Saturday, April 23, 2011

Wednesday, April 20, 2011

Vincent Bell, Week 4, Hentsch

In our readings from the past three weeks, we have looked at contemporary scholars' attempts to sort out the ways in which travelers' accounts about their voyages transformed into knowledge. The problem is often addressed as the issue of incorporating “otherness” into existent epistemic systems. As we have seen in the past few weeks, the discovery of the New World posed particular problems and was received in particular ways into European intellectual traditions.
Hentsch convincingly demonstrates that the Orient was represented and incorporated into “European” thought in its own particular ways. The difference between the new world and the Orient-- to put it overly simplified and schematically-- is that the new world was “new” to Europe, and the Orient was “ancient”. The peoples encountered in the new world were sometimes characterized as pre-political, representing just a very distant kind of ancientness. But on the other hand, the new world was the site of irreconcilable alterity. In this sense they were portrayed as uncivilizable, ahistorical, and inhuman.
The Orient, then, presented less extreme a challenge of “incorporation.” The Orient includes places mentioned in the bible, and Europeans had had mercantile contact with farther regions for a long time in established trading systems. Hentsch says that, in the classical European world view, which, we know all too well, was egregiously Eurocentric, the Orient “stood as a hierarchical second.”
In the 18th century, argues Hentsch, the Orient became the site of new conceptual investigation. No longer “an unblinking mirror at whose feet European classicism had come to lay its certitudes,” Enlightenment thinkers turned to the East as a site of fresh reflection-- the certitudes became less certain. Hentsch's narrative suggests that Enlightenment “progressed” (pg 98, toward the bottom) from masturbatory self-congratulation, to a supposed “genuine opening to the world.” However, while French epistemology did change, Hentsch stipulates, old representational cliches about the Orient did not go away. The discourse of the Orient was given new life and new structure with “the opening of minds to the outside world,” but the presumed impartiality of rational investigation still fell prey to the persisting cultural meaning of the east that had lingered through the 17th and into the 18th centuries.

Jimmy Ruck Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources for an Exploration

1.THE ADVENTURES OF T.S. AN English Merchant, Taken Prisoner by the TURKS of ARGIERS, And carried into the Inland Countries OF AFRICA: With a Description of the Kingdom of ARGIERS, of all the TOWNS and PLACES of Note thereabouts.

http://penelope.uchicago.edu/TS_Africa/

The author, only known by his initials, “T.S.” wrote his story in 1670 after having left England in 1648. Although, it appears that his background and occupation are not explicitly stated, much can be inferred from his writings. The author states that his name will be useless to the “judicious” reader and so he decides to withhold his name. He mentions that he was first destined to be a scholar but that the “extraordinary rigour” frightened him from his studies. His aversion for learning meant that he sought out adventures instead. T.S. bounced around for several years before latching onto an apprenticeship with a prominent trader in London. It appears that he eventually intended to earn his fortune as a traveler. Eventually, he took off for North Africa. Quick analysis suggests that he went as a solo traveler without the backing of any powerful trade association. Consequently, though he was an Englishman, T.S. was not treated with any unique gestures or afforded dignity.

Towards the beginning of his account, T.S makes reference to the fact that he eventually served as a slave for various Ottoman masters. As T.S. navigates through a variety of jobs and occupations, he is simultaneously able to see large swaths of the Ottoman Empire (but especially North Africa). Apparently, he becomes so valuable that he is able to earn his freedom. Much more research and analysis must be done on this front to examine his claims about his perceived value to his Ottoman masters. T.S. claims that he is writing his accounts not to “make advantage of them”, but it remains to be seen if he is trying to win fame or garner wealth from his tales in a foreign land.

One main avenue to go down is the author’s Protestant faith. How does this affect his treatment? Is he forced to convert to Islam? Does “Providence” keep him safe and help him win his freedom? Under what light does the Christian T.S. view the Muslim Ottomans? I hope to understand modern early English or Protestant views of the Muslims. Though this is several centuries after the Crusades, are Muslims seen as infidels?

