Demarginalizing Medieval Africa: Images, Texts, and Identity in Early Solomonic Ethiopia (1270-1527)

中世纪非洲的非边缘化：早期所罗门埃塞俄比亚的图像、文本和身份（1270-1527）

• 批准号: AH/V002910/1
• 负责人: Theo Maarten Van Lint
• 金额: $ 36.21万
• 依托单位: University of Oxford
• 依托单位国家: 英国
• 项目类别: Research Grant
• 财政年份: 2021
• 资助国家: 英国
• 起止时间: 2021 至 无数据
• 项目状态: 已结题
• 来源: https://gtr.ukri.org/projects?ref=AH%2FV002910%2F1
• 关键词: Demarginalizing; Medieval; Africa; Images; Texts; Demarginalizing; Medieval; Africa; Images; Texts

This project intends to shed new light on the art, history, and culture of the Ethiopian Empire during a period going from the rise of a new dynasty which claimed to descend from the biblical King Solomon in 1270 to its near collapse in 1527. The colourful hieratic images that decorate Ethiopic manuscripts produced during this time span - conventionally known as the early Solomonic period (1270-1527) - are unlike anything else produced in sub-Saharan Africa and embody the spiritual aspirations and cultural identity of the artists who made them.The Ethiopian Empire was the longest-lived empire in Africa after that of Ancient Egypt. However, while there have been thousands of publications on the arts of Ancient Egypt, the visual culture of Ethiopia continues to be marginalized and misinterpreted. Most survey books of medieval art and manuscript illumination overlook the evidence afforded by the tradition of the Ethiopian Orthodox Church. Likewise, many survey books of African art disassociate the heritage of Ethiopia from the rest of the continent. Ethiopian art thus remains unjustly at the periphery of academic discourse about African and medieval art, and at the fringes of debates about medievalism and orientalism, while the work of Ethiopian artists continues to be inappropriately looked at to identify a succession of foreign "influences" from non-African contexts rather than to understand the cultural, religious, and socio-political significance of their activities.It is high time for an approach that pays attention to the representational intentions of Ethiopian artists. By looking at the illustrations in medieval Ethiopic manuscripts, focusing especially on hitherto neglected examples in collections in Germany and the UK, this project will transform our understanding of this material through a range of ground-breaking publications and activities that will reconstruct the vibrant cultural and religious history of the Ethiopian Empire. An analysis of the interrelationship between text and image in Ethiopian manuscript will further our understanding of the activities and concerns of Ethiopian illustrators and scribes. The project will also consider manuscripts that shed light on the life and devotional activities of Christian Ethiopians and that illuminate the relations between the Ethiopian Church and the other Oriental Orthodox Churches of Egypt, Syria, and Armenia. By publishing and disseminating this material widely - exposing and critiquing the Eurocentric theoretical approaches that shaped the founding of the field and inform it still - the project will produce research on medieval illuminated Ethiopic manuscripts that pays attention to the socio-cultural background which determined their production, ensuring that the artistic heritage of Ethiopia receives the consideration it deserves.

This project intends to shed new light on the art, history, and culture of the Ethiopian Empire during a period going from the rise of a new dynasty which claimed to descend from the biblical King Solomon in 1270 to its near collapse in 1527. The colourful hieratic images that decorate Ethiopic manuscripts produced during this time span - conventionally known as the early Solomonic period (1270-1527) - are unlike anything else在撒哈拉以南非洲产生，体现了​​制造它们的艺术家的精神愿望和文化认同。埃塞俄比亚帝国是非洲寿命最长的帝国。但是，尽管有成千上万的古埃及艺术出版物，但埃塞俄比亚的视觉文化仍在边缘化和误解。大多数中世纪艺术和手稿照明的调查书都忽略了埃塞俄比亚东正教教会传统所提供的证据。同样，许多非洲艺术的调查书将埃塞俄比亚的遗产与整个非洲其他地区分离。因此，埃塞俄比亚的艺术仍然不公正地围绕着关于非洲和中世纪艺术的学术论述，以及关于中世纪主义和东方主义的辩论的边缘，而埃塞俄比亚艺术家的作品则不当地关注着不当时的宗教活动，而不是宗教上的宗教活动，而不是宗教上的宗教活动，而不是宗教上的宗教活动，而不是宗教上的宗教活动，并确定了一项活动，而不是宗教上的宗教活动。注意埃塞俄比亚艺术家的代表性意图的方法。通过查看中世纪埃塞俄比亚手稿中的插图，特别关注迄今为止在德国和英国的收藏中被忽视的例子，该项目将通过一系列开创性的出版物和活动来改变我们对这种材料的理解，这些出版物和活动将重建埃塞俄比亚帝国的充满活力的文化和宗教历史。对埃塞俄比亚手稿中文本和形象之间的相互关系的分析将进一步了解我们对埃塞俄比亚插画家和抄写员的活动和关注的理解。该项目还将考虑阐明基督教埃塞俄比亚人的生活和奉献活动，并阐明埃塞俄比亚教会与埃及，叙利亚和亚美尼亚的其他东方东正教教堂之间的关系。通过发表和传播这种材料 - 揭露和批评欧洲的理论方法，塑造了塑造该领域的建立并仍然告知其 - 该项目将对中世纪的埃塞俄比亚手稿进行研究，这些手稿的关注使社会文化背景介绍了社会文化背景，从而确定了他们的作品，从而确保了他们对Ethiopia的批准，这些手稿被视为被视为所考虑的。