Download or read book The Cosmography and Geography of Africa written by Leo Africanus and published by Random House. This book was released on 2023-03-02 with total page 358 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the Renaissance In 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece, The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa. The Cosmography was the first book about Africa, and the first book written by a modern African, to reach print. It would remain central to the European understanding of Africa for over 300 years, with its descriptions of lands, cities and peoples giving a singular vision of the vast continent: its urban bustle and rural desolation, its culture, commerce and warfare, its magical herbs and strange animals. Yet it is not a mere catalogue of the exotic: Leo also invited his readers to acknowledge the similarity and relevance of these lands to the time and place they knew. For this reason, The Cosmography and Geography of Africa remains significant to our understanding not only of Africa, but of the world and how we perceive it. Translated by Anthony Ossa-Richardson and Richard Oosterhoff
Download or read book The Cosmography and Geography of Africa written by Johannes Leo Africanus and published by Penguin. This book was released on 2024-07-09 with total page 0 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The first new translation in over 400 years of one of the great works of the Renaissance: an African diplomat's guide to Africa A Penguin Classic In 1518, al-Hasan ibn Muhammad al-Wazzan, a Moroccan diplomat, was seized by pirates while travelling in the Mediterranean. Brought before Pope Leo X, he was persuaded to convert to Christianity, in the process taking the name Johannes Leo Africanus. Acclaimed in the papal court for his learning, Leo would in time write his masterpiece, The Cosmography and the Geography of Africa. The Cosmography was the first book about Africa, and the first book written by a modern African, to reach print. It would remain central to the European understanding of Africa for over 300 years, with its descriptions of lands, cities, and peoples giving a singular vision of the vast continent: its urban bustle and rural expanse, its culture, commerce and warfare, its magical herbs and strange animals. Yet it is not a mere catalogue of the exotic: Leo also invited his readers to acknowledge the similarity and relevance of these lands to the time and place they knew. For this reason, The Cosmography and Geography of Africa remains significant to our understanding not only of Africa, but of the world and how we perceive it.
Download or read book Trickster Travels written by Natalie Zemon Davis and published by Macmillan + ORM. This book was released on 2007-03-06 with total page 659 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An engrossing study of Leo Africanus and his famous book, which introduced Africa to European readers Al-Hasan al-Wazzan--born in Granada to a Muslim family that in 1492 went to Morocco, where he traveled extensively on behalf of the sultan of Fez--is known to historians as Leo Africanus, author of the first geography of Africa to be published in Europe (in 1550). He had been captured by Christian pirates in the Mediterranean and imprisoned by the pope, then released, baptized, and allowed a European life of scholarship as the Christian writer Giovanni Leone. In this fascinating new book, the distinguished historian Natalie Zemon Davis offers a virtuoso study of the fragmentary, partial, and often contradictory traces that al-Hasan al-Wazzan left behind him, and a superb interpretation of his extraordinary life and work. In Trickster Travels, Davis describes all the sectors of her hero's life in rich detail, scrutinizing the evidence of al-Hasan's movement between cultural worlds; the Islamic and Arab traditions, genres, and ideas available to him; and his adventures with Christians and Jews in a European community of learned men and powerful church leaders. In depicting the life of this adventurous border-crosser, Davis suggests the many ways cultural barriers are negotiated and diverging traditions are fused.
Download or read book Geography of Africa written by Edward Heawood and published by . This book was released on 1896 with total page 286 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Shaping of Africa written by Francesc Relaño and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2019-06-04 with total page 349 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title was first published in 2002. When did Africa emerge as a continent in the European mind? This book aims to trace the origins of the idea of Africa and its evolution in Renaissance thought. Particular attention is given to the relationship between the process of acquiring knowledge through travel and exploration, and its representation within a discourse which also includes previously acquired cosmographical elements. Among the themes investigated are: How did the image of Africa evolve from the conception of a symbolic space to a Euclidean representation? How did the Renaissance rediscovery of Antiquity interact with the Portuguese discoveries along the African coast? And once Africa was circumnavigated, how was the inner landmass depicted in the absence of first-hand knowledge? Also, overall, in this whole process what was the interplay of myth and reality?