Secondary Sources

1.Gerald MacLean, The Rise of Oriental Travel: English Visitorsto the Ottoman Empire, 1580–1720. New York: Palgrave Macmillan, 2004.

In The Rise of Oriental Travel, Professor Gerald MacLean, an English Professor at Wayne State University and Research Fellow at the Institute for Arab and Islamic Studies at the University of Exeter, utilizes four travel narratives written between 1599 and 1652 to help explain English attitudes towards the Ottoman Empire. What's helpful is that MacLean juxtaposes these narratives with other secondary sources about records of the Middle East and North Africa to help check their experiences. I hope to use this source to help evaluate the veracity of some of my sources including T.S. which MacLean examines.

2.Richmond Barbour, Before Orientalism: London's Theater of the East 1576–1626. Cambridge: Cambridge University Press, 2003.

The author is an associate professor of English at Oregon State University who looks into the question of Orientalism. He uses the early modern English encounters with the Ottoman and Mogul Empires to answer his questions about how these "Orientalists" were perceived. Barbour notes early on that "attitudes about the East . . . were typically shaped at home before being tested abroad." Barbour emphasizes that English overseas expeditions failed as often as they succeeded due to their interactions with sophisticated and powerful cultures.
So rather than examine English understandings of the Orient from a position of strength, Barbour tries to seek out an English perspective of the Orient vis a vis a position of equality or even inferiority. He also should be an unique source because Barbour is interested in the arts as an expression of thought. He examines English theater to help him understand their views on foreigners.

3.Daniel Carey, ed. Asian Travel in the Renaissance. Malden, MA: Blackwell Publishing, 2004.

This book is a collection of essays on European interactions with Asia. For example, there are essays about the Portuguese interactions with the Chinese. In chapter eight, "Riches, Power, Trade and Religion: The Far East and the English Imagination, 1600–1720," Robert Markley examines how the English perceived the "Far East". I need to do a more thorough examination of this source, but I believe it does not necessarily focus on the Ottoman Empire. However, Markley seeks to understand general English perceptions and attitudes towards the East and so I think this source will be helpful in that manner. In fact, it seems to be that his argument centers around the fact that there was "an English anxiety of marginalization in a world dominated by Eastern economic and military power". The myriad cultures and regions seemed to stress the English out due to all the competition. This essay should help me rethink the norm that the English operated from a position of power.

Cameron Ormsby--Week Four--Bibliography

Annotated Bibliography:

Primary Sources:

Dimsdale, Elizabeth. An English Lady at the Court of Catherine the Great: The Journal of Baroness Elizabeth Dimsdale, 1781. (Crest Publications, Cambridge, 1989)

A diary kept by Dr. Dimsdale’s wife throughout his second trip to Russia. Little of it relates directly to smallpox inoculations, although on pg 63-65 she gives an account of her husband inoculating Prince Alexander and Prince Constantine and the ensuing results. I think that I’d like to include portions of this in my paper, in addition to a paragraph on pg 84 where Elizabeth includes a letter that Catherine wrote to her husband, thanking him for his services.

Dimsdale, Thomas. Thoughts on General and Partial Inoculations (Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Gale, Stanford Libraries. 20 April. 2011)

A text written by Thomas Dimsdale in 1776 during his first trip to Russia, it includes observations about his travels, comparisons of smallpox treatments in England and Russia, and it details the steps that Catherine the Great took to have the poor of St. Petersburg inoculated. Especially if I look at how governments mandated smallpox inoculation, I think this would be a great primary source for Catherine the Great’s approach in Russia.

Dimsdale, Thomas. Observations on the Introduction to the plan of the dispensary for general inoculation (1778, Eighteenth Century Collections Online, Gale, Stanford Libraries)

Discusses the English plan for inoculating the poor and various problems with it. I think it would be a useful primary source text to introduce the problems associated with smallpox inoculations. Namely, that there is still a danger of death and an inoculated patient can still pass on the disease to other people.

Trumbull, Jonathan. A Proclamation (Feb 1, 1777, Early American Imprints, Series 1)

A proclamation reminding citizens of the ban on smallpox inoculations during the winter months, when people are more likely to die from the inoculations. Also provides a glimpse into how inoculations were mandated by the state of Connecticut at the same time that Dimsdale is writing.

