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Saturday, October 24, 2020

How Academics, Egyptologists, and Even Melania Trump Benefit From Colonialist Cosplay

https://hyperallergic.com/595896/how-academics-egyptologists-and-even-melania-trump-benefit-from-colonialist-cosplay/

Sorry, I can't include the instagram photos in this email, but you can go to instagram to see them, and you can follow the above link to view the "Egyptomania House Tour".

Glenn

How Academics, Egyptologists, and Even Melania Trump Benefit From Colonialist Cosplay

From khakis to pith hats, certain items of clothing have become enduring emblems of European colonialism and particular scholars who know these problematic histories choose to engage in the aesthetics of colonialism in their everyday lives.

First Lady Melania Trump visits an ivory burn site with Nelly Palmeris, Nairobi National Park Game Warden on Friday, Oct. 5, 2018, at the Nairobi National Park in Nairobi, Kenya (official White House photo by Andrea Hanks via Flickr).

From khakis to pith hats, certain items of clothing have become enduring emblems of British, French, and Dutch colonialism. Should their history as sartorial symbols of empire and oppression be considered when donned today? And what about those scholars who know their problematic histories and still choose to live, to recreate, and to engage in the aesthetics of colonialism in their everyday lives?

In her new book, Melania and Me, author Stephanie Winston Wolkoff remarks on the first lady's controversial choice of headgear when visiting Kenya in 2018: "October took Melania to Kenya, where she wore a pith helmet reminiscent of colonialists from Europe … She said her sartorial choice offended the 'liberal media.'" According to Winston Wolkoff, Mrs. Trump went on to explain how she'd landed on the helmet to begin with: "'I googled 'what to wear on safari,' saw the outfit, and liked it. So I bought it,' she said. 'I wasn't making a comment on colonialism.'"

Following Trump's visit to Kenya, her fashion choices were widely critiqued as insensitive —even though supporters claim they were born from ignorance. But what about those that dress in this garb on purpose? Among the western archaeologists working in Egypt a least a few have a particular taste for early 20th century, colonial-style attires, both in and out of the field. You thought pith helmets — one of the most easily recognizable symbols of British colonial might — and Crocodile Dundee-esque outfits were a thing of the pre-Nasser past? Well, you're wrong. Not only are such outfits still deemed unproblematic by many current archaeologists, but some of them also willingly advertise their "vintage" tastes on social media.

This is the case of the "Vintage Egyptologist" also known as Dr Colleen Manassa Darnell. According to her Academia page,

Dr Manassa Darnell taught at Yale University as the Marilyn M. and William K. Simpson Assistant Professor of Egyptology (2006–2010), and Associate Professor (2010–2015). She currently teaches art history at the University of Hartford and other colleges in Connecticut and is a curatorial affiliate at the Yale Peabody Museum of Natural History.

Her work also includes a substantial volume of public-facing scholarship, which she performs under the name "Vintage Egyptologist" (VE). Over the past few years, VE has gathered an impressive following on Instagram and Youtube. The oldest picture on Dr Manassa Darnell's Instagram account dates from January 2017. Her feed, which currently counts about 375 posts, has 153,000 followers. This is way more than all the Egyptologists we know. (By comparison, Zahi Hawass has 53,000 followers.) In February 2020, she was featured as a guest on YouTuber Rachel Maksy's "Watching 'The Mummy' with an Actual Egyptologist" video. The clip has over two million views.

More recently, VE created a Youtube channel, which now counts 35,000 followers. While the instagram account appears to be Dr Manassa Darnell's solo project, the Youtube page's profile picture features her with her husband, Yale Egyptology Professor John Coleman Darnell, and the page's "about" section reads: "We are Egyptologists with interests in archaeology, history, and vintage fashion".

VE does provide high quality, accurate historical content, and the Darnells are doing so — through Instagram captions, Youtube videos, and cruise tours — very eloquently. What interests us here is that this Egyptological content is delivered using a so-called "vintage" packaging, which transports us to the realm of The Great Gatsby meets The English Patient. The numerous hashtags added to the Instagram captions include #archaeology, #history, #egyptology, #explorers, #explorersclub, and #indianajones. Less than a handful of Egyptian workers (three of whom are referred to as "our Egyptian family" in one instance) appear in the pictures. The few archaeological workers who do appear (in subaltern roles) are named. Apart from a couple of early 20th-century hotels (whose presence seems to be warranted because they are remnants of a "glamorous past"), no modern Egyptian settlement is represented.

