Corpus of Early African Sources for West African History

Levtzion and Hopkins bequeathed an excellent gift for the world in their collection of translated Arabic texts or extracts pertinent to the "Western Sudan" in the Middle Ages. Yes, the sources are limited and can be limiting without requisite attention to oral history, traditions, ethnographic research, and later historical sources produced from within West Africa. However, without geographers, travelers, writers, and chroniclers like al-Bakri, Ibn Battuta, Ibn Khaldun, and al-Yaqubi, we would know far less about Ghana, Mali, Songhai, Kanem, Takrur, and various towns, peoples, and kingdoms in the "Western Sudan." 

For this blog's current obsession with Songhay peoples and their history, particularly their deeply ancient "pre-imperial" past, the collected translated Arabic texts have proven to be essential for the ways in which archaeological finds, oral traditions, and the internal written texts (Gao and Kukiya epitaphs) can be fit together, like a puzzle, to complete the image of ancient Gao. These sources also, despite the sometimes ethnocentric or occasionally irrational nature of many of the writings, point to relations between different West African peoples and West African relations with Saharan Berbers. 

It requires a careful reading to see the nuances and "intra-Sudanic" connections, but it is there. It may appear randomly in references to Nubians and Egyptians traveling on an ancient route through the oases west of Upper Egypt to get to the "Sudan" and Maghrib. Or it may be an occasionally inaccurate or misleading representation of inter-state warfare or conflict that sheds light on the dynamic nature of trans-Saharan and trans-Sudanic interactions, from the Atlantic to the Red Sea. If one can use these sources while understanding their limitations, the Western Sudan and the question of its own uniqueness as a world-historical region becomes apparent.

Byzantium: The Apogee

We finally finished the second volume of Norwich's Byzantium. As the title indicates, it covers the apogee of the Byzantine Empire, with occasional crises, coups, bad emperors, and the end of the conflict over icons. We see the Empire becoming more and more influential and important in the Balkans and parts of Syria and the East. But by the end of the volume, the Byzantine Empire is losing much of Anatolia to the Seljuk Turks while losing Apulia and Balkan states. If only Basil II had sired a male heir, or if only Romanus (or those who overthrew him after Manzikert) maintained the truce with the Seljuk sultan. If only Byzantium found a way to combine the best of the military aristocracy and civil administration to ensure stability, continuity, and protection or even expansion of imperial territory. Alas, the Empire continued to struggle with problems of succession and civil versus military elite while squandering the best accomplishments of the Macedonian dynasty. True, Norwich acknowledges intellectual, religious, cultural, and artistic achievements of this era between Empress Irene and Alexius Komnenos. But even at its apogee, it is not hard to see why any outstanding emperors were often undone by their successors, rivals, and perhaps over-reliance on foreign mercenaries and states to suppress revolts or coups. The perennial internal conflicts and weaknesses of Byzantium make it easy to understand why some of its most seminal conflicts or crises did not have to be so. Perhaps the Empire could have even lived on as a stronger power in Syria, Anatolia, Armenia, and the Balkans, with an emphasis on retaining Asia Minor and the Balkans.

The End of Eternity

Time travel is really hard to write about. Asimov's suspenseful time travel standalone novel is no exception to the rule. Like many time travel tales, it occasionally veers into the absurd with paradoxes and neologisms to create a plausible world about a society of time traveling agents who oversee humanity's history, present, and future to maximize human happiness. Where Asimov succeeds in this novel is with the character of Harlan gradually coming to the realization of the dangerous consequences of a humanity whose gravest mistakes and errors are not experienced to create new challenges and reach greater heights in the long run. The plot twist of the tale was unexpected to us here at the blog, but excellently shows the connection between this universe and the alternate Reality that saw the rise of the Galactic Empire and human dominance of the Galaxy. In a world where Eternity, Harlan's organization, does not exist, humanity takes to interstellar travel successfully and avoids a future where sentient non-human life colonizes the Galaxy, leaving humanity several centuries of decay and gradual extinction. The ending sorta "makes" the novel work, at least for those readers eager to see connections in the various novels of Asimov. While the other question of the problems with determinism, utilitarianism, and the idea of a corrupt organization of "psychopaths" dictating the course of humanity's time are also explored in the novel, the "romance" of Harlan and Noys, particularly in the conclusion of the novel, are the most interesting aspects.