Williams, John Several Arguments proving, that inoculating the small pox is not contained in the law of physick, either natural or divine, and therefore unlawful. (Boston, 1721: Early American Imprints, Series 1)

A series of arguments actually written by a number of different authors including Cotton Mather that oppose smallpox inoculations on primarily religious grounds. I would use this source in part to explore the controversy surrounding inoculations.

Colony of Rhode-Island (June, 1776), An Act Permitting the Inoculation of Small Pox to be Permitted Within This Colony.

Week 4-Mackenzie Tudor Bibliography

Dunton, John. Letters from New England. Boston: Prince Society, 1877. Print.

John Dunton was an English book seller who traveled to New England for 8 months in the late 17^th century. He details his experiences through a series of letters to his friends and family members. I am hoping to analyze Dunton's account of the English Settlers in the New World, especially in relation to religion.

Moore, Cecil Albert. John Dunton: Pietist and Impostor. Chapel Hill: UP, 1925. Print.

A secondary source which gives some background on John Dunton, as well as, his other works. This is going help me understand more about him as an author, as Moore, analyzed his works as a whole.

Bucholz, R. O., and Newton Key. Early Modern England, 1485-1714: a Narrative History. Malden, MA: Blackwell Pub., 2004. Print. This book covers 16^th and 17^th century England.

It discusses the religious, social, economic, and political happenings of those centuries. I am using it to help me contextualize my primary source author, John Dunton. In addition, I want to use it to compare the religious and hierarchical nature of late 17^th century England to that of the English settlers in America.

Bray, Thomas. A Memorial, Representing the Present State of Religion, on the Continent of North-America By Thomas Bray, D.D. London: Printed by John Brudenell, for the Author, 1701. Print.

This an a account written to a Clergyman in England for the purpose of detailing how Religion was operating in North America. I am hoping to use this account by someone connected to Clergy of England in 1701 to compare to John Dunton's account. The goal being to notice if Dunton's account is unique, different or relatively similar to the official opinion at the time.

Lippy, Charles H. Introducing American Religion. London: Routledge, 2009. Print.

I am using this secondary source to investigate what religion was actually like in the English colonies during the 17^th century. This gives me background on the religious nature of the settlers, the laws that went along with it, and the changes that were occurring during this time.

Hulme, Peter, and Tim Youngs. The Cambridge Companion to Travel Writing. Cambridge, U.K.: Cambridge UP, 2002. Print.

I am using William H. Sherman's chapter on English travel writers to analyze Dunton's writing style and motives for writing. Pointing out the uniqueness of his style of writing as a book seller, compared to the other types of writers(scientists, explorers, etc).

Alice - Bibliography, Week 4

Alam, Muzaffar and Sanjay Subrahmanyam. Indo-Persian Travels in the Age of Discoveries, 1400-1800. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 2007.

Basically an expansion of the Hentsch chapter for today – an overview of Europeans in the Orient, both physically (trade, politics, travelers) and intellectually. Very expansive, should be great background for the paper.

Barendse, R. J. “Trade and State in the Arabian Seas: A Survey from the Fifteenth to the Eighteenth Century.” Journal of World History 11.2: 173-225.

Discusses the place of Arabian nations in the world economy, including Persia. Will help with the wholesome picture of Persia’s trade economy.

Bowen, H.V., Margarette Lincoln, and Nigel Rigby. The Worlds of the East India Company. Woodbridge, UK: Boydell Press in association with the National Maritime Museum and Univerisity of Leicester, 2002.

This book is mainly helpful for just one page (note to self: 108), which deals exclusively with Jean Chardin and his fellow traveler brother Daniel. The work is concerned with India and England’s interaction through the East India Company, but mentions Chardin because after his travels through Persia, he settled in London as the royal court jeweler (acquiring the title “Sir John”). It cites several secondary sources on trade that may be of use.

