“Potentially the Pompeii of East Africa”: Histories of Archaeology, Colonialism, and Tourism in Swahili Stone Towns in the Nineteenth and Twentieth Centuries

Research output: Journal contributionsJournal articlesResearchpeer-review

Authors

Focusing on a quotation by Mortimer Wheeler from the year 1955, when he called the ruined Swahili stone town of Kua on Juani island in the Mafia archipelago in today’s Tanzania “potentially the Pompeii of East Africa,” this article unravels some of the many layers encapsulated in this statement. The article contextualizes the passage by Wheeler with regard to the history of archaeology, colonialism, and tourism in the region. It interrogates ways how the discipline of art history can contribute to studies of the built environment along the East African coast. And it illuminates both the necessity and the potentials of decentralizing studies of the humanities on empirical-historical and methodological levels for future scholarship on the art and architecture along the Swahili coast as well as within the field of transcultural art history more generally.

Original languageEnglish
JournalHistory of Humanities
Volume6
Issue number2
Pages (from-to)427-448
Number of pages22
ISSN2379-3163
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 01.09.2021
Externally publishedYes

Bibliographical note

Funding Information:
64. For a historiographical study from an archaeological perspective with referents to previous literature and a focus on the past fifty years, see Wynne-Jones and Fleisher, “Fifty Years in the Archaeology of the Eastern African Coast.” See also Nurse and Spear, The Swahili; Horton, Shanga; Kusimba, Rise and Fall of the Swahili States; LaViolette and Fleisher, “Archaeology of Sub-Saharan Urbanism”; Pollard and Kinyera, “Swahili Coast and the Indian Ocean Trade Patterns”; Lane, “Archaeology of Colonial Encounters.” 65. Ichumbaki and Schmidt, “Is There Hope for Heritage”; Ichumbaki and Mjema, “Impact of Small-Scale Development Projects.” 66. See the project “Reversing the Gaze: Towards Post-Comparative Area Studies,” funded by the Swiss National Science Foundation and directed by Elísio Macamo, Deval Desai, Benedikt Korf, and Ralph Weber.

Publisher Copyright:
© 2021 Society for the History of the Humanities. All rights reserved.

DOI

Recently viewed

Publications

  1. § 352 Aufrechnung nach Nichterfüllung
  2. "I don't know anything about soccer" how personalweaknesses and strengths guide inferences aboutwomen's qualification in sex-typed jobs
  3. Testverweigerung in DESI-Textproduktion
  4. Konjunkturen des Rassismus
  5. Die Kostenrechnung als Informationssystem der Unternehmensführung
  6. Segment profitability in the leisure industry
  7. Demokratieskepsis und Institutionentheorie
  8. Mental health – backbone of the soul
  9. Bushido - Ideal oder Vergangenheit?
  10. Event Risks und Event Risk Covenants
  11. § 351 Unteilbarkeit des Rücktrittsrechts
  12. Transzendentalphilosophie und Person, Leiblichkeit - Interpersonalität - Anerkennung, Christoph Asmuth (Hg.)
  13. Eine Klasse ins Rollen bringen
  14. Georg Heym: Das lyrische Werk
  15. Was vom Leben bleibt
  16. Research Handbook on Entrepreneurial Opportunities
  17. Gewaltpotenziale abbauen, aufbauen oder umbauen?
  18. “Spicing up the Spaghetti Bowl”
  19. "Die Wahrheit bleibt das Höchste"
  20. Verhaltenswirkungen des Controlling
  21. Schlüsselqualifikationen
  22. Beratung in Veränderungsprozessen
  23. Beweglichkeitstraining im Schulsport
  24. Umweltchemie 2007
  25. Exploring Corporate Practices in Management Accounting for Sustainability
  26. Systemsplitter II
  27. Experiencing the global dimension of sustainability
  28. Social perceptions of the impacts and benefits of invasive alien species
  29. Karl Mays "Im Reiche des silbernen Löwen"
  30. Warum nicht Größenvorstellungen?
  31. § 352 Aufrechnung nach Nichterfüllung
  32. Feedback
  33. Frühwarnindikatoren
  34. Typology of public outreach for biodiversity conservation projects in Spain
  35. Die Magischen Kanäle
  36. Mehr Konflikte durch gelungene Integration, Besprechung von Aladin El-Mafaalani: Das Integrationsparadox