The once famous trading center of Gorée; Sénégal today lies in the busy harbor of the modern city of Dakar. From its beginnings as a modest outpost; Gorée became one of the intersections which linked African trading routes to the European Atlantic trade. Then; as now; people of all nationalities poured into the island; Dutch; English; French; and Portuguese came to trade with the Mande; Moor; Tukor; and Wolf tribes. Trading parties brought gold; horses; firewood; mirrors; books; and more. They built houses of various forms; using American lumber; French roof tiles; freshly‑cut straw; and pulverized seashells; and furnished them in as cosmopolitan a fashion as the city itself. Mark Hinchmans Portrait of an Island: The Architecture and Material Culture of Gorée; Sénégal; 1758‑1837 considers the houses; portraits; and furnishings of the islands early modern inhabitants. Multiple features of eighteenth‑century Gorée‑‑its demographic diversity; the prominence of women leaders; the phenomenon of identities in flux; and the importance of commerce; fashion; and international trade‑‑argue for its place in the construction of an early global modernity. In an examination of the built and natural landscape; Portrait of an Island deciphers the material culture involved in the ever‑changing relationships amongst male; female; rich; poor; and slave.
#3314376 in eBooks 2015-09-15 2015-09-15File Name: B016XN163C
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