Rachel Mairs, Maya Muratov

Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters (eBook, PDF)

Exploring Egypt and the Near East in the Late 19th-Early 20th Centuries

• Format: PDF

Produktbeschreibung

In the late 19th and early 20th centuries, growing numbers of tourists and scholars from Europe and America, fascinated by new discoveries, visited the Near East and Egypt - attracted by the riches and mysteries of the Land of the Bible. Almost all such visitors, no matter how esoteric or academic their pursuits, had to deal with the local authorities and the native workforce for their archaeological excavations. The vast majority of these visitors had to rely on interpreters, dragomans, translators and local guides.

This study, based on published and unpublished travel memoirs, guidebooks, personal papers and archaeological reports of the British and American archaeologists, deals with the socio-political status and multi-faceted role of interpreters at the time. Those bi- or multi-lingual individuals frequently took on (or were forced to take on) much more than just interpreting. They often played the role of go-betweens, servants, bodyguards, pimps, diplomats, spies, messengers, managers and overseers, and had to mediate, scheme and often improvise, whether in an official or unofficial capacity.

For the most part denied due credit and recognition, these interpreters are finally here given a new voice. An engrossing story emerges of how through their many and varied actions and roles, they had a crucial part to play in the introduction to Britain and America of these mysterious past cultures and civilizations.

Produktdetails

• Verlag: Bloomsbury UK eBooks
• Seitenzahl: 176
• Erscheinungstermin: 24. September 2015
• Englisch
• ISBN-13: 9781472588821
• Artikelnr.: 43077322

Autorenporträt

Rachel Mairs is Lecturer in Classics at the University of Reading, UK. Her publications include Archaeologists, Tourists and Interpreters (Bloomsbury, 2015).

Inhaltsangabe

List of illustrations Acknowledgements 1. Introduction: Interpreting the
Orient 2. Mediating Language and Culture Dragomans and Tourists The
Profession of Dragoman Innocents Abroad Managing Clients Learning Arabic 3.
Archaeologists in the Field Flinders Petrie in Egypt and Palestine T. E.
Lawrence in Egypt and Syria Sir Leonard Woolley Max Mallowan and Agatha
Christie 4. Americans in the 'Land of the Bible' The Wolfe Expedition The
Babylonian Expedition of the University of Pennsylvania 1888-1890: First
and Second Campaigns 5. Daniel Z. Noorian: the 'Afterlife' of an
Interpreter 6. Solomon Negima: A Dragoman and his Clients The Testimonial
Book of Dragoman Solomon N. Negima Interpreter on the Nile Dragoman in
Palestine Oxford to Palestine and Alone Through Syria Floyd House 7.
Conclusion Bibliography Index