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A work shot from January, at the sifter with Ahmed Ali (center) and Ahmed Abdou (right), in front of one of the dry stone structures at the Late Roman Period settlement (ca. 500 CE) we discovered last season in the Eastern Desert. We have made additional finds of like date at other sites in the Eastern Desert (more to come). These so-called "Enigmatic Sites" reveal a use around the same time, for at most a few decades to perhaps a century, and give evidence of people using primarily Roman style ceramics of Nile Valley Egyptian production, with a number of imported pieces, and a few open forms of Eastern Desert Ware. Based on our work at these sites (preliminary publication in press in a Festschrift volume, so we cannot give details till it has appeared), we believe they are outposts of the mysterious Blemmyes, the people who appear in Greek geographic texts and on medieval maps as having no heads, and faces on their chests. More on them, and these sites, to come. Working with the sifter going through the often micro-stratigraphy of the desert sites, we have collected interesting material, including a Roman barrel lock key, turned wood pieces, glass fragments, and botanical remains, revealing that the people living at these remote sites were actively part of the Byzantine and Red Sea economies. I wear my well-worn 1970s Annie Hall excavation ensemble from @sultryvintage. . #archaeologist #archaeology #romanhistory #blemmyes #egyptology #egyptologist #ancientegypt #ancientrome #1970s #1970svintage #truevintage #archaeologylife #artifact #byzantine

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In a 2018 interview with Egypt Today, Dr Manassa Darnell explained that her "love for vintage fashion and the '20s began when she realized how liberating the era was for women":

As the First World War raged across Europe, women found themselves filling the roles of men. They began working, playing sports, taking part in excavations and finally they were given their right to vote. Jazz music came out of the shadows of New Orleans and started to become popular all around the world, and Hollywood's influence on the public was at its starting point. The Prohibition had forced communities into underground clubs as nightlife and crime were embraced by all classes. Everyone was dancing the Charleston, while the prevailing flapper lifestyle became the new cool with its own slang.

The "liberated women" Dr Manassa Darnell has in mind are European, American, and white of a particular socio-economic background. Elsewhere, she claims that it makes her feel "powerful to be able to channel the past". She then goes on to describe her approach to wearing vintage clothing in archaeological contexts:

Onsite during an excavation, I wear practical and more recent vintage, such as 1970s and 1980s khaki skirts, sometimes paired with a '40s or '50s jacket. For visits to tombs and temples, I often wear flapper dresses or jodhpur pants with boots. I hope that by combining Egyptology and vintage fashion — from a time when Egyptology and Egyptian designs, both ancient and modern, were popular throughout the world — I can encourage more people to be interested in all things Egyptian, and to travel to Egypt. By wearing the clothing of the early modern period and attempting to understand how it feels to wear and work in the clothes of 100 or so years ago, I also gain some feeling for understanding the different clothing and the lives of the ancient Egyptians.

Behind closed doors, many Egyptologists have been making fun of VE on the ground that its branding is narcissistic and ridiculously colonial. Yet public critiques by fellow academics, including Egyptologists, remain few, and those who have spoken up have generally been met with dismissive arguments from inside the field. Many academics suggest that what matters is the content, not the container; so criticism of this type amounts to nothing more than uncollegial gossiping.

We beg to differ. To us, Egyptologists and scholars in antiquity-related fields, the "vintage" part of VE is as meaningful as the "Egyptologist" part. Indeed, the highly curated, and professional, pictures and videos produced by VE are the result of conscientious, deliberate choices. These testify to a vision of Egyptology that is intimately tied to the reproduction of colonial imageries. In most cases the (white, American) body of Dr Manassa Darnell, who features at times with her (white, American) husband, is shown in Egypt, either in a monument, on a site, or aboard a "vintage" cruise boat.

