Rice Historical Review Spring 2020

Permanent URI for this collection

https://hdl.handle.net/1911/111320

The Rice Historical Review is a research journal designed to showcase outstanding scholarly works produced by Rice University's undergraduate students.

In order of appearance.

—Front Matter (PDF | 710.5 kB)

—Fainting Francis or Weeping Willie: The Construction of American Perceptions of Mohammed Mossadegh
by Allen Sellers (PDF | 1.664 Mb )

—Translating Theology: A Textual Examination of Akbar’s Religiosity
by Akhil Jonnalagadda (PDF | 1.347 Mb )

— King of the Birds: Making Symbol, Subject, and Science in the Skies of Hindustan
by Kristen Hickey (PDF | 2.395 Mb)

— Seeing Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Through a Romantic Lens
by Carolyn Daly (PDF | 1.193 Mb )

—Back Matter (PDF | 1.384 Mb)

For complete issues of Rice Historical Review, visit the journal website

Editorial Board

Alison Drileck, Editor-in-Chief
Laura Li, Editor-in-Chief
Miriam Wolter, Managing Editor
Mikayla Knutson, Associate Managing Editor
Katie Nguyen, Publishing Director
George Elsesser, Assistant Managing Editor
Sarah Gao, Director of Copy Editing
Olivia Daneker, Art Director
Spencer Moffat, Director of Short Form
Caroline Siegfried, Director of Copy Editing
Frederick Drummond, Short Form Copy Editor
Victoria Saeki-Serna, Director of Short Form
Jordan Killinger, Director of Podcasting
Alex Vela, Director of Media
Riley Meve, Director of Public Relations
Melissa Carmona, Assistant Director of Podcasting
Rachel Lisker, Distribution Manager
Josue Alvarenga, Assistant Director of Podcasting

Faculty Review Board

Dr. Lisa Spiro | Historical Review Faculty Advisor | Executive Director of Digital Scholarship Services
Dr. Lisa Balabanlilar| Director of Undergraduate Studies| Associate Professor of History
Dr. Tani Barlow| George and Nancy Rupp Professor of Humanities | Professor of History
Dr. Daniel Domingues| Assistant Professor of History
Dr. Daniel Dominguez da Silva| Assistant Professor of History
Dr. Maya Irish| Associate Professor of History

Browse

Now showing 1 - 6 of 6

Translating Theology: A Textual Examination of Akbar’s Religiosity
(Rice University, 2020) Jonnalagadda, Akhil; King, Abigail
This paper examines the translation movement of Hindu epics from Sanskrit to Persian spearheaded by the sixteenth century Mughal emperor Akbar. Many historians understand this phenomenon as a cultural accommodation by the emperor to attain legitimacy amongst a heterogeneous populace. This paper, in contrast, seeks to locate this effort within a broader theological project by Akbar to unite Hindu and Sufi thought in order to imbue a corporeal divinity within himself. To do so, this paper explores the religious milieu in which the texts were translated through courtly histories and through recorded commentary by the emperor’s contemporaries. Despite the indisputable political expedience of the translations, one can argue that an experimental impulse to reconfigure Mughal theology was the foundational term of the initiative. This argument would thus dismantle a popular perception of a rigid, strictly defined empire and instead offer one of a notably porous and assimilatory Mughal identity.
Front Matter 2020 Spring Issue
(Rice University, 2020)
CONTENTS: Perception -- Editorial Board -- Table of Contents -- Letter from the Editors -- The Floyd Seyward Lear Prize
Back Matter 2020 Spring Issue
(Rice University, 2020)
CONTENTS: Editorial Board -- About Us -- Acknowledgements
Seeing Mary Wollstonecraft (1759-1797) Through a Romantic Lens
(Rice University, 2020) Daly, Carolyn; Karpe, Ashna
This paper analyzes Mary Wollstonecraft’s life and fourteen major literary works. It argues that her legacy should be considered in the context of romanticism. Romanticism is usually defined in a traditional, masculine sense: as an emotional escape from repression and rationalism. Eighteenth-century societal norms, however, categorized women as purely emotional and did not allow them to express their rationality. This paper uses Wollstonecraft’s work to argue for an expansion of the traditional Romantic canon that includes female romantics’ focus on reason, sense rather than sensibility, women’s rights, and gradual societal change. Wollstonecraft’s works demonstrate she was a romantic by both the masculine and feminine definitions. It is unfortunate that until recent years, literary historians did not consider Wollstonecraft or other female writers part of the canon of romanticism. Wollstonecraft and writers like her added important ideas to the canon; their ideas should take their place alongside those of traditional romantics.
King of the Birds: Making Symbol, Subject, and Science in the Skies of Hindustan
(Rice University, 2020) Hickey, Kristen; Hettler, Catherine
When the Mughals founded an empire in Hindustan, they sought to legitimize their budding dynasty through diverse sources of power. In the texts and art produced by emperors and their courts during the sixteenth and seventeenth centuries, these performances of power constantly featured birds. Birds, enfleshed and imagined, were used as motifs that positioned the Mughals as the cultural descendants of a long Islamic tradition of storytelling and spirituality. Wild and captive birds became an extension of the imperial court as emperors strove to model the legendary rule of King Solomon, who was renowned for his just power over all creatures. During this age of scientist-kings, avians also became catalysts for experimentation and the production of knowledge. This intricate relationship between birds and power reveals a Mughal conception of empire, defined by fluid boundaries between the human and animal kingdoms.
Fainting Francis or Weeping Willie: The Construction of American Perceptions of Mohammed Mossadegh
(Rice University, 2020) Sellers, Allen; Marcheli, Chloe
The April 1951 election of Mohammed Mossadegh as Prime Minister of Iran and the subsequent nationalization of oil sparked a prolonged crisis that involved both the British and U.S. governments. No agreement could be reached between the British and Iranians. The crisis culminated in the joint U.S. and British effort, called Operation AJAX, which overthrew Mossadegh in August 1953. The seeds of this coup were sewn before the summer of 1953, however, and this article documents American perceptions of Mossadegh and the situation in Iran during the crisis. It contends that American ideas concerning gender, communism, and peoples of the Middle East, formed an ideology which heightened the Soviet threat, justified Anglo-American intervention, and ultimately resulted in the Eisenhower administration’s greenlighting of Operation AJAX. The changes and continuities of this American mindset are reflected in magazines, newspapers, memoirs, and government documents that span from WWII to the overthrow of Mossadegh. These reflections reveal how cultural attitudes informed perceptions of Iran and its people, which in turn shaped American attitudes and policy towards Iran.

Browse

Recent Submissions