The Haitian People

Somehow we here at the blog have managed to read parts of Leyburn or follow the scholarship of social scientists and historians who are heavily influenced by Leyburn without actually completing his well-known The Haitian People. After finally reading the entire study, one cannot escape how dated it was and incorrect some of its conclusions and predictions were. While perhaps best known for its insistent focus on the theme of a caste nature of Haitian social structure, Leyburn's detailed social history of the 19th century and overview of economics, domestic affairs, politics, Creole, and religion is actually quite researched and occasionally insightful or useful.

However, Leyburn famously did not foresee the reappearance of non-elite noir presidents after Lescot's presidency. And he did not dedicate enough attention to the "middling" sector of Haitian society who were neither the masses (the peasantry) or the elite (educated, urban, wealthy, often light-skinned), the very sector who became so important to Haitian politics after 1946. Perhaps, like Beaulieu, we think Haiti was transitioning from the caste-like social order that may have prevailed in the 19th century (although with so many caveats that calling it caste is probably  misleading) to something else during and after the US Occupation. But fixating too heavily on the color question and lacking enough thorough research on regional and historical social mobility, the "middling" sector that gradually asserted itself in Haitian politics was unforeseen by Leyburn.

For us, Leyburn's view of the Haitian peasant as completely isolated and cut off from the rest of the world contributed to the weaknesses of his analysis. For instance, he ignores the existence and influence of foreigners from other parts of Caribbean and the rest of the world in Haitian towns and the countryside. By insisting on a false view of 19th century Haiti as cut off from the rest of the world, it becomes easier for him to conclude rural Haitians were always resistant to change, new ideas, and complexity. This view is further challeged by the thousands of Haitian migrants who labored in Cuba and the Dominican Republic, often returning with new ideas, consumer spending habits, and ideas of the world which challenged tradition and custom. Leyburn even lets US racial stereotypes of African Americans in the Jim Crow South shape his perception of Haitians, particularly in their alleged submissiveness and acceptance of their plight. This is odd since Leyburn reports contradictory data, such as the use of song and music for political and social critique of politicians. Not to mention Leyburn's omission of the political dimensions of peasant resistance in some caco and piquet movements, which evinces signs of political ideology, awareness, and independent organizing among the peasantry. 

It is a shame, since he was probably one of the least racist American social scientists to write about Haiti in the 1940s yet he could not escape his American background. This is ironic as he asserted US social scientists would be better than Haitian elite scholars for studying Haitian social structure. But in his conclusions on the "ambivalence" experienced by many of the elite, and implied in upwardly mobile Haitians, Leyburn seems to affirm Herskovits and the theory of socialized ambivalence. This may explain part of the reason for the persistence of "caste" in post-occupation Haiti as those of the elite and upwardly mobile remain internally divided, troubled, and disturbed by their contradictory status in the world and must maintain distance from the unlettered masses for psychological, social, and economic reasons. So, despite its flaws and limitations, The Haitian People makes for thought-provoking reading that also exemplifies the transnational aspects of American sociology's approach to race and the "Negro."

Pebble in the Sky

Pebble in the Sky is not a great novel. However, as the first published one of Asimov's vast body of work, it is interesting in its flaws and strengths. Set in an underpopulated Earth tens of thousands of years into the future, the tale features an unlikely hero,  the immigrant Joseph Schwartz, an old Chicago tailor from the 20th century. Through accident, he is hurled in time to arrive at the outskirts of Chica, the name for the Chicago area in the future. Instead of an Earth teeming with billions, Earth suffers from extreme areas of radioactivity, a dystopian government (yet still a part of the Galactic Empire ruled from Trantor) with productivity quotas for each inhabitant (not to mention the mandatory killing of everyone aged 60) and a conspiracy that threatens to destroy the entire Empire. 

Our unlikely hero, who is often passive throughout much of the novel, is a plump tailor who becomes the unwitting specimen for Dr. Shtek's Synapsifier, which somehow improves Schwartz's mental faculties and gives him telepathic powers. Along the way, the reader is treated to various digressions that all connect to the unbelievable theory of the Secretary of the High Minister of Earth's native government, who thinks Schwartz and Arvardan are spies sent by the Empire to ensure Earth's submission. Later, and somewhat randomly, the more menacing (and truthful) conspiracy of Earth against the rest of the Galaxy is revealed. Where the novel succeeds is in the world-building elements. The plot is zany, and the other characters besides Schwartz are usually more interesting or compelling (particularly the archaeologist Arvardan, who knows Earth is the original homeland of humanity and wants to prove it). For much of the narrative, Schwartz is often forgettable. And when he does, inevitably, save the day, Schwartz, like his role in much of the narrative, accomplishes this in the background. However, the novel persuasively builds a world in which the people of Earth are dismissed and hated by the rest of the Galaxy, believed to be carriers of dangerous bacteria and even a separate race. 