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Standing on the deck of the steamship SUDAN, the only Art Deco steamer on the Nile River. I am happy to announce that you can join us on a very special trip in May 2018 – "Vintage Egypt." The itinerary (full details at http://www.goodspeedandbach.com/wp-content/uploads/2017/11/Egypt-2018-1.pdf – link in bio too) includes the best historic hotels in Egypt: the Mena House at the foot of the Giza pyramids and the Old Cataract Hotel in Aswan. Our exploration of Upper Egypt will be a five night cruise aboard the SUDAN – a unique vessel that is straight from Agatha Christie's "Death on the Nile" (in fact, was used as the main set in a 2004 BBC version). My husband, John, and I will be on hand to provide background on ancient Egyptian history, translate hieroglyphic inscriptions from the monuments, and share stories of our discoveries in Egypt. In addition to the information in the itinerary, you can e-mail Matt Moran (travel@goodspeedandbach.com) for further details or send me a DM. Photo by @janekratochvil. . #egyptologist #egypt #1920sfashion #1920sdress #flapper #flapperdress #vintagestyle #truevintageootd #truevintage #steamship #nile #bobbedhair #agathachristie #paddlewheeler #deathonthenile #ancientegypt #vintagetravel

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In my 1940s sharkskin suit from @hijinxvintage, with John in a 30s vest and cream linen suit, on the port staircase of the SS Sudan at Edfu (waiting for Rick and Louie, on their way from Brazzaville). The 2018 May tour is booked, but we are keeping a waiting list, and planning for a 2019 cruise (hopefully a "Deco Nile" cruise from Aswan to Cairo). Swipe to see me with some appropriate reading material for a Nile cruise—"A Thousand Miles Up the Nile," an 1877 travelogue by Amelia Edwards, recounting her 1873-1874 trip up he Nile (book from @ludlowblunt). In addition to being a novelist and noted writer of Victorian ghost stories (of which John is something of an expert), Edwards—with R.S. Poole of the British Museum—founded the Egypt Exploration Fund (later and still the Egypt Exploration Society) in London in 1882. With Margaret Murray (who established a scholarly obsolete but still influential proto-Wiccan theory of witchcraft as a survival of an ancient pagan cult) and others, Amelia Edwards is one of the first of a long line of important women in Egyptology, and of course an inspiration for Barbara Mertz' Egyptological heroine Amelia Peabody (perhaps a collateral English member of the family who endowed @thepeabodyacademy). . #egyptologist #egyptologists #egyptology #ancientegypt #steamshipsudan #ameliapeabody #wiccan #ameliaedwards #egyptexplorationsociety #nile #nilecruise #margaretmurray #1930s #1940s #1940svintage #mensvintage #sharkskin #bobbedhair #vintagetravel #vintagebook #antiquebooks

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Standing on the terrace of the royal suite @sofitelwinterpalace (photo by @hsn08 @tribexdigital). In the background is the southern shoulder of the Qurn, the hill sacred to the cobra goddess Meretseger. Deep in one of the wadis is the queenly tomb of Hatshepsut, into which Howard Carter rappelled by rope in order to evict grave robbers in a feat of derring-do worthy of a Errol Flynn film. After nearly three weeks of clearing debris, the excavation team unearthed the sarcophagus of Hatshepsut that she commissioned as queen, which was abandoned after her rise to kingship and later burial in the Valley of the Kings. During the Ramesside period, royal dependents of the ruler focused on a wadi behind Medinet Habu, now known as the Valley of the Queens, but in origin called the Place of the Dependents (ta-set-neferou). At Medinet Habu, incorporating the small Eighteenth Dynasty temple that Hatshepsut and Thutmosis III constructed atop an Eleventh Dynasty shrine, Ramesses III built his great mortuary temple. In a text there, the god Amun-Re describes his interactions with the mountainside behind us: "I have set your temple like the horizon of the disk, like the palace of Atum, with the result that it endures opposite me forever, beside the mountain of the Mistress of Life, so that I might appear and shine in the bark of Millions upon the horizon of lightland, my light rays reaching as far as earth, with the result that they circulate in your august temple. I travel to the mountain of Manou, with the result that my hue merges with its interior. I am happy and am joyful concerning your plans. I am content with your mighty deeds." Although the Egyptians most certainly did not see the shape of a pyramid in the towering mountain of the Qurn, hieroglyphic texts such as these as well as depictions of the cobra goddess Meretseger do tell us what they thought about their landscape. I wear a 1920s dress from @noblevintageclothier and John wears a 1930s deco suit. . #winterpalace #vintagetravel #vintageegypt #1920s #1920sfashion #luxor #historichotel #hatshepsut #vintagefashion #vintagecouple #vintagelove #truevintageootd #mensvintage

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The "Darnells," as the couple also call themselves, have also led "vintage cruises" aboard the SS Sudan steamboat. The tour is organized by the travel company Goodspeed & Bach inc. A 2020 advertising pamphlet describes the boat in those terms:

Built in the 1910's, she is the last authentic Belle Epoque paddle steamer in Africa. Her broad teak decks, brassware, and wood paneling are the stuff of romantic stories. The gangways exude a sweet aroma of beeswax; the woven rattan furniture on the deck provides the perfect place to daydream as you sip tea and watch the desert palms glide past.

