since 12/15/98		Columns::April 22, 2002 Weekly Reader Historian explores Saharan oasis $67.95 Heinemann Written by UGA assistant professor of history Timothy Cleaveland, Becoming Walata is a pre-colonial history of social identity in Walata, an oasis in the southwestern Sahara. Cleaveland, who traveled to the Walata region in 1990 during the Persian Gulf crisis, writes in the book’s introduction, “Walata seemed old…I thought of the travelers, the Maqqari brothers of the 13th century, and Ibn Battuta, who visited the town in 1352. Walata had been attracting strangers for a very long time. That was a large part of its history: people coming, settling in town, changing it and being changed by it.” Using Arabic documents--some newly discovered--Cleaveland analyzes representations of lineage, ethnicity and race, and argues that Saharans perceived these identities as mutable. Walatis transformed themselves through strategic alliances and intermarriage, then rationalized these changes through Islam. This evidence contradicts the European colonial model of Saharan society, which portrayed social relations as static and determined by patrilineal descent. UGA Today supports QuickTime, Flash, RealPlayer and Acrobat Reader (PDF files). Download information about these plug-ins. Affiliate icons for UGA Today COLUMNS ] UGA Today ] Subscribe ] News Bureau ] Office of Public Affairs Directory ] Photo Services ] Broadcast, Video & Photography ] Master Calendar] Columns ] Georgia Magazine ]Visitors Center ] UGA Home ] Alumni ] Admissions ] UGA Directories ] Sports ] Weather ] Search UGA sites ] Columns is produced by the UGA News Service, a unit of UGA Public Affairs. Beth Roberts: Columns editor, Juliett Dinkins: Columns managing editor, Janet Beckley: Columns art director. Peter Frey: Columns photo editor Questions or comments should be directed to columns@uga.edu Copyright 2001 University of Georgia. All rights reserved