theimperialimaginary-blog

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Colonies, thank goodness, are mostly out of fashion; gin, thank a higher power still, is not.

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Kavita Puri presents the stories of the 1950s, post war, pioneering migrants from the Indian subcontinent

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The above image was taken by a student in my World Literature in English course this past spring. Feel free to click thru to read her reflection and see a larger image.

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Ghanaian sculptor artist El Anatsui's work being put up at the Brooklyn Museum. Read more about the exhibition in this NYTimes Review: A Million Pieces of Home.

Take note, in particular, of Anatsui's piece "New Worlds" which was also up at Mt Holyoke College's art museum this spring.

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Thai "ghost ships" that enslave, brutalise and even kill workers are linked to global prawn supply chain, Guardian investigation discovers

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South Sea Bubble playing cards originally published by Thomas Bowles. Read on: South Sea Bubble: The First Stock Market Crash

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Cornelis Anthonisz (woodcut by Anthonisz of c.1540) - A broadside on the South Sea Bubble, likening the nature of stock market speculation to an unbalanced world (c. 1720).

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Check out these newly discovered photographs produced from negatives that had been preserved in a block of ice in Antarctica. 

Ross Island, Antarctica. Alexander Stevens, chief scientist and geologist looks south. Hut Point Peninsula in the background.

Cellulose nitrate processed sheet film negative, found in Captain Scott's 1911 expedition base, Cape Evans, Antarctica, by Antarctic Heritage Trust (NZ) conservators. Photo taken by Ernest Shackleton's Ross Sea Party 1914-

Learn more about Robert Falcon Scott and the British Antarctic Expedition via Scott's Last Expedition

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via anglotopia.net

Queen Elizabeth II and the British navy on the HMS Lancaster in Portsmouth England (May 2014). 

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Your classmate Sarah shares this interesting illustrated version of Conrad's Heart of Darkness. Might be a great thing for you to look into if you're thinking about writing on HoD for your critical analysis paper. 

Into the black hole of the human soul in acrylic and ink. Two years after his infinitely wonderful illustrations for every page of Moby-D

I’ve always felt that the visual arts make for a great accompaniment to the literary.  They also provide an interesting avenue for readers of all kinds to understand the differing perspectives of a novel that can exist apart from their own.  This is why I’ve shared the link to a blog post on artist Matt Kish’s “Heart of Darkness,” for which he provided an illustration for each page.  Firstly, that he chose to do something like this I find to be a very smart idea.  Not only does visual art allow for immediate reaction, which adds a new element to this classic story, but it also lets the reader see what the artist is trying to say as well as develop their own interpretation of the art and the story.  Looking at the book with the illustrations gives it a new light and can perhaps help form new perspectives on Conrad’s tale.

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18th century instrument to determine the sky’s ‘blueness’ called a Cyanometer: 

The simple device was invented in 1789 by Swiss physicist Horace-Bénédict de Saussure and German naturalist Alexander von Humboldt who used the circular array of 53 shaded sections in experiments above the skies over Geneva, Chamonix and Mont Blanc. 

via This is Colossal 

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First year exams of British students who traveled to India for work. Read more here: Engineering a career in India

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One of your classmates, Mattie, posted this video on her New Media Archive as a brief overview of European imperialism in Africa. 

Couple of comments:

This is a good primer but it doesn't get into the nitty gritty of everything around this world historical event, which is fine because there are hundreds of books written on this subject. 

This video (4mins) draws on both Adam Hochschild who I mentioned in the lecture on Tuesday as well as Joseph Conrad's Heart of Darkness.

Finally, this video points out that Liberia and Ethiopia are the only two places that avoided occupation. I mentioned Ethiopia in the lecture, but if you want to learn a little more about why Liberia remains unoccupied, check out this piece on the American Colonization Society. This should especially help you think about the idea of inter-imperiality--two (or more) empires competing against one another. Is Liberia really unoccupied or not colonized if it exists as an American intervention on the African continent?

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The History of British Empire for Dummies.

Note: Please be aware that this isn't a factual historical representation. Rather it's a provocative narration of British empire that intends to ask you to reflect back on your historical knowledge.

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From the British Museum's series, A History of the World in 100 Objects. Click through to hear the entry on the chronometer.