An Instagram post commemorating the gala night of their 2018 tour at the Grand Cataract Hotel in Aswan gives us an idea of their audience. In addition to the Darnells, all the vintage dressed people featuring in the photographs are white.

Shortly after the cruise tour was over, the couple shot a video of themselves, dressed in jodhpur pants and Pith helmets, dancing in the Grand Tea Room at the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor.

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Immediately after completing fieldwork this season, we met the #vintageegypt2018 tour in Cairo. We are already planning for the #vintageegypt2019 event—contact Matt travel@goodspeedandbach.com to join us — and we decided to test out the grand tea room at the Winter Palace Hotel in Luxor, to see if it would indeed work for dancing. (filming by @heatherstepanik ) As expected, in spite of the carpeting still being down, and even with us wearing our work boots, we were able to dance out a reasonable facsimile of a foxtrot. Next year (late May or early June—still awaiting dates for the SS Sudan) we hope to have an evening dance at the Winter Palace, after arriving from the Gezira Palace in Cairo, and before boarding the steamer Sudan. I wear my ca. 1920 jodhpur sporting suit (from @domesticrebus), with the ubiquitous Frye boots (my puggaree is vintage as well); John wears vintage bush jacket and pantaloons, with 40s leggings. The Winter Palace, inaugurated in 1907—so about 7 years or so before the first "official" foxtrot was danced—was long associated with the Valley of the Kings, from the celebratory luncheon there the day the hotel opened, to the days of the excavation of the Tomb of Tutankhamun, when the hotel hosted the press corps and numerous foreign visitors, as well as the hotel's frequent guest the Earl of Carnarvon. Howard Carter would also visit, of course, and even set up announcements there regarding progress in the excavation. . #egypt #egyptologist #foxtrot #winterpalace #luxor #pithhelmet #vintagetravel #vintagefashion #ballroomdance #inmyfrye

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As we observed above, apart from its Pharaonic ruins, landscapes and, on rare occasions, galabeya-dressed men pictured in subaltern roles, today's Egypt is conspicuously absent. The focus is more particularly on the fashion in vogue in the 1920s. In a clip posted on Facebook, Dr Manassa Darnell explains her particular love for clothing of that period: "There's just something special about putting on clothing that's rooted in a particular time and, often, place."

What, then, was that particular time like in the "particular" places the Darnells work and live in?

In the 1920s, Egypt was ruled by the British. During that time, there was an acceleration of European archaeological missions in the country, and also a rise of international (essentially European and North American) tourism. (See for instance Malcolm Reid's Whose Pharaohs? and Contesting Antiquity in Egypt as well as Rachel Mairs's and Maya Muratov's Archaeologists, Tourists, Interpreters). More generally, as Timothy Mitchell and Jennifer Derr have shown, the period of British rule over Egypt, which VE celebrates as the "Golden Age" of fashion, Egyptology, and travel, was also a period of pervasive colonial violence. Back in the USA, the aftermaths of WWI had led to the "Great Migration," and ongoing racial segregation and violence towards Black Americans fueled the "New Negro Movement'." Unsurprisingly, VE does not engage with this type of "vintage," but promotes instead a sugar-coated, romantic, and Orientalist image of that time period.

