Gender in Manuscript Cultures Lecture: Suzanne Akbari
Foto: Princeton University Library
Wann: Do, 30.05.2024, 18:15 Uhr bis 21:00 Uhr
Wo: Warburgstraße 26, 20354 Hamburg
The Book as Living Relation: Collaborative Study of Lenape (Delaware) Belongings with Indigenous Communities of Origin
Suzanne Akbari (Institute for Advanced Study, Princeton)
“The Book and the Silk Roads” project, now in its second funded phase under the title “Hidden Stories: New Approaches to the Local and Global History of the Book,” includes nine geographical areas of concentration, one of which is “Great Lakes and Eastern Woodlands.” This area is comprised of collaborative work on books and book-adjacent materials (e.g., land deeds, wampum) with Indigenous communities of origin, primarily members of Lunaape (Lenape or Delaware) tribal nations. While this research field is significant in itself, it also offers methodological insights concerning collaboration, relationality, and the status of the book that inform the “Hidden Stories” project as a whole.
This lecture provides a methodological overview of our collaborative approach to Lunaape book history, addressing four case studies: 1) a European printed book, bound in a brain-tanned beaver-skin binding, painted in red and black and with a distinctive binding stitch; 2) manuscripts and printed books produced by both Indigenous and non-Indigenous members of Moravian communities, central to present-day Lunaape language revitalization; 3) deeds and other land-related documents, of value to present-day Lunaape historical work in support of land claims; 4) wampum associated with Munsee-speaking Lunaape communities currently held in museum collections in North America and Europe. These collaborations have also facilitated work in progress with Anishinaabe communities on a significant birchbark book, which will be described in brief.
Suzanne Akbari is currently Guest Professor for Gender in Manuscript Cultures at the CSMC.