Download or read book Geography of Africa written by Edward Heawood and published by . This book was released on 2019 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book Emissaries in Early Modern Literature and Culture written by Gitanjali Shahani and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2016-04-29 with total page 278 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: With its emphasis on early modern emissaries and their role in England's expansionary ventures and cross-cultural encounters across the globe, this collection of essays takes the messenger figure as a focal point for the discussion of transnational exchange and intercourse in the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries. It sees the emissary as embodying the processes of representation and communication within the world of the text, itself an 'emissary' that strives to communicate and re-present certain perceptions of the 'real.' Drawing attention to the limits and licenses of communication, the emissary is a reminder of the alien quality of foreign language and the symbolic power of performative gestures and rituals. Contributions to this collection examine different kinds of cross-cultural activities (e.g. diplomacy, trade, translation, espionage, missionary endeavors) in different world areas (e.g. Asia, the Mediterranean, the Levant, the New World) via different critical methods and approaches. They take up the literary and cultural productions and representations of ambassadors, factors, traders, translators, spies, middlemen, merchants, missionaries, and other agents, who served as complex conduits for the global transport of goods, religious ideologies, and socio-cultural practices throughout the early modern period. Authors in the collection investigate the multiple ways in which the emissary became enmeshed in emerging discourses of racial, religious, gender, and class differences. They consider how the emissary's role might have contributed to an idealized progressive vision of a borderless world or, conversely, permeated and dissolved borders and boundaries between peoples only to further specific group interests.
Download or read book Africa in Focus written by Richard White and published by MacMillan Education, Limited. This book was released on 1998 with total page 356 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Written specifically for students in Africa, this textbook is a consolidated version of the author's three books that deal separately with the human, physical and economic aspects of African geography. It is intended as a textbook for School Certificate, O Level and A Level students.
Download or read book A Geography of Africa Classic Reprint written by Lionel W. Lyde and published by Forgotten Books. This book was released on 2017-09-12 with total page 142 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Excerpt from A Geography of Africa Consequently, this Series contains no maps and little variety of type; and I have intentionally avoided mentioning, cg. Exact heights, distances or sizes, small industries, and unimportant places. Wherever any definite comparisons are made, they are intended only for reference, and not to be learnt; and comparisons between the size of African and British cities have been avoided, as the conditions of native life make them only misleading. About the Publisher Forgotten Books publishes hundreds of thousands of rare and classic books. Find more at www.forgottenbooks.com This book is a reproduction of an important historical work. Forgotten Books uses state-of-the-art technology to digitally reconstruct the work, preserving the original format whilst repairing imperfections present in the aged copy. In rare cases, an imperfection in the original, such as a blemish or missing page, may be replicated in our edition. We do, however, repair the vast majority of imperfections successfully; any imperfections that remain are intentionally left to preserve the state of such historical works.
Download or read book A Geography of Africa written by W. J. Minns and published by . This book was released on 1984 with total page 195 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
Download or read book The Physical Geography of Africa written by William M. Adams and published by Oxford University Press on Demand. This book was released on 1999-01-01 with total page 429 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: An international team of distinguished scholars have each contributed a chapter to produce an advanced, full length, physical geography of Africa. The first part provides an overview of both pan-Africa patterns in the physical environment and those attributes of African physical geography that are distinctive by considering the development of the main features through time. The authors also provide a synoptic review of Francophone and Anglophone literature on the subject, discuss the present state of knowledge, and set out the work and methods that have created it. This part is followed by a group of chapters that integrate such topics as geomorphology, biogeography, environmental change and hydrology within each of the major biomes - forest, savannah, desert, coast, wetland, mountain, Mediterranean and Rift Valley - found in the African continent. Finally there is a section in which various authors look at topical issues concerned with the impact of human activity on the environment. Conservation and development are considered in the light of issues such as soil erosion, desertification, and biodiversity and biodepletion. The authors have produced this integrated physical geography in honour of A.T. Grove as a durable reference work which gives a new perspective on the continent of Africa.
