1.

Record Nr.

UNINA9910819916503321

Titolo

Saharan crossroads : exploring historical, cultural, and artistic linkages between North and West Africa / / edited by Tara F. Deubel, Scott M. Youngstedt, and Hélène Tissières ; contributors, Abdalla Uba Adamu [and nineteen others]

Pubbl/distr/stampa

Newcastle upon Tyne, [England] : , : Cambridge Scholars Publishing, , 2014

©2014

ISBN

1-4438-6289-4

Descrizione fisica

1 online resource  (424 pages) : illustrations, photographs

Disciplina

373.6

Soggetti

Education, Secondary - Africa, Sub-Saharan

Educational assistance - Africa, Sub-Saharan

Educational assistance

Lingua di pubblicazione

Inglese

Formato

Materiale a stampa

Livello bibliografico

Monografia

Note generali

Bibliographic Level Mode of Issuance: Monograph

Nota di bibliografia

Includes bibliographical references at the end of each chapters.

Sommario/riassunto

Saharan Crossroads: Exploring Historical, Cultural, and Artistic Linkages between North and West Africa counteracts the traditional scholarly conception of the Sahara Desert as an impenetrable barrier dividing the continent by employing an interdisciplinary lens to examine myriad interconnections between North and West Africa through travel, trade, communication, cultural exchange, and correspondence that have been ongoing for several millennia. Saharan Crossroads offers a unique contribution to existing scholarship on the region by uniting a diverse group of African, European, and American scholars working on various facets of trans-Saharan history, social life, and cultural production, and bringing their work together for the first time. This trilingual volume includes eleven chapters written in English, five chapters in French, and three chapters in Arabic, reflecting the multicultural nature of the Sahara and this international project.Saharan Crossroads explores historical and contemporary connections and exchanges between populations living in and on both sides of the



Sahara that have led to the emergence of distinctive cultural and aesthetic expressions. This contact has been fostered by a series of linkages that include the trans-Saharan caravan trade, the spread of Islam, the migration of nomadic pastoralists, and European colonization. The book includes three major sections: (1) history, culture, and identity; (2) trans-Saharan circulation of arts, music, ritual performance, and architecture; and (3) religion, law, language, and writing. While the gaze of international political analysts has turned toward the Sahara to follow problematic developments that pose serious threats to human rights and security in the region, it is especially timely to recall that the people and countries of the Sahelo-Saharan world have maintained long histories of peaceful coexistence, interdependence, and cooperation that are too often overlooked in the present.