All Blog Posts Tagged 'beyond victoriana' (89)

Beyond Victoriana #82 The Birth of Miss Dorothy Winterman: A Personal Essay– Guest Blog by Luisa Ana Fuentes

Story Excerpt:

Dorothy Winterman's "African Amazon" outfit

It is day 15 of our arduous journey through the veldts of Nigeria (or are we in Cameroon yet?). Our tracker Adeola has discovered new tracks and scraps of fibers from obviously foreign cloths. She can find a single iguana track amongst a bevy of crocodiles, this one can. We listen intently that these “men” are probably several hours, if not a day away. We find…

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Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on July 5, 2011 at 4:50am — 1 Comment

Beyond Victoriana #81 Ganvié, the "Venice of Africa," Haven from Slavery--Guest Blog by Eccentric Yoruba

"The Adriatic has its Venice and its gondolas,

The Atlantic has its Ganvié, so much envied.

I will praise you everywhere, Ganvié,

Venice of my country, you will soon be

The center of the world, and men from all horizons

Will be dying to come and dream on your waters,

Around your magic and haughty huts,

Amid your slender and light canoes"

by Eustache…

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Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on June 26, 2011 at 8:34am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana: #80 Shadi Ghadirian & Muslim Women "Time Travelers"

If nineteenth-century Iranian women discovered time travel, where would they go? What would they bring back?

Photographer Shadi Ghadirian did not have these questions in mind, persay, but she is interested in how the Western world perceives Iranian woman like herself. In her photography series "Qajar," she brings out the cognitive dissonance that someone unfamiliar with Iran may experience, as well as comments about the position of women in society… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on June 19, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

Fact or Faked: The Travels of Jacob D'Anacona--Guest Blog by Rachel Landau

The City of Light is the journal of the travels of Jacob D'Ancona, a 13th century pious Jewish merchant. Readers follow Jacob on a three-year journey, starting from his hometown of Ancona in present-day Italy, overland through Damascus and Baghdad, and then by sea, stopping at various ports and places until he reaches the city of Zaitun, modern-day Quanzhou, where he stays to buy goods and talk to the scholars of the city. It consists of equal parts travelogue/memoir and a… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on June 5, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #77 Indian Automaton: Tipu's Tiger

Among the objects in the Victoria & Albert Museum in London, one of the most popular is Tipu's Tiger, an Indian automaton of a tiger mauling a European soldier.

Tipu's Tiger. Image copyrighted by the Victoria & Albert Museum. Click for source.

Tipu's Tiger was created around 1795 for the Tipu Sultan of Mysore. The tiger was the sultan's emblem and the symbolism here is quite blatant: a sign of the… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 22, 2011 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

When Feminist Fashion Goes Couture: Anne Avantie, Indonesian Designer

“If I walk, I hope my footsteps won’t be erased just like that… I want many other footsteps to follow mine!” - Anne Avantie

Anne Avantie's signature kebaya designs are growing in popularity as Asian fashion enters the global scene. Born to Chinese parents in Solo, Indonesia, Anne never had any formal training in fashion design, but always had an interest in the fashion world. Her love for fashion design started…

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Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 17, 2011 at 11:11am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #76 The Life of Malik Ambar, India's African Ruler--Guest Blog by Eccentric Yoruba

A portrait of Malik Ambar signed by Hashem (C 1624-25); photo courtesy V&A Images, Victoria and Albert Museum, London; A painting showing Jehangir shooting arrows into the severed head of Malik Ambar signed by Abul-Hasan (C 1616), © The Trustees of the Chester Beatty Library, Dublin (www.cbl.ie)

Earlier this year, my attention was drawn to a discussion on … Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 15, 2011 at 10:30am — No Comments

Convention Extravaganza–Reporting from Nova Albion: The Wild, Wild East

First stop in this Con Extravaganza series is Nova Albion, based in Santa Clara, California. This con was formerly named Steam Powered, and I first heard about it from Mike Perschon's blog years ago. This year's Nova Albion is the first steampunk convention to address a non-Western theme, and I was intrigued when they had invited me as a speaker back in… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 15, 2011 at 10:10am — No Comments

The Industrial Revolution of Today: A Review of FACTORY GIRLS by Leslie T. Chang

Click to read more on the publisher's website.

When we take about the impact of the Industrial Revolution, we speak of it in terms as if there had been only One Industrial Revolution, and that had taken place throughout the Western world during the nineteenth century. As I had written about… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 10, 2011 at 5:48am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #75 Cinco de Mayo - Guest Blog by Evangeline Holland

Note: This has been cross-posted from Edwardian Promenade. A few days late for this blog, but still relevant (I also recommend reading this modern perspective on this North American holiday too).

