Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West
Title | Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West PDF eBook |
Author | Suzanne Conklin Akbari |
Publisher | University of Toronto Press |
Pages | 353 |
Release | 2008-12-27 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 1442693282 |
Few figures from history evoke such vivid Orientalist associations as Marco Polo, the Venetian merchant, explorer, and writer whose accounts of the "Far East" sparked literary and cultural imaginations. The essays in Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West challenge what many scholars perceived to be an opposition of "East" and "West" in Polo's writings. These writers argue that Marco Polo's experiences along the Silk Road should instead be considered a fertile interaction of cultural exchange. The volume begins with detailed studies of Marco Polo's narrative in its many medieval forms (including French, Italian, and Latin versions). They place the text in its material and generic contexts, and situate Marco Polo's account within the conventions of travel literature and manuscript illumination. Other essays consider the appropriation of Marco Polo's narrative in adaptations, translation, and cinematic art. The concluding section presents historiographic and poetic accounts of the place of Marco Polo in the context of a global world literature. By considering the production and reception of The Travels, this collection lays the groundwork for new histories of world literature written from the perspective of cultural, economic, and linguistic exchange, rather than conquest and conflict.
Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West
Title | Marco Polo and the Encounter of East and West PDF eBook |
Author | John Tulk |
Publisher | University of Toronto Press |
Pages | 353 |
Release | 2008-01-01 |
Genre | Literary Criticism |
ISBN | 0802099289 |
These essays challenge what many scholars perceived to be an opposition of "East" and "West" in Polo's writings.
The Travels of Marco Polo (Vol. 1&2)
Title | The Travels of Marco Polo (Vol. 1&2) PDF eBook |
Author | Marco Polo |
Publisher | DigiCat |
Pages | 1658 |
Release | 2023-11-14 |
Genre | Travel |
ISBN |
The Travels of Marco Polo is a 13th-century travelogue written down by Rustichello da Pisa from stories told by Italian explorer Marco Polo, describing Polo's travels through Asia between 1271 and 1295, and his experiences at the court of Kublai Khan. The Travels is divided into four books. Book One describes the lands of the Middle East and Central Asia that Marco encountered on his way to China. Book Two describes China and the court of Kublai Khan. Book Three describes some of the coastal regions of the East: Japan, India, Sri Lanka, South-East Asia, and the east coast of Africa. Book Four describes some of the then-recent wars among the Mongols and some of the regions of the far north, like Russia. Polo's writings included descriptions of cannibals and spice-growers.
Xanadu
Title | Xanadu PDF eBook |
Author | John Man |
Publisher | Random House |
Pages | 418 |
Release | 2010-10-31 |
Genre | History |
ISBN | 1409045641 |
**A SOURCE FOR MARCO POLO, A NETFLIX ORIGINAL SERIES** Marco Polo's journey from Venice, through Europe and most of Asia, to the court of Kublai Khan in China is one of the most audacious in history. His account of his experiences, known simply as The Travels, uncovered an entirely new world of emperors and concubines, great buildings - 'stately pleasure domes' in Coleridge's dreaming - huge armies and imperial riches. His book shaped the West's understanding of China for hundreds of years. John Man travelled in Marco's footsteps to Xanadu, in search of the truth behind Marco's stories; to separate legend from fact. Drawing on his own journey, archaeology and archival study, John Man paints a vivid picture of the man behind the myth and the true story of the great court of Kublai Khan.
Marco Polo
Title | Marco Polo PDF eBook |
Author | Laurence Bergreen |
Publisher | Vintage |
Pages | 458 |
Release | 2007-10-23 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 0307267695 |
As the first European to travel extensively throughout Asia, Marco Polo was the earliest bridge between East and West. His famous journeys took him across the boundaries of the known world, along the dangerous Silk Road, and into the court of Kublai Kahn, where he won the trust of the most feared and reviled leader of his day. Polo introduced the cultural riches of China to Europe, spawning centuries of Western fascination with Asia. In this lively blend of history, biography, and travelogue, acclaimed author Laurence Bergreen separates myth from history, creating the most authoritative account yet of Polo's remarkable adventures. Exceptionally narrated and written with a discerning eye for detail, Marco Polo is as riveting as the life it describes.
The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps
Title | The Mysteries of the Marco Polo Maps PDF eBook |
Author | Benjamin B. Olshin |
Publisher | University of Chicago Press |
Pages | 197 |
Release | 2014-10-29 |
Genre | Biography & Autobiography |
ISBN | 022614982X |
Concerns a collection of maps and associated documents claimed to be from Marco Polo's time or that of his daughters (as many of the maps have the name or one or another of the three daughters on them). Discusses provenance, authenticity, and history of the documents, known to scholars as "the Marco Polo Maps" since 1948, here discussed fully for the first time.
The East, the West, and Sex
Title | The East, the West, and Sex PDF eBook |
Author | Richard Bernstein |
Publisher | Vintage |
Pages | 338 |
Release | 2010-07-27 |
Genre | Social Science |
ISBN | 0375713891 |
In this wide-ranging history, Richard Bernstein explores the connection between sex and power as it has played out between Eastern cultures and the Western explorers, merchants, and conquerors who have visited them. This illuminating book describes the historical and ongoing encounter between these travelers and the morally ambiguous opportunities they found in foreign lands. Bernstein’s narrative teems with real figures, from Marco Polo and his investigation into the harem of Kublai Khan; the nineteenth-century American missionary Isabella Thoburn and her efforts to stamp out the “sinfulness” of the Mughal culture of India; Gustave Flaubert and his dalliances with Egyptian prostitutes; to modern-day sex tourists in Southeast Asia, as well as the women that they both exploit and enrich. Provocative and insightful, The East, The West, and Sex is a lucid look at a pervasive and yet mostly ignored subject.