Lloyd, Edmund, ed. Sir John Chardin's Travels in Persia. Never before translated into English. Containing, A most particular Account, of the Religion, Government, Trade, Product, Rarities, Structures, Arts and Sciences of that great Monarchy An exact description of the Court and City of Ispahan, the Capital thereof; as also of the celebrated Ruins of Persepolis, the antient Metropolis of that Nation, and of several other Places of Note. With Genuine Copies of the Instructions given by the English, French and other Powers, to their respective Embassadors in Persia, China, Japan, and other Eastern Empires; no less useful and instructive for carrying on the Commerce in those Parts, than satilfactory to the Curious. Adorn'd and illustrated with a great number of cutts. In [eight] volumes. London, 1720. Eighteenth Century Collections Online. Gale. Stanford University Libraries. 14 Apr. 2011.

This is the main copy of my primary source that I’ll be using, but for volumes 3-8, not online, I’ll have to use Stanford’s microfilms.

Eldem, Edhem. French Trade in Istanbul in the Eighteenth Century. Boston: Brill, 1999.

Though my source will deal mainly with late seventeenth century French-Ottoman trade, this source provides some background and general information that will be of use, in addition to referencing other sources that either shift the time frame earlier to the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries or that open up the scope to the Levant, Persia, or all of the Ottoman Empire.

Faroqhi, Suraiya. The Ottoman Empire and the World Around It. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 2004.

Very useful source, because it discusses trade and foreign relations with Europe (and other Eastern nations) from the Ottoman standpoint and along the Ottoman history timeline. Significant chapter on France that will be very relevant.

Ferrier, Ronald W., ed. and trans. A Journey to Persia: Jean Chardin’s Portrait of a Seventeenth-century Empire. London: I.B. Tauris Publishers, 1996.

This work is referenced by many of the others I’ve looked at as the seminal work discussing Chardin’s Travels in full. It provides an invaluable introduction and chapter on Chardin’s life and work, and excellent summaries of his observations and views on broad topics like culture, language, religion, and government – topics that are interspersed in Travels but which Ferrier groups and consolidates, with long passages and a large number of references to specific pages of the original work. It will be incredibly useful both for learning about the topics presented in the volumes I plan on skimming or skipping, and for pointing out important passages that I can go to directly in the work without having to read it in full (it’s thousands of pages long!)

Göçek, Fatma Müge. East encounters West: France and the Ottoman Empire in the Eighteenth Century. New York: Oxford UP, 1987.

Like Eldem’s French Trade in Istanbul in the 18^th Century, this work is a century too late for my main research, but it should similarly contain background that will be relevant to my paper. Possibly redundant, however.

Lambton, Ann K. S. Landlord and Peasant in Persia: A study of land tenure and land revenue administration. New York: Oxford UP 1953.

Dubious relevance. Mainly checked it out in hopes of getting a better sense of Persian economy in the seventeenth century in case my paper became more economically focused, but now it doesn’t seem as if I’ll end up using it.

Parry, V.J. et al, ed. A History of the Ottoman Empire to 1730: Chapters from the Cambridge History of Islam and the New Cambridge Modern History. Cambridge: Cambridge UP, 1976.

Background on the Ottoman empire, including its absorption and rule over Persian lands and some foreign relations with Europe. Mainly will be used as a credible history against which I can compare Chardin’s accounts of Persian government and court.

Week 4, Aysha Bagchi, Hentsch

Hentsch argues that European attitudes toward the Muslim Middle East transitioned from the 17^th to the 18^th centuries to have a greater awareness of differences and to spark greater debates on Europe. Once purely the object of contemplation, the Muslim Middle East became a stimulant for both eliminating some European biases and solidifying other in the cement of the so-called “reason” of the Enlightenment.

Hentsch describes how voyages during the 17^th century were made to confirm the voyagers identity, understood in a collective sense. Rather than opening the traveler’s mind to a critique of his origins, it solidified hierarchical classifications of the world in which the Muslim Middle East was firmly a hierarchical second place. Views of the Muslim Middle East reinforced Europeans’ belief in the theory of progress, with Europe at the forefront of humanity’s march toward civilizational improvement.

