Marco Polo And The Encounter Of East And West

Download or read book Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West written by Suzanne Conklin Akbari and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-12-27 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Few figures from history evoke such vivid Orientalist associations as Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer whose accounts of the "Far East" sparked literary and cultural imaginations. The essays in Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West challenge what many scholars perceived to be an opposition of "East" and "West" in Polo's writings. These writers argue that Marco Polo's experiences along the Silk Road should instead be considered a fertile interaction of cultural exchange. The volume begins with detailed studies of Marco Polo's narrative in its many medieval forms (including French, Italian, and Latin versions). They place the text in its material and generic contexts, and situate Marco Polo's account within the conventions of travel literature and manuscript illumination. Other essays consider the appropriation of Marco Polo's narrative in adaptations, translation, and cinematic art. The concluding section presents historiographic and poetic accounts of the place of Marco Polo in the context of a global world literature. By considering the production and reception of The Travels, this collection lays the groundwork for new histories of world literature written from the perspective of cultural, economic, and linguistic exchange, rather than conquest and conflict.

Download or read book Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West written by John Tulk and published by University of Toronto Press. This book was released on 2008-01-01 with total page 353 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: These essays challenge what many scholars perceived to be an opposition of "East" and "West" in Polo's writings.

Download or read book The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps written by Benjamin B. Olshin and published by University of Chicago Press. This book was released on 2014-10-29 with total page 197 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Concerns a collection of maps and associated documents claimed to be from Marco Polo's time or that of his daughters (as many of the maps have the name or one or another of the three daughters on them). Discusses provenance, authenticity, and history of the documents, known to scholars as "the Marco Polo Maps" since 1948, here discussed fully for the first time.

Download or read book The East, the West, and Sex written by Richard Bernstein and published by Vintage. This book was released on 2010-07-27 with total page 338 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In this wide-ranging history, Richard Bernstein explores the connection between sex and power as it has played out between Eastern cultures and the Western explorers, merchants, and conquerors who have visited them. This illuminating book describes the historical and ongoing encounter between these travelers and the morally ambiguous opportunities they found in foreign lands. Bernstein’s narrative teems with real figures, from Marco Polo and his investigation into the harem of Kublai Khan; the nineteenth-century American missionary Isabella Thoburn and her efforts to stamp out the “sinfulness” of the Mughal culture of India; Gustave Flaubert and his dalliances with Egyptian prostitutes; to modern-day sex tourists in Southeast Asia, as well as the women that they both exploit and enrich. Provocative and insightful, The East, The West, and Sex is a lucid look at a pervasive and yet mostly ignored subject.

Download or read book The City of Light written by Jacob D'Ancona and published by Citadel Press. This book was released on 2003 with total page 580 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: In 1270, Jewish scholar-merchant Jacob d'Ancona embarked on a remarkable voyage from his native Italy to Zaitun, the city of light, a vast coastal metropolis in southern China. His manuscript, hidden from the world for centuries, provides a first-person insight into life in the 13th century. It describes a thriving mercantile economy, whose vigorous manufacture and lavish consumption in the shadow of the impending Mongol invasion represent the swansong of a wealthy, decadent and surprisingly "modern" society. Jacob d'Ancona's participation as a foreign trader in the grand civic debates shed light on the relationship of Jews and Christians and the role of the individual in society.--Amazon.com.

Download or read book The Book of Ser Marco Polo, the Venetian, Concerning the Kingdoms and Marvels of the East written by Marco Polo and published by . This book was released on 1903 with total page 812 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:

Download or read book Mission to China written by Mary Laven and published by . This book was released on 2012 with total page 279 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An epic history of the clashes of cultures between Jesuit missionaries in China.