Catalan Atlas |
Last week I had the privilege of attending the yearly
International Medieval Congress held at Western Michigan University in
Kalamazoo. Of the seminars and events at Kalamazoo, I attended a roundtable titled, ‘What Was Global in the Middle
Ages?’. Since the premise of Beyond Borders is based on the concept of a
globalised Middle Ages, I thought it best to see how other scholars define and
incorporate ‘global’ into their own research. This is what I found: Confusion. Confusion
about how medievalists can agree upon an overarching definition of ‘global’
that addresses all aspects of culture—European, Asian, African etc…
Overall, I did not find that each panellist had difficulty in
applying the concept of ‘global’ within their respective field, but I did find
that these applications did not correlate with each other. This led me to
wonder—is the concept of ‘global’ so subjective that it applies only to certain
areas in different ways, thus making it another alienating factor in the
scholarship concerning the Middle Ages? ‘Medieval’ refers to a Western time in
history, a time that does not coincide with other cultures or places in the
world, for example China, the Middle East and Africa. This leads us to consider
what the Middle Ages or medieval means in reference to these cultures, and
furthermore, does the aspect of a ‘global’ Middle Ages even fit into their
historical repertoire? As you can see, the questions that arise when one
considers the ‘global’ Middle Ages becomes cyclical and thus moot. So then,
what is the point besides making scholars more painfully aware that we don’t
know all the answers and that we too sometimes can be so engrossed in our own specialisations
that we become a metaphorical embodiment of ‘An Idiot Abroad’ when asked to
consider a medieval global perspective.[1]
How do we cope when faced with the task of analysing our specific area of research
from another perspective when there isn’t a clear definition of how one should approach
such an examination and more importantly what this examination actually means?
I do not claim to have the answers to any of these queries, but I
can offer what a ‘global’ perspective means to me as a scholar of magic in the
Middle Ages. When I began my studies in Art in the Global Middle Ages at the
University of Edinburgh, I considered myself an Islamic art historian who was
concerned with pre-Islamic and Islamic traditions of magic. However, as my
research evolved I found that my examinations began to, but more importantly
needed to, include other cultures’ traditions as well. Let us take the magic
square as an example. Within the Islamic traditions of magic is the use of the
magic square, but the magic square did not originate as an Islamic tradition,
it was a Chinese tradition that spread to India and the Middle East and so on.
Hence my analysis of the magic square in reference to ‘Islamic’ magic led me to
consider its origins in order to better contexualise its use within an Islamic
context. This example does not apply to cultural studies across the board, but
it does provide an insight into how ‘looking at the bigger picture’ or thinking
‘globally’ can actually improve scholarship that is relegated to one particular
culture or part of the world. Non-Eurocentric expertise does not make a scholar
‘global’, but instead the act of taking the activities of other cultures into
account, to me, leads to a well-rounded or ‘global’ perspective. These
activities may not directly translate into ones own work, but it may inform it
in a broader context.
Thus, when used with care, the term 'global' may suggest a conscious interpretation of the activities and traditions of other cultures, which not only applies to the enhancement of contemporary scholarship, but to the scholarship of the Middle Ages as well.
Thus, when used with care, the term 'global' may suggest a conscious interpretation of the activities and traditions of other cultures, which not only applies to the enhancement of contemporary scholarship, but to the scholarship of the Middle Ages as well.
~Shandra
[1] This is in reference to Ricky Gervais’s and Stephen Merchant’s acclaimed television show ‘An Idiot Abroad.’
Images:
http://www.pascalerey.com/Ressources/4%20feuilles.jpg
http://www.repro-tableaux.com/kunst/abraham_cresques/detail_from_the_catalan_atlas.jpg
https://upload.wikimedia.org/wikipedia/commons/a/aa/Catayo.jpeg
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