How is it possible that three playwrights in the early modern Dutch Republic wrote dramas based on contemporary political events in Asia? Reflecting on this remarkable phenomenon, "Staging Asia" traces the passage of the stories surrounding three political revolutions from seventeenth-century Asia through to the Dutch Republic and their ultimate manifestation as dramas. This book explores the nature of the representation of the Orient in these plays and evaluates how this characterization was...

Gum Arabic is a natural product which grows exclusively in the Sahel and has played an ever increasing role in the global economy. In the time of the crusades, Europeans bought the ingredient in Arab countries. Soon, it was not only used in ink or medicine, but also as a symbol of its putative Arab origin, the noble Orient. Later, gum was bought directly in the countries where it was produced, but western dependence on it grew. As European countries were laying the foundations for their colon...

The year 2024 marks the opening of the new Middle Eastern Library of Leiden University, a purpose-built facility to serve the needs of all those who engage in the study of the Middle East and North Africa from the dawn of history to the present day. To celebrate the occasion, more than 40 authors from Leiden and beyond have contributed to this special volume on the library’s rich and multifaceted Oriental holdings.

Topics range from the Ancient Near East to the material and conservational ...

Dit boek bespreekt wat vijf homoseksuelen in negentiende-eeuwse medische tijdschriften, op verzoek van artsen die geïnteresseerd waren in 'contrair sexualen', schreven over hun leven en liefdesverlangens, waarbij duidelijk wordt dat zij hun anders-zijn niet goed begrepen maar er zeker van waren geen zondaar te zijn.

Vol zelfvertrouwen schrijft een arts in 1870 aan De Geneeskundige Courant dat zijn liefde voor mannen geen ziekte is zoals de krant had beweerd. Wat dan wel? Daar breekt hij zich...

Het Jaarboek voor Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis publiceert Nederlands- en Engelstalige wetenschappelijke artikelen op het gebied van de boekgeschiedenis van de Lage Landen in alle perioden. Elke editie bestaat uit een thema-dossier en een selectie aan andere artikelen. Het thema-dossier van het 31e Jaarboek (2024) is gewijd aan artikelen over ophef in de Nederlandse boekgeschiedenis. Aan bod komen voorbeelden van boeken van de late middeleeuwen tot nu die ophef veroorzaakten; controversiële a...

Over de Latijnse taal en haar betekenis voor de cultuur en geschiedenis van EuropaVertaald door Harm en Akke PinksterIn het antieke Rome was het Latijn een gesproken en geschreven taal. Als geschreven taal bleef het Latijn in gebruik tot lang na de val van het Romeinse Rijk. Gaandeweg verdween het Latijn als moedertaal en werd in die functie opgevolgd door zijn Romaanse dochtertalen. Als internationale taal en taal van de wetenschap bloeide het Latijn tot voor een paar eeuwen in heel Europa.I...

Since before the American Civil War, African American and Japanese encounters produced relationships and discourses of knowledge that transcended Eurocentric conceptions of civilization and hierarchies of personhood. 'Black Transnationalism and Japan' introduces the diverse activity and intellectual movements created, shaped, and led by Japanese and African American people. While some Pan-Asianisms and Pan-Africanisms urged a uniting of colonized spaces against the colonizer, and were often e...

Some multiple-used city churches are neither fully in use by a faith community nor fully allocated to new forms of use, but are shared by both a (protestant) faith community and secular users. By sharing the church building, the diverse users and communities get in touch with each other. Eventual (slight) offenses between them can often be traced back to their respective relationships with the church building. Each church building has a specific history of the use of the building, its own arc...

Institutions across the globe are increasingly questioned on how their foundations are rooted in colonialism and how they aim to ‘decolonize’. The Future of the Dutch Colonial Past provides an overview of critical scholarly reflections on the history of Dutch slavery and colonization, as well as how this translates into critical cultural practices. It also explores possible futures: What can heritage institutions learn from (international) best practices regarding the ‘decolonization’...

When he returned to the Netherlands in 2009, decades after World War II, Jefferson Wiggins realized that no one he met knew about the segregated US Army during the war, nor did they know about the contribution of Black American soldiers to the liberation of the Netherlands. They were not mentioned anywhere in Dutch history books or in archives. Together with oral historian Mieke Kirkels, Wiggins sat down to record his memories. Wiggins passed away in 2013, and his widow, Janice Wiggins-Paters...