The 18^th century threatened to shatter the unblinking mirror with which Europeans had been understanding the Muslim Middle East, a place that was an object of contemplation that merely reflected and reinforced European notions of superiority. Once a European flatterer, the Orient increasingly became a raw-material reflection on Europe, the cause of self-reflective debate. Curiosity became the central means of penetration and appropriation of the Muslim Middle East. The result was a mixture of self-critique and vain dismissal.

Hentsch emphasizes the concept of oriental despotism, in particular, as an example of the vain dismissal the 18^th-centuy debates, sparked by reflection on the Muslim Middle East, sometimes caused. While in the 16^th century a few theorists, including Machiavelli, had indifferently characterized the Muslim Middle East as despotic, many 18^th-century Europeans vehemently labeled the Middle East as despotic without, seemingly, a moment of honest self-reflection on their own political despotism.

The quick thought I was left with after reading this chapter is the famous phrase: "Vanity of vanities, all is vanity". To some extent, it is a necessary bi-product of being creatures who hold beliefs about moral, political, cultural, and religious issues that we will approach anything that differs with a bias against it, no matter how much we aim for objectivity. However, the debates in Europe in the 18th century themselves illustrate, I think, that human beings can also engage in earnest self-reflection. This is a tension that seems inherent in the human condition: to think well of ourselves and the beliefs we hold dear while still searching for the truth and wishing to be better.

Vincent Bell Week 4 Annotated Bibliography

Primary Sources:

The World Encompassed. Derek Wilson.
Account of Francis Drake's circumnavigation.

New Voyage Round the World. Dampier
Another early modern British circumnavigator. Yet in many ways Dampier's story is more interesting than Drake's. He started out as a quasi-outlaw privateer, but after the account of his first voyages were published, the British state took an interest in him. He was hired by the Royal Society to voyage further and document his findings for scientific purposes. (The state turned his outlaw looting and voyaging into systematic scientific knowledge!)

Secondary Sources

Armitage, David. The Ideological Origins of the British Empire
As I've already mentioned, I'm particularly interested in Armitage's chapter “The Empire of the Seas,” in which he gives a survey of the way maritime activity became important to the British in the way that they ruled their empire.

O'Hara, Glen. Britain and the Sea.
Chapter on Pirates is interesting and informative, but probably not substantial enough to engage with in essay.

Londes. The Tudor Navy.
I will definitely use this if I decide to go as far back as the Tudor period. Seems like a very smart and rigorous study of the formation of early-modern British navy. Focuses on policy rather than ships, naval technologies etc.

Hebb. Piracy and the English Government 1616-1642.
Focuses on the period right after Londes' book (Stuarts until the civil war). I will definitely read this whole book and use it in my essay. The distinction between piracy and “exploration”/ “privateering” is a merely legal distinction (one which only existed in the metropole?), and this is central to my topic. (Drake was a pirate!)

Beer. Sir Walter Raleigh and his Readers in the Seventeenth Century.

Hazlewood. The Queen's Slave Trader

Schmitt. Land and Sea.
This was written in the 20th century, but I am very eager to read it, as Carl Schmitt has been the most influential theorist of sovereignty in in recent years.

Mahan, A. T. The Influence of Sea Power upon History.

Fulton. Sovereignty of the Sea.
This was written in the 19th century, but it is a very thorough (800 pages!) study of the history of maritime law. Much of it is about fishing law, unfortunately.

Jimmy Ruck Hentsch Reading

The evolution from classicism in the 17^th century to the Enlightenment period during the 18^th century contained different European attitudes towards the Muslim Middle East. Classical Europe voyaged to the orient mainly to confirm their own identity. Whereas, Enlightenment Europe seemed to express genuine curiosity and intellectual interest in finding out more about the roots and background of Islam.

