Connecting things: trading companies and diplomatic gift-giving on the gold and slave coasts in the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries.
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[1] Bielefeld University
Bielefeld University
Kreisfreie Stadt Bielefeld, Alemania
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- Localización: Journal of early modern history, ISSN 1385-3783, Vol. 20, Nº 4, 2016, págs. 408-428
- Idioma: inglés
- Texto completo no disponible (Saber más ...)
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Resumen
Gift-giving was an important feature of cross-cultural diplomacy in the complex political landscape of the early modern Gold and Slave coasts. The article examines gift-giving practices that European trading companies used toward African rulers and elites, relating them to European courtly diplomacy. Tracing the repertoire of gift objects, it argues that the very function ascribed to gifts required learning about another's rules, values, habits, or tastes. In consequence, a repertoire of gifts peculiar to the contact zone was established, consisting not least of objects adapted into local practices and production. These processes of adaptation were influenced by the materiality of the objects. [ABSTRACT FROM AUTHOR] Copyright of Journal of Early Modern History is the property of Brill Academic Publishers and its content may not be copied or emailed to multiple sites or posted to a listserv without the copyright holder's express written permission. However, users may print, download, or email articles for individual use. This abstract may be abridged. No warranty is given about the accuracy of the copy. Users should refer to the original published version of the material for the full abstract. (Copyright applies to all Abstracts.)
