Research - Dr. Shawn Malley
From Archaeology to Spectacle in Victorian Britain:
The Case of Assyria, 1845-1854
In his examination of the excavation of ancient Assyria by Austen Henry Layard, Shawn Malley reveals how, by whom, and for what reasons the stones of Assyria were deployed during a brief but remarkably intense period of archaeological activity in the mid-nineteenth century. His book encompasses the archaeological practices and representations that originated in Layard's excavations, radiated outward by way of the British Museum and Layard's best-selling "Nineveh and Its Remains" (1849), and were then dispersed into the public domain of popular amusements. That the stones of Assyria resonated in debates far beyond the interests of religious and scientific groups is apparent in the prevalence of poetry, exhibitions, plays, and dioramas inspired by the excavation. Of particular note, correspondence involving high-ranking diplomatic personnel and museum officials demonstrates that the 'treasures' brought home to fill the British Museum served not only as signs of symbolic conquest, but also as covert means for extending Britain's political and economic influence in the Near East. Malley takes up issues of class and influence to show how the middle-class Layard's celebrity status both advanced and threatened aristocratic values. Tellingly, the excavations prompted disturbing questions about the perils of imperial rule that framed discussions of the social and political conditions which brought England to the brink of revolution in 1848 and resurfaced with a vengeance during the Crimean crisis. In the provocative conclusion of this meticulously documented and suggestive book, Malley points toward the striking parallels between the history of Britain's imperial investment in Mesopotamia and the contemporary geopolitical uses and abuses of Assyrian antiquity in post-invasion Iraq.
www.ashgate.com/isbn/9781409426899
Excavating the Future:
Archaeology and Geopolitics in Science Fiction Television
Well-known in science fiction for tomb-raiding, Nazi-battling, and mummy-wrangling, the archaeologist has been a rich source for imagining “strange new worlds” from “strange old worlds.” A cultural study of archaeology in contemporary North American science fiction television, Excavating the Future treats archaeology as an important SF trope for exploring our cultural-temporal identity caught in the tug-of-war between nostalgia (what kinds of pasts appear in SF, how they are used, and what meanings we derive from them) and prediction (the possible trajectories of our developing technological selves).
By considering popular expressions of archaeological knowledge in SF, this project examines the ideological motivations of digging up the past buried in the future. Drawing upon contemporary debates about the political agendas archaeology serves, I argue that SF both participates in and challenges the contentious and continuing history of archaeology as an agent of Western “informal” imperialism (i.e. as a cultural discourse that helps naturalize Western political and economic sovereignty over non-Western peoples). The cultural studies thrust of this project is, then, to examine how archaeological knowledge circulates between archaeological communities and popular media, and how futuristic representations of the material past are deeply embedded in real-world geopolitical debates, tensions, and anxieties.
Tracing a critical genealogy of archaeology in SF television spanning the end of the Cold War to the Gulf Wars—including Star Trek (The Next Generation), X-Files, Babylon 5, the Dune and Children of Dune miniseries, and Sanctuary—I argue that representations of future worlds and their conflicts are deeply invested in the archaeo-political agendas of claiming, controlling, and speaking for territories and their histories. As such, they are symbolic media for investigating cultural expressions of global politics. I extend this discussion to two recent and very popular television series, Stargate SG-1 (1997-2007) and Battlestar Gallactica (2004-2008). Mixing archaeology, adventure, and militarism, these shows dramatize archaeology’s supporting role in the questionably ennobling and culturally-relative discourses of progress, civilization, and national identity. Specifically, these series perform, repeat, and challenge the history of Middle Eastern archaeology as an agent of (and cover for) Western informal imperialism ranging from the British Mandates to Operations Iraqi Freedom, when coalition forces reasserted custodianship over cultural as well as natural resources in the “Cradle of Civilization.”
This study takes SF criticism in new directions by treating archaeology as a political as well as materialist discourse. The impact of this work will be the analysis of how archaeological knowledge is created in popular media, and how the “science fictions” of cultural custodianship being generated by archaeologists and policy makers try to legitimize for their audiences similar geopolitical agendas playing out in SF television.
Funding Sources
Social Sciences and Humanities Research Council of Canada
Senate Research Committee, Bishop's University
Coordinates
Professor Shawn C. Malley
Email: Professor Shawn C. Malley
Phone: 819 822-9600 ext. 2382
