ARCH 1850 Comparative Empires and Material Culture

This seminar investigates the role of material culture in the interactions and relationships between empires and their subjects. In The Location of Culture, Homi Bhabha argued that from an encounter between an imperialist culture and a colonial culture comes something new, a cultural hybrid, that draws from both sources but stands on its own. This new cultural hybrids engages with, and subverts, the dominant culture, according to Bhabha’s analysis. We will take Bhabha’s concept of cultural hybridity as a starting point in our explorations, asking if hybridity occurs in all imperialist contexts and how this hybridity manifests itself in material culture. We will also challenge the idea of subversion proposed by Bhabha, and investigate other factors related to cultural blending, such as taste, elite emulation, and assimilation for advancement.

In addition, this seminar will also address the question—through a focus on the act of collecting—of the valuation of material culture in an imperialist context. What objects are valued highly by cultures as they come into contact, and why? What ideologies underpin the formation of imperial collections? When these colonial collections and prized possessions are seen through our post-colonial eyes, what is it that we find of value and of interest? How do modern eyes, trained under Western cultural influence, perceive hybrids formed centuries ago?

The explorations of this seminar will be focused on four empires, broadly defined: the Roman, the Chinese, the British, and the American. As we will see, these empires—their narratives, ideologies, and legacies—are intertwined; the lives of these empires inform each other as models as cautionary tales, depending on historical circumstances. Therefore, this seminar will focus on each case study in turn but will seek to identify underlying characteristics and practices that exist in all cases, so as to construct a unified study of comparative empires and material cultures.

W 3:00–5:20. Instructor: Diana Ng

Attention! Prof. Ng's office hours are now on Wednesdays 12-2pm. Please disregard the hours listed in the course syllabus!

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ViewComparative Empires syllabus rev.doc

Course readings

FREE screening of "Gladiator", starring Russell Crowe, on Wednesday Feb. 6 at 7pm, in Salomon 001. Short discussion with Prof. Sue Alcock and members of the Classics and History departments to follow the movie. FREE POPCORN!

Suggested Readings for March 5 Seminar with Prof. Jenny So