The Europeans in classical Europe had the luxury of travelling for travel’s sake, because they faced no serious threat. People were able to leisurely observe “Others” out of pure intellectual curiosity. Out of this time period, there was an “insatiable exploration of the planet” with many accounts of explorations of non-European lands. But in traveling, the Europeans were able to confirm their own identity. Europeans placed themselves at the center of the world. In so far, as they were the center, they gave order to all those civilizations that surrounded it. But in order to better understand this “ordering” of the known universe, the Europeans had to travel towards difference and abolish physical distance to “consolidate existing values and convictions”. As Hentsch notes, the Orient “existed as a global, unifying representation” for Europe to confirm its own identity as center of the universe.

Hentsch notes that commercial considerations were a factor to a certain extent, but he stresses this genuine curiosity as a driving force for traveling to the Orient. Religion was no longer a true issue; however, it did remain a stereotype that could “catalyze” the European federation. But gathering information on the foreigner had become so important to the State that they financed these travels. Because these 17^th century Europeans traveled for the sake of learning, some of them like Thevenot tried to accurately portray the Middle East without preconceptions. However, it is about this time where Hentsch notes that racism was no longer expressed based on religious affiliation but on skin colour and alleged character traits.

The 18^th century had a lot of curiosity about the background and founding of Islam. Europeans rejected the negative clichés about Islam. Because they argued that all religion was produced not by supernatural power but by man, they noted that all religions (including Christianity) were susceptible to “fables”. Therefore, the prophet was no longer seen as a hereti and the Quran was no longer seen as completely false. As Maxime Robinson notes, “the 18^th century saw the Muslim East through fraternal and understanding eyes”.

Despotism originated from the Machiavellian era. Despotism had a negative connotation in which someone was the lord and master of all the possessions (items and people) of his kingdom in the same way that a master had absolute power over his slaves. Thus, despotism became popular as it strayed from a mere characterization of Middle Eastern kingdoms to the center of European political debates. People warned that despotism illuminated the potentiality of Western monarchies to become despotic. It was also noted how much of a “monstrosity” and threat they were. Other Europeans enjoyed monarchies and thus this term “despotism” triggered debate in Europe.

Helen Higuera – (preliminary) bibliography – week 4

I have to admit, I think I’m a little behind on my research here. I’m not sure how much of this I will actually end up directly quoting in my paper, and I haven’t completely read through all these sources (not even close; haven’t even started some). So…work in progress. Any suggestions, comments, or criticisms would be very helpful. I also really need to find something on the Marquis de Custine and the influence of his views on Russia, but I have yet to do that.

Primary Sources

A Lady [McCoy, Rebecca]. The Englishman in Russia. New York: Arno Press, 1970.

This is my main primary source, which I’ve already discussed in class. Just as a refresher, it’s an anonymous account (though I found out who it was from a secondary source) of an Englishwoman who lived in Russia for ten years in the years leading up to and during the Crimean War. It was published in 1855, and, from what I gather from research, was pretty widely read and known.

March 1855. “Review: An Englishwoman in Russia.” The Rambler. Microfilm, Media and Microtext, Stanford University.

This is a fairly extensive review of my primary source from a contemporary Catholic journal. It has its own biases definitely, but that’s part of why I thought it was worthwhile. It’s interesting to see an outside perspective on the source that’s also a critical perspective.

Dickens, Charles. “At Home With The Russians.” Household Words. (1855: Jan 20): p 533. http://britishperiodicals.chadwyck.com/home.do.

Yes, Charles Dickens wrote a review of this travel account. He spends a lot of time reiterating her points/quoting her, though picking and choosing her information in order to construct a common thread of stereotype (if that makes sense). Basically, while McCoy tried to be more moderate and balanced in her travel account, Charles Dickens quotes her in an effort to bolster stereotypes about Russia and to support English nationalism against Russia.

Secondary Sources

Cross, Anthony. “Two English ‘Lady Travellers’ in Russia and the House of Murray.” Slavonica 17 (April 2011): 1-14.

I’m lucky in that, as you can tell from the date, this is an extremely recent article, and it appears to be the only information on the author of my primary source. He explains that she was the daughter of a Scottish merchant who had to go to Russia to work as a governess for economic reasons. He also describes how her work was published and goes into the context a little bit. There is a lot of good information in this article, but I don’t have access to all of his sources because apparently a lot of them are in an archive in Southern Australia…

Cross, Anthony. “The Crimean War and the Caricature War.” The Slavic and East European Review 84 (2006): 460-480.

