The souvenir of egypt in the study of material culture
As we did with the section on Political History, let's begin with some
unanswered questions about the silk and then develop them into some viable topicsfor a research project in Material Cultural History.
Question:
Who made the silk, and for whom to buy?
Insight into the question we have gathered from our research:
Recall our
examination of the Texts. The two languages represented are Arabic and English.Also, the only nations actually named are Egypt and Britain. But, even if the silk
presented no text to read, the predominant flags in the silk are Egyptian andBritish and the imagery is of dark skinned and turbaned individuals working near a
river before pyramids. This cultural snapshot is presumably not of the ThamesRiver.
Developing the question into a research project in the study of material
culture:
The existence of the Souvenir of Egypt indicates the existence of
an English-speaking, presumably British, tourist culture in Egypt in the firstquarter of the twentieth-century. Our research project will examine the cultural
significance of this and other souvenirs of international travel by looking foradditional evidence of a culture of tourism, such as travel accounts and guides,
agencies for the promotion of tourism and the impact of an exposure to foreigncultures on trends of fashion and décor in London.
Let's try another question.
Question:
Why is the image of the laboring Egyptian along the Nile River
before the Great Pyramid of Giza that appears in the Souvenir of Egypt such apredominant image in European representations of Egypt?
Insight into the question we have gathered from our research:
Recall our
stumbling across the genre of Orientalist art in our analysis of the
Symbols in the
imagery of the Souvenir of Egypt. The emphasis of difference or “otherness,” to usea term brought to the fore of historical research dealing with Europe’s perceptions
of the non-European, seems significant to the study of our artifact. Taken in oneway, the surrounding European leaders seem to be peering in to the scene of exotic
labor from the outside, or perhaps containing it.
Developing the question into a research project in the study of material
culture:
The imagery of the Souvenir of Egypt is a complex interplay of
the familiar and the exotic. The scene of the simple, and yet decidedly exotic,figures laboring beneath the mysterious pyramids of Giza is countered by the
surrounding visages of the wider political universe, also mysterious for differentreasons. Our research project will examine the ways in which the British tourist’s
experience in Egypt shaped and was shaped by such representations of the familiarand the unfamiliar as we find in the Souvenir of Egypt.
Where to go from here
This is an excellent point in the project to consult with your advisor on
where you are going with the project. We have done an extensive amount of research sofar and have found much useful information about the silk and its imagery. Often, when
one has spent as much time as we have on a project like this, we don’t see whatmight be an obviously productive direction. Introducing your research to someone on
the outside can be very helpful in this respect, especially if that person isfamiliar with you and your work. Your advisor is the perfect person to have this
conversation with.