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This past Sunday marked the 65th anniversary of the official discovery of the first of two boats of the Egyptian ruler Khufu—builder of the Great Pyramid‚ within two "boat graves" on the south side of the great mortuary monument (discovered in 1954 by an Egyptian expedition, directed by Kamal el-Mallakh), which was the inspiration for this masterful photo by @alberto.urcia. Restored under the supervision of the late Haj Ahmed Youssef Mustapha, the Khufu vessel—still the oldest surviving evidence of true naval architecture—remarkably employs no true ribs (just as Herodotus indicated, and as the discovery of the Dashur boats confirmed in 1893). The vessel, of 43.4m length and 5.9m beam, was made of a remarkable 1,224 separate pieces of wood, most of imported Lebanese cedar (one of the reasons for Egypt's early and long interest in the region of Byblos). The ancient shipwrights employed rope, dowels, and hook scarfs. This sort of "hull-first" construction, later commonly employing mortise and tenon connections between abutting strakes, prevailed in the ancient Mediterranean until the Byzantine Period. The Yassi Ada shipwreck provides some of the first good evidence for the common "Age of Sail" practice of nailing hull strakes to a keel and rib skeleton. The early hull first vessel were quite flexible, so they required great hogging trusses for high seas sailing (more on this to come). The construction explains why, in ancient ramming battles, many ships became waterlogged and disabled, rather than sinking—the ram opened seams to let in water. Cinematic views of rams crashing through hulls were no doubt rare at best, and probably would have resulted in the loss of both vessels. This caption was even more of a collaboration than usual – my thanks to John for his vast knowledge (and explanations!). I wear 1920s sailor pants (@Fashionista) and a vintage style sailor top (@laviedelight) and new @lily.lark parasol! The boat is manned by Harbi Ibrahim, caretaker of the Somers Clarke house, and local fishermen were rowing by at just the right time. . #1920s #1920sstyle #nauticalstyle #khufuboat #ancientegypt #parasol #ad #sponsored #vintagestyle #sailorstyle #nautical

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The elitist, whitewashed version of vintage living promoted by VE appears to be an all-encompassing passion for the Darnells. This notably shows in their September 4 "Egyptomania House Tour" video, which offers a tour of their "Greek revival" home.

To be clear, we don't think that "vintage" fashion is an issue per se. In many ways, "vintage" objects and sartorial items can become creative, ecologically responsible ways to express oneself. And yes, vintage fashion is beautiful. Yet what happens when 1920s (European-inspired) hairdos, clothes, and accessories are purposefully featured on a white body in a way that celebrates colonial-era archaeology and travel? And what does it mean for two white, affluent American scholars to continue to produce such content now, in the age of Trump, Black Lives Matter, and Indigenous fights for decolonization? We argue that VE is very successful because it occludes: the colonial violence that, under British rule, made possible the ideas of Egypt and Egyptology they are celebrating; the complexity, multifaceted identity, and shifting nature of Egypt's land, peoples, and histories; and many (Egyptian, American) pasts, and presents. By doing so, it stages and celebrates a white-supremacist type of vintage Egyptology.

Take this passage from the 2020 Vintage Cruise pamphlet, which concerns "Day 14: Kom Ombo and Aswan":

This morning, SUDAN steams toward Aswan at the frontier of traditional Egypt, where ancient Nubia begins. The mighty desert slowly replaces cultivated land as we proceed up the Nile. It is easy to see that this is where pharaonic civilization once ended. The lands above the great cataracts nourished the Nile Valley with mineral-rich silt during the floods. Nubia also provided Egypt with gold, precious woods and ivory, as well as soldiers for its military machine." (our italics)

To whoever is acquainted with the deep, entangled histories of Egypt and Nubia — and this includes the audiences of the recent virtual talks by Stuart Tyson Smith and Solange Ashby — the simplistic, racially charged, and anti-Black subtext of this passage is striking.

For Dr Manassa Darnell and her husband, vintage living serves as a portal through which they — equipped with the intellectual capital brought about by their association with Yale University — can disseminate knowledge about Pharaonic Egypt to wider, non-academic audiences. What does the success of this strategy mean, about the broader reception of ancient Egypt, about Egyptology's ongoing colonial entanglements, and about the relationship of most of the members of our fields with public-facing scholarship?

VE's curatorial anchoring resides in the realm of the Orientalist fantasy, far, far away from anything written since Edward Said, and in disjunction with the historical experience and sensibilities of most inhabitants of modern and contemporary Egypt. The "Egypt" it portrays is reminiscent of the frontispiece of the 19th century French multivolume series Description de l'Égypte published after Napoleon's conquest. This fictive, deserted landscape was cut through by the Nile river and dotted with impressive pharaonic monuments covered in hieroglyphics, ready to be "explored" by white "experts," whose lavish and civilized lifestyle matches the long-gone sophistication of ancient Egypt's mystical grandeur. In this regard, the Classical-style frieze (which shows an Apollo-looking, Muses-leading Napoléon driving the Mamluks out) surrounding the Description's frontispiece's rendition of Egypt serves as a powerful statement of the power relationship at stake: Egypt is defined by and for the male, European conqueror's ability to penetrate, occupy, and, to paraphrase a now famous political slogan, "make her great again".

