Presence of the past
Powerpoint presentations:
Questions to keep in mind while reading Bahrani 1998:
- What kind of intellectual context does Bahrani place the formation of Mesopotamian archaeology as a modern discipline?
- Bahrani refers to Michel de Certau’s idea that writing of history is continuously the cutting apart and suturing of the past and present. How do you imagine this process as a spatial and temporal phenomenon? Follow between the lines, and try to see how actually this took place during the establishment of Near Eastern studies.
- What are Bahrani’s criticisms of contemporary scholarship in Near Eastern studies? What are her argumentations for the continuity of colonialist forms of thought in contemporary academic practice?
- Narrative is defined by scholars as a form of telling, where the knowledge of the author becomes a form of power. In narrative form, the historical events are presented in a rigid sequence and with a cause-and-effect logic established between events. How does the modern discipline of archaeology relate itself to the grand-narrative of Western civilization, according to Bahrani? How does it contribute to the making of this narrative through its own field practices and academic literature?