug/13/looted-landmarks-notre-dame-big-ben-st-marks-east-stealing-from-the-saracens
Here is an excerpt:
"It is not only the twin towers and rose window that have their origins in the Middle East, she pointed out, but also the ribbed vaults, pointed arches and even the recipe for stained glass windows. Gothic architecture as we know it owes much more to Arab and Islamic heritage than it does to the rampaging Goths. “I was astonished at the reaction,” says Darke. “I thought more people knew, but there seems to be this great gulf of ignorance about the history of cultural appropriation. Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia, I thought it was about time someone straightened out the narrative.”
And so she has, with Stealing from the Saracens, an exhilarating, meticulously researched book that sheds light on centuries of borrowing, tracing the roots of Europe’s major buildings – from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey to Chartres cathedral and St Mark’s basilica in Venice – back to their Middle Eastern precedents. It is as much a story of political power, wealth and fashion as it is of religious belief, with tales of looting Crusaders, fashion-conscious bishops and globe-trotting merchants discovering new styles and techniques and bringing them home."
I can just imagine Nile seeing this and being all excited to talk to Joe and Nicky about it. Joe feels very vindicated. "Finally someone acknowledges it, I've only been saying this for about eight hundred years!" Nicky is like, "Nile, could you get us a copy of this book please, I think it will be useful the next time we need to have A Conversation with a tour guide." Meanwhile Andy is like "Never go to a museum with these two, they are insufferable," but then she remembers how Nile reacted to the Rodin and goes "Actually, you know what, you should absolutely go to a museum with these two, you'll probably love it."
https://www.theguardian.com/artanddesign/2020/aug/13/looted-landmarks-notre-dame-big-ben-st-marks-east-stealing-from-the-saracens
Here is an excerpt:
"It is not only the twin towers and rose window that have their origins in the Middle East, she pointed out, but also the ribbed vaults, pointed arches and even the recipe for stained glass windows. Gothic architecture as we know it owes much more to Arab and Islamic heritage than it does to the rampaging Goths. “I was astonished at the reaction,” says Darke. “I thought more people knew, but there seems to be this great gulf of ignorance about the history of cultural appropriation. Against a backdrop of rising Islamophobia, I thought it was about time someone straightened out the narrative.”
And so she has, with Stealing from the Saracens, an exhilarating, meticulously researched book that sheds light on centuries of borrowing, tracing the roots of Europe’s major buildings – from the Houses of Parliament and Westminster Abbey to Chartres cathedral and St Mark’s basilica in Venice – back to their Middle Eastern precedents. It is as much a story of political power, wealth and fashion as it is of religious belief, with tales of looting Crusaders, fashion-conscious bishops and globe-trotting merchants discovering new styles and techniques and bringing them home."
I can just imagine Nile seeing this and being all excited to talk to Joe and Nicky about it. Joe feels very vindicated. "Finally someone acknowledges it, I've only been saying this for about eight hundred years!" Nicky is like, "Nile, could you get us a copy of this book please, I think it will be useful the next time we need to have A Conversation with a tour guide." Meanwhile Andy is like "Never go to a museum with these two, they are insufferable," but then she remembers how Nile reacted to the Rodin and goes "Actually, you know what, you should absolutely go to a museum with these two, you'll probably love it."
no subject
Date: 2020-08-17 12:07 am (UTC)I love your icon also! I feel like anyone with an interest in ancient history who got a chance to talk to Andy would be thrilled but also find her enormously frustrating because she's forgotten so much stuff over the years, and the random things she does remember are delightful but not really helpful. Like, if you dragged her to the museum in Heraklion and showed her the bull-leaping fresco and were like "What was this actually all about?" she would be useless, but she'd see a cup in one of the other displays that would trigger a story about this woman she knew in Knossos who painted pottery, and no she doesn't remember what stage the palace was in at that point or how to read Linear A, that woman was just really good with her hands, okay, and Andy probably still has one of her cups tucked away in a safe house somewhere, no you cannot have it for your research.
no subject
Date: 2020-08-17 05:13 am (UTC)no subject
Date: 2020-08-19 02:02 am (UTC)