Archaeology and the Archaeologist on Screen
-
Mehdi Derfoufi
Abstract
This essay provides a historical perspective on the archaeologist on screen. A wide array of movies, video games, and TV shows are addressed in order to provide a comprehensive approach to this cultural figure. Building on several examples, from the birth of cinema to the new field of archaeogaming, this article delves into the various dimensions of the archaeologist as one of the most popular fictional character of all times. In addition to a close examination of the main typologies used to characterize the diverse representations of the archaeologist in popular culture, the study introduces some thoughts about the links between archaeology and the ontology of the photographic image. Closely related to the cultural logic of Western modernity, archaeology extensively nurtures the imaginary of exploration, conquest, and postcolonial encounter. Nevertheless, the analysis of a selection of non-Western films highlights the cultural hybridity of the figure of the archaeologist. Its complexity and ambivalence thus appears representative of the way power relations shaped by race, class, and gender operates through culture.
Abstract
This essay provides a historical perspective on the archaeologist on screen. A wide array of movies, video games, and TV shows are addressed in order to provide a comprehensive approach to this cultural figure. Building on several examples, from the birth of cinema to the new field of archaeogaming, this article delves into the various dimensions of the archaeologist as one of the most popular fictional character of all times. In addition to a close examination of the main typologies used to characterize the diverse representations of the archaeologist in popular culture, the study introduces some thoughts about the links between archaeology and the ontology of the photographic image. Closely related to the cultural logic of Western modernity, archaeology extensively nurtures the imaginary of exploration, conquest, and postcolonial encounter. Nevertheless, the analysis of a selection of non-Western films highlights the cultural hybridity of the figure of the archaeologist. Its complexity and ambivalence thus appears representative of the way power relations shaped by race, class, and gender operates through culture.
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Note on Transliteration XI
- Preface 1
- Introduction 5
-
Archaeology in the Time of Empires: Unequal Negotiations and Scientific Competition
- “Masters” Against “Natives”: Edward Daniel Clarke and the “Theft” of the Eleusinian “Goddess” 19
- Russian Archaeologists, Colonial Administrators, and the “Natives” of Turkestan: Revisiting the History of Archaeology in Central Asia 31
- The “Maîtres” of Archaeology in Eastern Turkestan: Divide et Impera 87
-
“Master” / “Native”: Are There Winners? A Micro-History of Reciprocal and Non-Linear Relations
- Subverting the “Master”–“Native” Relationship: Dragomans and Their Clients in the Fin-de-Siècle Middle East 107
- In the Service of the Colonizer: Leon Barszczewski, Polish Officer in the Tsarist Army 121
- “The General and his Army”: Metropolitans and Locals on the Khorezmian Expedition 137
-
Taming the Other’s Past: The Eurocentric Scientific Tools
- From the Emic to the Etic and Back Again: Archaeology, Orientalism, and Religion from Colonial Sri Lanka to Switzerland 177
- Legislation and the Study of the Past: The Archaeological Survey of India and Challenges of the Present 197
- Early Archaeology in a “Native State”: Khans, Officers, and Archaeologists in Swat (1895–1939), with a Digression on the 1950s 213
-
The Forging of Myths: Heroic Clichés and the (Re-)Distribution of Roles
- Archaeologists in Soviet Literature 239
- Archaeology and the Archaeologist on Screen 255
-
Reversal of Roles in Postcolonial and Neocolonial Contexts: From a Relation between “Masters” and “Subordinates” to “Partnership”?
- From Supervision to Independence in Archaeology: The Comparison of the Iranian and the Afghan Strategy 291
- The Postcolonial Rewriting of the Past in North and South Korea Following Independence (1950s–1960s) 307
- Excavating in Iran and Central Asia: Cooperation or Competition? 323
- Publishing an Archaeological Discovery astride the “North”–“South” Divide (On an Example from Central Asia) 343
- Role Reversal: Hindu “Ethno-Expertise” of Western Archaeological Materials 367
Kapitel in diesem Buch
- Frontmatter I
- Acknowledgements V
- Contents VII
- Note on Transliteration XI
- Preface 1
- Introduction 5
-
Archaeology in the Time of Empires: Unequal Negotiations and Scientific Competition
- “Masters” Against “Natives”: Edward Daniel Clarke and the “Theft” of the Eleusinian “Goddess” 19
- Russian Archaeologists, Colonial Administrators, and the “Natives” of Turkestan: Revisiting the History of Archaeology in Central Asia 31
- The “Maîtres” of Archaeology in Eastern Turkestan: Divide et Impera 87
-
“Master” / “Native”: Are There Winners? A Micro-History of Reciprocal and Non-Linear Relations
- Subverting the “Master”–“Native” Relationship: Dragomans and Their Clients in the Fin-de-Siècle Middle East 107
- In the Service of the Colonizer: Leon Barszczewski, Polish Officer in the Tsarist Army 121
- “The General and his Army”: Metropolitans and Locals on the Khorezmian Expedition 137
-
Taming the Other’s Past: The Eurocentric Scientific Tools
- From the Emic to the Etic and Back Again: Archaeology, Orientalism, and Religion from Colonial Sri Lanka to Switzerland 177
- Legislation and the Study of the Past: The Archaeological Survey of India and Challenges of the Present 197
- Early Archaeology in a “Native State”: Khans, Officers, and Archaeologists in Swat (1895–1939), with a Digression on the 1950s 213
-
The Forging of Myths: Heroic Clichés and the (Re-)Distribution of Roles
- Archaeologists in Soviet Literature 239
- Archaeology and the Archaeologist on Screen 255
-
Reversal of Roles in Postcolonial and Neocolonial Contexts: From a Relation between “Masters” and “Subordinates” to “Partnership”?
- From Supervision to Independence in Archaeology: The Comparison of the Iranian and the Afghan Strategy 291
- The Postcolonial Rewriting of the Past in North and South Korea Following Independence (1950s–1960s) 307
- Excavating in Iran and Central Asia: Cooperation or Competition? 323
- Publishing an Archaeological Discovery astride the “North”–“South” Divide (On an Example from Central Asia) 343
- Role Reversal: Hindu “Ethno-Expertise” of Western Archaeological Materials 367