It is in this direction where Asimov seems to be drawing from the divisive issues of race in his day to point out the fallacy of racial and racist thinking. Arvardan, for instance, argues firmly against the idea of Earthmen as racially distinct, while also rejecting the idea of polygenesis. Instead of believing the humans of the Galaxy all evolved independently on several distinct planets, the more likely (and correct) theory of monogenesis and the oneness of humanity unites Earthmen with the rest of the Galaxy. However, Arvardan must confront his own prejudices and biases against Earthmen on a personal as well as academic level, distinguishing himself from the bigoted Imperial garrisons and representatives who look down on Earth natives are savage, violent, and untrustworthy. One must conclude Asimov was thinking of ongoing Jim Crow in the US and the recent experience of World War II and the Holocaust, two areas where racial thinking and racist policy carried devastating consequences for the world. It is perhaps for that reason he decided to make an old European immigrant tailor from Chicago a hero, one who was probably Jewish like the author. 

While the novel itself is nothing spectacular, it deserves attention for its unusual protagonist, the large ensemble cast of characters Asimov struggles to balance in the narrative, and the persistent thorny issue of racism and misunderstanding as causes for catastrophe. Of course, it's also an indispensable part of the Empire books, and features the Empire of Foundation in an era before its decline. One wonders why the effete imperial agent in the Foundation series, with an amateurish interest in archaeology and the study of human origins, did not know of the research of Arvardan and his conclusive proof of Earth as humanity's homeland...

Byzantium: The Early Centuries

Norwich's rich narrative history of the Byzantine Empire is known for its questionable accuracy. It is definitely outdated, too, in its rather politically incorrect and denigrating remarks on some of the so-called barbarian peoples, particularly the Huns, Turkic peoples, and nomadic Central Asians. He may, at times, be too willing to support Gibbon's contentions. Yet, in spite of its flaws, Norwich wrote an endlessly entertaining history of the pivotal first 5 centuries of the Empire, showing how the Empire derived many of its institutions and practices from the Roman foundation but developed into something new, distinct, and historically significant. While some of the ground covered in the text, especially the reign of Justinian, which has occupied the attention of this blog, was quite familiar to us, it was very enlightening to learn more about the specific reigns of the various predecessors and successors to Justinian. It is easier to see and why Arab Muslims were able to so quickly takeover large chunks of the Empire in light of the numerous internal conflicts and religious divisions. It is hard not to cheer for Byzantium, as Norwich does, as the reader finds oneself overly invested in the future of the Empire. The tragedy of Heraclius, for instance, or the frustrated ambitions of Justinian or Justinian II make for great history.

Teen Town

We here at the blog have forgotten how glorious the bass of Pastorius was. Weather Report, although far from our favorite fusion group, could attain greatness.

The Naked Sun

The second installment in the mystery tales of Elijah Baley and R. Daneel Olivaw takes the reader to one of the Outer Colonies, Solaria. In this underpopulated human colony, social distancing is the norm and their society is based entirely on robots, eugenics, and strict population control. Unlike the overpopulated Earth with its vast Cities, where a fear of the open dominates, the people of Solaria fear the personal presence of others. When an inexplicable murder occurs, Baley and Olivaw are called in to investigate a mystery with Galactic implications. 

The ultimate message of this rather short novel appears to be a call for the embrace of the "naked sun" in order to grow or advance as a society, with the "sun" standing in for that which can limit a society or individual. As in the Foundation series, sociology as a discipline occupies a prominent place for understanding different human societies and weaknesses. As in The Caves of Steel, Baley is even more convinced of the need for Earthmen to become like the Spacers (at least with regards to colonization), and manages to question the Three Laws of Robotics in the process. 

However, this novel separates Olivaw and Baley for too much of the narrative, depriving us of their collaborative process. Due to the nature of the hidden threat to humanity posed in the novel, one can see why Baley sought to keep a certain distance from Daneel, but much of the strength of their first murder investigation relied on their pairing. Nonetheless, Asimov's second murder mystery still delivers, in spite of the different nature of this case. It is also more anthropological and sociological, showing us both quantitative and qualitative aspects of a future discipline of sociology. 

Djinguereber Mud Mosque

A nice video on one of the famous mosques of Timbuktu and its endangered status.