I live in California, and coincidentally, this was where the first Cinco de Mayo celebrations were held in the 1860s. Just in case you have no clue what the holiday entails, “[t]he 5th of… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on May 8, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

#72 Passover Traditions from Jewish Cultures Worldwide--Guest Blog by Rachel Landau

This Monday is the first night of Pesach, or Passover. In the days when the Temple was standing, every Jew was required to make a pilgrimage to the Temple and make an offering there. Around the world and on six continents, Jews still follow the same structure for a Passover seder, as outlined in the Haggadah nearly two thousand years ago. But Jews are not monolithic: each community adds its own variations and customs to the mix.

A picture from the Sarajevo Haggadah,… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on April 17, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

“African Fabrics”: The History of Dutch Wax Prints–Guest Blog by Eccentric Yoruba

Vlisco model. Click for source.

“A picture of a pipe isn't necessarily a pipe, an image of “African fabric” isn't necessarily authentically [and wholly] African”.

These above words are quoted by… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on April 10, 2011 at 12:00am — 1 Comment

Period Film Review: Princess Kaʻiulani--Guest Blog by Evangeline Holland

Note: This is cross-posted with permission from Edwardian Promenade.

Princess Kaiulani Movie

Released in 2009 (though with a fair share of controversy over the admittedly tasteless title, “Barbarian Princess”), with limited run last year and a DVD release in September, Princess Kaiulani is a gorgeously-shot tale of an unjustly forgotten figure in American history. Though the writing isn’t as nuanced as it could be, and there are many holes in the tale which require… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 27, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #68 Carla Speed McNeil’s Aboriginal Sci-Fi Graphic Series FINDER: A Review–Guest Blog by Noah Meernaum

Outlined routes towards discovering and conversantly addressing Carla Speed McNeil’s graphic series Finder.

Panel from Finder: Sin-Eater, Issue 9: Artist/writer: Carla Speed McNeil, Lightspeed Press, March 1998

One inspired comic maker, Carla Speed McNeil, who began self-publishing Finder through her own imprint of Lightspeed Press in 1996, has been ardently… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 20, 2011 at 12:26pm — No Comments

QUAINT #11 Salome da Costa from “The Story of Salome” by Amelia B. Edwards

Amelia B. Edwards, author of "The Story of Salome". Image courtesy of Wikipedia

Salome da Costa was created by Amelia B. Edwards and appeared in… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 15, 2011 at 10:46pm — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #67 Reporting from AnachroCon!

AnachroCon, based in Atlanta, Georgia, is an alternative history convention that has been sympathetic to the steampunk cause. On its website, they…

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Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 14, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

QUAINT #10 Cahina from “A Royal Enchantress” by Leo Charles Dessar

Cahina was created by Leo Charles Dessar and appears in A Royal Enchantress (1900). Dessar (1847-1924) was a New York judge who was a part of the corrupt Tammany Hall political system.

There was a real Cahina (alternatively, “Kahena” or “Kahina”), a Queen of the Berbers in the 7th and 8th… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 9, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

International Women's Day: A Brief History

During the aftermath of the Industrial Revolution, causes for gender equality were being raised by men and women throughout the world. In 1909, under the helm of the Socialist Party of America, the first National Women's Day was celebrated in the United States on February 28th. In 1910, at the International Conference of Working Women in Copenhagen, influential German socialist politician Clara Zetkin proposed that a day be…

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Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 7, 2011 at 9:49pm — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #66 Fascinating Women: Madame C.J. Walker--Guest Blog by Evangeline Holland

Note: This is cross-posted with permission from Edwardian Promenade.

"I had to make my own living and my own opportunity! But I made it! Don't sit down and wait for the opportunities to come. Get up and make them!"

Contrary to public opinion, Madam C.J. Walker did not invent the hot comb or relaxers, and neither was she the only African-American beautician during the Gilded Age. What the former Sarah Breedlove was, however, was incredibly… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on March 6, 2011 at 12:00am — No Comments

Beyond Victoriana #65 "Steampunk" Characters: About Characterization in Jules Verne's Novels--Guest Blog by Harry Markov

20,000 Leagues Under the Sea 1871 title page. Image courtesy of Wikipedia.

Did Verne create “steampunk” characters in his novels? Though I cannot define Verne as being a steampunk writer, I can say that Verne’s works, while written in a cut and dry cataloguing style, nonetheless emphasizes moral and social qualities as much as it does scientific ones. Given these circumstances, I will consider what are considered important values that a person should have according to… Continue

Added by Ay-leen the Peacemaker on February 27, 2011 at 5:28pm — No Comments