MMW 13 Lecture Notes - Lecture 5: Distribution Center, Swahili Language, Trans-Cultural Diffusion

• School: UCSD
• Department: Making of the Modern World
• Course: MMW 13
• Professor: Edmond Chang

Document Summary

There wasn"t many signs of advancement in africa. Avoid civilization (1) e. g. of denial of coevalness idea. Historical change does not factor into culture change. Idea applied to africa (a) a continent perpetually stuck in some edenic primitivism ? (2) e. g. of cultural diffusion theory (a) e. g. Prior to islam, there is no history in africa: africa"s integral role in the global network before european colonialism. Ii) the legacy of swahili civilization: swahili as a geographic location, reference to coastal region of east africa spanning over 1200 miles, kiswahili as a cultural designation, dialects of the bantu tongue, interspersed with arabic words. The language is very developed, with some arabic words. Written form adapted arabic script (b/c bantu is only spoken: ubiquitous presence of islam both due to immigration and conversion. So far from mecca, how pure islam are them.