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Atlas's Bones

By Smith, D. Vance

Atlas's Bones

By Smith, D. Vance

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Description
"A major new look at Africa's influence on European culture and how colonization remade Africa in the image of a medieval Europe. Virgil. Chaucer. Petrarch. These names resonate with many as cornerstones of European culture. Yet, in Atlas's Bones, D. Vance Smith reveals that much of what is claimed as European culture up to the Middle Ages-its great themes in literature, its sources in political thought, its religious beliefs-originated in the writings of African thinkers like Augustine, Fulgentius, and Martianus Capella, or Europeans who thought extensively about Africa. In fact, a third of Virgil's Aeneid takes place in Africa. Francis Petrarch believed his most important achievement was his epic Africa; while Geoffrey Chaucer wrote repeatedly about the figures of Scipio Africanus, actually two different men who defeated and destroyed Carthage. Smith tells the story of how Europe created a false "medieval" version of Africa to acquire resources and power during the era of imperialism and colonialism. The first half of the book, "Reading Africa," traces Egypt's, Libya's, and Carthage's influence on classical and medieval thinking about Africa, highlighting often ignored literary and legendary traditions, for example, that Alexander the Great named himself the son of an African god. The second part, "Writing Africa," focuses on how the different cultures of the two great African cities-Carthage and Alexandria-shaped medieval literary criticism and political theology and examines the cross-influences of modern anthropology, medieval studies, and colonial law. Atlas's Bones firmly re-establishes the significance of Africa in European intellectual history. It will be essential reading for anyone seeking to understand how much of Africa informs our artistic and cultural world"--
Product details
Edition:
1
Number of Pages:
432
Release Date:
2025-11-28
Publication Date:
2025-11-28
Publisher:
University of Chicago Pr.
Languages:
Original: English
ISBN10:
0226830306
ISBN13:
9780226830308
GPSR Manufacturer Reference:
[email protected]
Weight:
680 g
Height:
159 cm
Width:
236 cm
Thickness:
29 cm
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