Download or read book Leo Africanus written by Amin Maalouf and published by New Amsterdam Books. This book was released on 1998-03-25 with total page 370 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: "I, Hasan the son of Muhammad the weigh-master, I, Jean-Leon de Medici, circumcised at the hand of a barber and baptized at the hand of a pope, I am now called the African, but I am not from Africa, nor from Europe, nor from Arabia. I am also called the Granadan, the Fassi, the Zayyati, but I come from no country, from no city, no tribe. I am the son of the road, my country is the caravan, my life the most unexpected of voyages." Thus wrote Leo Africanus, in his fortieth year, in this imaginary autobiography of the famous geographer, adventurer, and scholar Hasan al-Wazzan, who was born in Granada in 1488. His family fled the Inquisition and took him to the city of Fez, in North Africa. Hasan became an itinerant merchant, and made many journeys to the East, journeys rich in adventure and observation. He was captured by a Sicilian pirate and taken back to Rome as a gift to Pope Leo X, who baptized him Johannes Leo. While in Rome, he wrote the first trilingual dictionary (Latin, Arabic and Hebrew), as well as his celebrated Description of Africa, for which he is still remembered as Leo Africanus.
Download or read book Africa South of the Sahara written by Robert Stock and published by Guilford Press. This book was released on 2012-12-01 with total page 608 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This authoritative, widely adopted text provides a broad introduction to the geography of Africa south of the Sahara. The book analyzes the political, economic, social, and environmental processes that shape resource use and development in this large, diverse region. Students gain a context for understanding current development debates and addressing questions about the nature and sustainability of contemporary changes. Timely topics include the rise of foreign investment in Africa, the evolving geographies of rural-urban linkages, the birth of the Republic of South Sudan, and advances in the struggle against HIV/AIDS. New to This Edition: *Fully updated to reflect the latest data and trends in development. *Chapters on development theory, cultural and societal diversity, the political geography of postindependence Africa, economic integration, and the geography of poverty. *Substantially revised coverage of gender dynamics, urban living environments, mineral and energy resources, and many other topics. *Many of the 200+ maps, graphs, tables, and photographs are new or updated. Pedagogical Features Include: *Vignettes in every chapter that provide detailed case studies from a variety of countries and elaborate on key concepts. *Recommendations for further reading on each topic, including print and online sources. *Downloadable PowerPoint slides of all original figures, photos, and tables. *An extensive glossary.
Download or read book Studies in East African Geography and Development written by S.H. Ominde and published by Univ of California Press. This book was released on 2024-03-29 with total page 628 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived makes high-quality, peer-reviewed scholarship accessible once again using print-on-demand technology. This title was originally published in 1971. This title is part of UC Press's Voices Revived program, which commemorates University of California Press’s mission to seek out and cultivate the brightest minds and give them voice, reach, and impact. Drawing on a backlist dating to 1893, Voices Revived
Download or read book Africa A to Z Continental and Country Profiles written by Esterhuysen, Pieter and published by Africa Institute of South Africa. This book was released on 2013-12-07 with total page 430 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: The popularity of the first two editions of this book necessitated a third revised and updated version to record the many challenges in Africa since the first edition appeared in 1998. Africa is a vast and fascinating continent whose population has exceeded the one billion mark. Africa A-Z attempts to provide, in a concise manner, the facts for an elementary understanding of the continent and its complex problems. The book falls into two main sections; the five chapters on the first main section focus on the continent as a whole, dealing with its physical and human diversity, its eventful history and Africans' struggle for economic survival. The second main section contains profiles of 58 independent countries, ranging from Algeria to Zimbabwe. Presentation of the profiles is uniform, in that the same themes are covered in each profile. The data panels with the profiles contain data not provided in the text. The maps, appearing throughout the text were produced by AISA's cartography department.
Download or read book The Changing Geography of Africa and the Middle East written by Graham Chapman and published by Routledge. This book was released on 2002-03-11 with total page 226 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Clearly illustrated with basic maps, these books present a systematic review of twenty-five years of development, covering the physical, economic, social and political environments of contemporary Africa, the Middle East and Asia
Download or read book Geography of Africa written by and published by . This book was released on 1884 with total page pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt:
