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Chargement... Le rhinocéros d'or : Histoires du Moyen Age africainpar François-Xavier Fauvelle
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Inscrivez-vous à LibraryThing pour découvrir si vous aimerez ce livre Actuellement, il n'y a pas de discussions au sujet de ce livre. There is a dearth of information about the Africa's history before European colonization. François-Xavier Fauvelle's "The Golden Rhinoceros: Histories of the African Middle Ages" tries to fill that gap with 34 vignettes. Unfortunately, the book's focus is too narrow and the writing often meandering. With only a few exceptions, each chapter is about either European trade through the Sahara or Arab trade along the east coast. Readers hoping to find information about sub-Saharan or West African history will be disappointed. One vignette deals with the entire history of Great Zimbabwe and three deal with Mali, all in the context of trade to Europe via the Sahara. There are several chapters on Christian Ethiopia and the Moroccan coast. Because Arab scholars and traders were so active during this time, it's no surprise that Fauvelle should use their writing to make the point that African civilization at the time was dynamic, powerful, and economically important. Unfortunately, he leaves out nearly everything else. He is able to go on tangents about Italian traders paying taxes for not being Muslim, but is unable to write anything about the kingdoms of Kongo or the Sao civilizations that existed well into traditional Medieval times? Perhaps this is because Fauvelle is more interested in making the point that Africa existed within the wider world, within the world of trade with other civilizations. While that is true, it's also true that African civilizations were economically independent. A reviewer on Amazon observed that this book is more series of stories about people who went to Africa to trade, rather than people who lived there. Within the vignettes, there is a tendency to meander. Fauvelle makes mention of interesting topics, sometimes going down rabbit holes, sometimes leaving the reader to wonder what he is talking about. In the end, each topic is given a very cursory look. With 34 chapters, I should have expected that. The translation is a bit stilted. I don't know if this is because the translator is going word-for-word from the author's original writing or whether there is a lot of dressing added to the prose with little effect. The book does include a solid index. Because this book is translated from French, most of the scant sources are French. I understand why someone might not like this book. It's less than 250 pages long, and has 34 discrete chapters. So, you don't get a whole lot of depth on anything, and you could easily find that frustrating. If, on the other hand, you find your own ignorance of African history frustrating (as I do), and also find the astonishing lack of good writing about pre-colonial African history frustrating, this is a charming place to start. A very reviewer wrote that 'maps would have helped.' There are maps following page 118. In short, it's a bit like those 'History of X in 100 objects' books, but with more scholarly chops, less fancy design, and a far more neglected subject. It's a higher-brow version of Henry Louis Gates' PBS series (which is solid!) And, best of all, it encourages one to search out more knowledge. L’historien et archéologue François-Xavier Fauvelle raconte des histoires de l'Afrique précoloniale en 34 courts chapitres et rend accessible aux non-spécialistes une période qui est malconnue dans le monde occidental. Le Moyen Âge africain, dit Fauvelle, c'est la période entre l'Antiquité tardive et le fin du XVe siècle à cause de l'absence générale de sources écrites. Donc, Fauvelle utilise d'autres sources africaines—les sources orales, les rapports de fouilles archéologiques, les objets—et par nécessité les textes externes (européennes, arabes) pour évoquer les empires du Mali et Grand Zimbabwe. Le Rhinocéros d'Or comble un vide dans l'histoire populaire de l'Afrique, et fournit aussi une bibliographie très utile pour les chercheurs. aucune critique | ajouter une critique
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La 4e de couv. indique : Voici l'Afrique des ℗±sie cles d'or℗ . En Europe, c'e tait le Moyen A ge. Scrutant les traces que laisse rent des civilisations brillantes (VIIIe-XVe sie cles), Franc ʹois-Xavier Fauvelle-Aymar nous fait de couvrir de manie re captivante la riche histoire de ce continent me connu. Conduit par les ne gociants, les aventuriers, les ge ographes et les diplomates d'un lointain passe mais aussi par les arche ologues du temps pre sent, son re cit nous me ne du Sahara jusqu'aux rives du fleuve Niger ; de l'empire du Mali jusqu'aux royaumes chre tiens de Nubie ou d'E thiopie ; des principaute s de la co te d'Afrique de l'Est jusqu'aux e nigmatiques pouvoirs qui ont laisse les ruines majestueuses de Grand Zimbabwe. On de couvre les cours de souverains opulents ; les villes tre s peuple es ou les commerc ʹants du monde islamique rencontraient les ne gociants africains ; les marche s ou s'e changeaient ambre de cachalot, esclaves et or, contre vaisselle de luxe, lingots de me tal et de sel, coquillages et perles importe s d'Asie. Une carte, une fresque, une lettre, les ruines d'une ville de sel, une pie ce de monnaie ou une inscription grave e permettent a l'auteur de reconstituer l'histoire. Rares, fragiles, ces traces constituent le temps retrouve d'une Afrique mobile, marchande et interlope. Aucune description trouvée dans une bibliothèque |
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So I enjoyed it - particularly the chapters on the Great Zimbabwe, Vasco de Gama and the Kingdom of Mali - and recommend it. But don't expect depth ( )