This is an article by the same author in which he cites my primary source as an example of attitudes of Russians and English people toward the Crimean War. He also generally gives an excellent description of how the Crimean War was viewed and depicted in print media in England.

Cross, Anthony. Anglo-Russica: Aspects of Cultural Relations Between Great Britain and Russia in the Eighteenth and Early Nineteenth Centuries: Selected Essays by Anthony Cross. Providence, RI: Berg, 1993.

To be honest, I’m still waiting for this to be delivered to Green from SLAC, but it seems very relevant. Also, it’s by the same author who has already been extremely helpful in my research.

Le Donne, John P. “Police Reform in Russia: A Project of 1762.” Cahiers du Monde russe et soviétique 32 (April – June 1991): 249 – 274.

It’s been very hard for me to find sources, so far, on the regular (i.e. non-political) police during the mid nineteenth century, but this gives a good picture of how the system originated.

Lee, W. L. Melville (William Lauriston Melville). A history of police in England. London: 1901.

This is an extensive account of the history of the police in Britain, but I felt that the chapters concerning the nineteenth century would help give me some background as to why Rebecca McCoy places so much emphasis on the Russian police and why she makes the observations she does. It was published in 1901, which, I guess, isn’t ideal, but it seems to be right on topic.

Monas, Sidney. The Third Section: Police and Society in Russia under Nicholas I. Cambridge: Harvard UP, 1961.

This is a book about the police system under Nicholas I, tsar of Russia at the time of the Crimean war. He actually established “The Third Section,” which was a system of political police. The system of spies, censorship and police made a huge impression on Rebecca McCoy and plays into her characterization of Russia’s level of civilization.

O'loughlin, Katrina '“Having lived much in the world”: inhabitation, embodiment and English women travellers' representations of russia in the eighteenth century', Women's Writing 8 (2001): 419 — 440.

This article is older than the Cross article, and, as a result, still refers to the author as “a lady,” but it compares An Englishwoman in Russia to accounts from the 18^th century. O’loughlin makes an interesting argument about women and how the body functions in their travel accounts. She also argues that Rebecca McCoy viewed the Russians as a race whereas 18^th century travelers were more concerned with rank and mannerisms.

Wolff, Larry. Inventing Eastern Europe: The Map of Civilization on the Mind of the Enlightenment.Stanford, CA: Stanford UP, 1994.

Wolff gives an extensive account of the development of European attitudes toward Eastern Europe, and how “Eastern Europe” became a reified entity (kind of like Hentsch’s discussion of the Orient this week). I think it will be very useful in understanding my source.

Background/Textbooks

Polunov, Alexander. Russian in the Nineteenth Century: Autocracy, Reform, and Social Change, 1814-1914. Edited by Thomas C. Owen and Larissa G. Zakharova. Translated by Marshall S. Shatz. New York: Sharpe, 2005.

This is a pretty solid textbook about nineteenth century Russia, just for overview/background. It gives political history, which is relevant to my source.

Wirtschafter, Elise K. Russia’s Age of Serfdom 1649-1861. Blackwell Publishing: Massachusettes, 2008.

This is a textbook that focuses on serfdom, which is useful for background on when the account discusses serfdom in Russia.

Francis, Mark and Morrow, John. A history of English political thought in the nineteenth century. London : Duckworth, 1994.

This will be useful for me to understand where Rebecca McCoy is coming from in terms of her ideas of Enlightenment and civilization, which are very influenced by her perceptions of the Russian state.

Travelers

Saturday, April 23, 2011

Mackenzie Tudor Prospectus Comments

Jimmy Ruck Prospectus Comments

Cameron Ormsby Prospectus Comments

Billy Kemper Prospectus Comments

Helen Higuera Prospectus Comments

Amir Fahrai Prospectus Comments

Vincent Bell Prospectus Comments

Aysha Bagchi Prospectus Comments

Alice Avery Prospectus Comments