Analysing a primary source
Define the term ‘cultural encounter.’
What are the main differences between using primary written sources and drawing on an oral narrative history? (Mackie, 2008, pp. 17-19)
Use the following questions to help you to interrogate a primary source.
- Do we have a date for this source and how is this significant? How close is its date to the date of the events to which it refers? How does this date relate to other important dates of which you are aware? How does the source fit into contextual knowledge obtained from other sources both primary and secondary? Do you need to explain any particular words or phrases (e.g. sums of money)?
- What kind of source is it and what are its strengths and weaknesses? Is it a public (legislative act, newspaper article) or private source (letter, diary entry)?
- How did the source come into existence in the first place and for what purpose? What was it intended to convey? Who created it? What basic attitudes, prejudices, vested interests would he/she/they be likely to have? For whom is the document intended and to whom is it addressed?
- How far is the originator of the source really in a position to provide reliable information? Is it direct testimony or hearsay?
- What can you infer about prevailing values and assumptions, some of which may be conveyed unintentionally? In this case, how far does this fit ‘into a pattern of writing about Benin’ which regards such African societies as ‘primitive…changeless or regressing …..and only western contact would lead to progress’ with ‘commerce and Christianity’ as the basis of treaties and the ‘civilisation of Africa’. Can reading between the lines’ or ‘against the grain’ suggest any further insights? (Mackie, 2008, pp. 26-8).
The Reception of the Benin bronzes in Europe
1. On what footing were the initial contacts between Europeans and the people of Benin in the late fifteenth and sixteenth centuries?
2. What was the initial reaction of the Europeans to the discovery of the bronzes in 1897?
3. What vital information was lost concerning them during the sack of Benin in 1897 and in the subsequent auctions?
4. How were the Benin bronzes originally manufactured and what difficulties did this pose for a western audience?
5. How was this apparent contradiction resolved by contemporary commentators? (See Readings 2.2, 2.4. and pp. 52-6)
6. How did modern artists view ‘primitive’ sculpture and why did the Benin bronzes prove problematic in this context? Does this explain their lack of influence on modern art?
7. What does Wood mean by ‘the ambivalent power of Africa as an idea rather than as a real place with a history and a politics’ (p. 70)? To what extent did the modernist appreciation of African sculpture serve to perpetuate imperialist stereotypes?
8. What are the differences between displaying African sculptures as ethnographic items or as art?
9. How do contemporary installations at the BritishMuseum and the Horniman attempt to resolve these issues?
10. Should the bronzes be repatriated – what do you think?