From marvels to motels: imagined and infrastructural worlds of silk road travel
Franklin, Kate (2023) From marvels to motels: imagined and infrastructural worlds of silk road travel. In: Barron, C.M. and Carlin, M. (eds.) Medieval Travel: Essays from the 2021 Harlaxton Medieval Symposium. Harlaxton Medieval Studies XXXIII. Shaun Tyas, pp. 109-124. ISBN 9781915774064. (In Press)
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Abstract
In this chapter I playfully juxtapose two fundamental features of our historical understanding of the medieval Silk Road: the marvels encountered by travelers, and the much-less remarked upon but nonetheless present motels, known in medieval Eurasia as caravanserais or hans. I explore what the concept of marvel has done for historical representations of the Silk Road world of Eurasia, and in particular in serving as a technique of delimiting space within imaginary geographies. Turning to caravan inns, and in particular the caravanserais which were central to Armenian politics of hospitality in the high Middle Ages (13-14th c), I consider how these infrastructures in their own way worked to make the movements of the Silk Road not just more comfortable, but (marvelously) possible.
Metadata
| Item Type: | Book Section |
|---|---|
| School: | Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies |
| Research Centres and Institutes: | Medieval and Early Modern Worlds |
| Depositing User: | Kate Franklin |
| Date Deposited: | 16 Nov 2023 07:18 |
| Last Modified: | 16 Nov 2023 15:35 |
| URI: | https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/50054 |
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