Tuesday, October 27, 2009

Repatriation

The jolly topic continues to generate reaction.

Politics, nationalism or cultural guilt: What is an archeologist to do?
examiner.com
(With video about Neues Museum reopening)

There's nothing much new here. The article is a response to the reopening of Berlin's Neues Museum and of course addreses the Nefertiti issue. It asks the same questions that others have been asking but doesn't provide any suggestions as to where the answers might be found. And I think that the final line's characterization of archaeologists might be a little insulting for some: "Unnecessarily complicated questions for a group of people who just simply want to dig". Ouch! The questions were apparently too complicated for the article's author too!

1 comment:

Ben Morales-Correa said...

You are so right, Andie. This and similar articles tend to bundle up a number of arguments that end up deflecting the discussion from the real issue. They also, for the sake of "objectivity", do not take a firm stand but rather imply it. The only things that stand out clearly are the author's ethnic and religious prejudices.