Frontispiece of the Description de l'Egypte (image courtesy the New York Public Library's Digital Library via Wikipedia)

The erasure of post-642 AD Egypt and of the Egyptians themselves from the frontispiece of the Description de l'Égypte is a stunning Freudian slip, a powerful window into the enduring (sub)conscious relationship that links a large proportion of scholars, students, and non-academic crowds to Egypt. Such a zoomed-in, myopic image of Egypt belongs to a Eurocentric fantasy that is, as the public success of VE shows, still very much alive, both within and outside of academia.

While VE's audience seems to be mostly white and based in Europe or settler colonies, it is also important to acknowledge that the interiorization, performance, marketization, and consumption of colonial aesthetics is a more global phenomenon that is often introjected by colonial subjects. The recent petition for the return of a French mandate over Lebanon offers a striking example of how the civilizational discourses that accompanied European colonial rules remain alive in "postcolonial" countries.

It should not come as a surprise, then, that VE counts many Egyptians amongst its followers. The recent feature in Egypt Today quoted above attests to this phenomenon. We also ought to mention another, more artful example: For years, Egyptian Egyptologist Zahi Hawass has been carefully subverting a colonial-inspired dress code to foreign and local audiences. His appropriation of Indiana Jones's looks offers a compelling example of a colonizer's outfit being recuperated by a member of a historically colonized community for self-assertive purposes. More broadly, social media publications celebrating the "European fashion" and ways of living of pre-1952 Egypt (and notably Alexandria) abound, and the same trend is found in association with other western Asian countries: from Iran to Afghanistan to Syria and Iraq. For many locals and members of diasporic communities, such cultivated nostalgia for a lost "cosmopolitan" past is often rooted in personal experiences of loss, socio-economic hardship, suffering, and exile.  Yet this romanticization of "lost golden ages" can also be, concomitantly or not, layered with (un)conscious subtexts that testify to modes of internalized coloniality.

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Bumping pith helmets. During the winter season, we were describing a rock inscription we were recording, and I mentioned how we leaned in simultaneously to take a look and we bumped pith helmets. A member of the team remarked how that could be turned into a fabulously obnoxious anecdote at upcoming events, so we expect to hear the tale in various permutations. This photo of us from a few years ago at a rock inscription site in the Egyptian desert with Mohammed Abdu standing by to assist with the mirror—shows how one can indeed bump pith helmets. The gaiters are vintage WWII, and serve the purpose of keeping out both sand and noxious desert dwellers (primarily scorpions) while one is otherwise preoccupied. #egyptologist #egypt #ancientegypt #rockinscriptions #rockinscription #rockart #egyptian #pithhelmet #WWIImilitaria #militaria #1940sfashion #militaryfashion #exploration #colleendarnell #epigraphy #egyptology #desertexploration #desert #egyptiandesert

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It is too easy to mock the examples provided so far without questioning the mechanisms that allowed such public personae to fully manifest themselves in the first place. The large, expanding following of VE testifies to the ongoing popularity of and nostalgia for colonial imageries among large segments of western (especially North American) populations. As such, and whether it wants it or not, VE is eminently political. Indeed, the project is not disconnected from more open forms of apology of colonialism and imperialism, and this is where the problem lies. The public success of VE shows how the image of Egyptology remains largely Orientalist. While scholars are very prone to laugh at the many clichés and stereotypes that shape the way ancient civilizations are portrayed in mass media, we should not forget that these very stereotypes have been, for most of us, the starting point, the spark that ignited our passions, fueled our initial interest for Antiquity. They are also an important gateway to private funding, something which many archaeologists, including the Darnells, understand perfectly.

The past years have seen an increase in the use of ancient history by ideologically minded individuals and groups. One can think of the selective and tendentious recuperation of Greek and Roman imagery by extreme conservative, white supremacist groups; of the apology for western-style looting (including the defense of the British right to own the Elgin Marbles); of the Museum of the Bible debacle. In this context, it is as irresponsible from scholars working on the ancient world to deflect the question of the "decolonization" of the field by appealing to a white-washed, elitist nostalgia for the "good old days" as it is to contemptuously ridicule or ignore the proponents of such tropes. In the era of  a resurgence of white supremacy and neo-fascism, and the onset of COVID-19, in an age, in other words, where the humanities are at the most relevant yet most threatening crossroad they've faced in decades, we, intersectionally minded antiquity scholars, cannot afford to look the other way anymore. It is time for us to occupy the arena of public discourse equipped with our scholarly insights more creatively and more loudly.

--   Sent from my Linux system.

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