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Tribal encounters: An exhibition of ethnic objects collected by David Attenborough
Tribal An Exhibition of Ethnic Objects Collected by David Attenborough
90 pages, Paperback
Published January 1, 1981
About the author
David Attenborough
181 books2,821 followersSir David Frederick Attenborough is a naturalist and broadcaster, who is most well-known for writing and presenting the nine "Life" series, produced in conjunction with BBC's Natural History Unit. The series includes Life on Earth (1979), The Living Planet (1984), The Trials of Life (1990), Life in the Freezer (about Antarctica; 1993), The Private Life of Plants (1995), The Life of Birds (1998), The Life of Mammals (2002), Life in the Undergrowth (2005) and Life in Cold Blood (2008).
He is the younger brother of director and actor Richard Attenborough.
Photo credit: Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003
He is the younger brother of director and actor Richard Attenborough.
Photo credit: Wildscreen's photograph of David Attenborough at ARKive's launch in Bristol, England © May 2003
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July 23, 2023
Whilst different Islamic scholars disagree on the specifics of what is permissible to depict through art, all can agree that drawing art or creating figures that depict sexual acts, adultery, prophets, messengers, god etc is prohibited. Rather than briefly explaining that, Attenborough chooses to write this instead: "the aggressive attitudes of Islam, which abhors the naturalistic representation of living things". First of all, this statement is incorrect. Plants, for instance, are scientifically classified as living things and yet they are permissible to portray through art/figurines. Let’s imagine that Attenborough’s statement was correct, and that all living things were impermissible to recreate. Would that still merit the phrase "aggressive attitudes of Islam"?
Another example of his careless word choice can be found when he describes the "Black tribesmen who had never seen either yellow or a white face" (the "yellow" faces he refers to are the Japanese). I invite you to read an article by the newspaper "This Week in Asia" called "The Chinese were white - until white men called them yellow" to understand the roots of this particular labelling and why it is problematic; a lot of East Asians even view it as a racial slur.
Guess what? There’s more. In the last chapter of this very short book, Attenborough writes; "The Hindu-Javanese […] retreated eastwards in the face of the Islamic invasion"
This one is subtle, but its islamophobic undertones become clear when compared against this quote: "The island of New Guinea resisted European exploration". When the largely Christian Europeans set foot in an island who’s local population didn’t want them to enter, it is considered "exploration". When Muslims began to spread Islam in certain parts of Southeast Asia during the 16th century - with some locals choosing to convert and others remaining faithful to Hinduism - it is an "invasion".
To conclude, whilst the book gave me an insight on the significance of certain artefacts to their respective tribes, the racially/religiously insensitive terminology threw me off completely. Afterall, how can I trust a man’s interpretation of ancient religions and cultures, if he couldn’t manage to fact check himself before writing about the second largest religion? The format is really easy to digest, with a fair amount of images, which is one of the few things that earned it a rating of 25%.
Another example of his careless word choice can be found when he describes the "Black tribesmen who had never seen either yellow or a white face" (the "yellow" faces he refers to are the Japanese). I invite you to read an article by the newspaper "This Week in Asia" called "The Chinese were white - until white men called them yellow" to understand the roots of this particular labelling and why it is problematic; a lot of East Asians even view it as a racial slur.
Guess what? There’s more. In the last chapter of this very short book, Attenborough writes; "The Hindu-Javanese […] retreated eastwards in the face of the Islamic invasion"
This one is subtle, but its islamophobic undertones become clear when compared against this quote: "The island of New Guinea resisted European exploration". When the largely Christian Europeans set foot in an island who’s local population didn’t want them to enter, it is considered "exploration". When Muslims began to spread Islam in certain parts of Southeast Asia during the 16th century - with some locals choosing to convert and others remaining faithful to Hinduism - it is an "invasion".
To conclude, whilst the book gave me an insight on the significance of certain artefacts to their respective tribes, the racially/religiously insensitive terminology threw me off completely. Afterall, how can I trust a man’s interpretation of ancient religions and cultures, if he couldn’t manage to fact check himself before writing about the second largest religion? The format is really easy to digest, with a fair amount of images, which is one of the few things that earned it a rating of 25%.
Displaying 1 of 1 review