The SI and IUSD are looking forward to welcome Dr. Margret Frenz who will talk about ‘Inscribing the City: The Urban Landscape
of Zanzibar Stone Town‘
Taking the example of Indian communities in Zanzibar, this paper explores the cosmopolitan character of interactions in the Indian Ocean. It shows how Indians – like other communities – contributed to the material culture and social transformation of the urban landscape of Zanzibar Stone Town. In the course of this transformation, and through processes of inward migration, Stone Town became cosmopolitan – and Indians created a sense of belonging to the place. At the same time, the various communities established themselves in their distinct niches. The lecture argues that ‛inscribing’ the city is a process of material and social reproduction of different communities and the representation of these processes in the cityscape.
The Lecturer:
Dr. Margret Frenz, FRHistS, FHEA, holds a Heisenberg Position at the University of Stuttgart. Her research interests are in connected and comparative histories of South Asia, the Indian Ocean, East Africa, and Europe between the 18th and 20th centuries. Her publications include Community, Memory, and Migration in a Globalizing World. The Goan Experience, c. 1890-1980 (OUP, 2014); From Contact to Conquest: Transition to British Rule in Malabar, 1790-1805 (OUP, 2003), and (edited with James Belich, John Darwin, and Chris Wickham) The Prospect of Global History (2016, paperback 2019).
image source:
copyright: Margret Frenz
Zanzibar Stone Town
