Question

natalie zemon davis on leo africanuss audiences | 2006
he leo africanus was keeping notes throughout his travels and consulting manuscripts whenever he could; he may have had an initial plan for a book and partial drafts of some sections in arabic on his person when he was kidnapped. however that may be, it was in italy that he became an author, and the final version of his book bears the stamp of his stay there.
in a sense, though, leo africanus wrote his book with two audiences in mind. his primary audience was in italy. for his italian readers he searched for equivalents in weights, measures, coinages, foods, and material objects. for them, he sought italian translations for words with no perfect equivalent... for them, he struggled valiantly to transcribe arabic words.
17 multiple choice 1 point
according to natalie zemon davis, leo africanuss effort to adapt his descriptions to italian readers suggests which of the following about his work?
it downplayed his own experiences in favor of existing european myths.
it reflected both cultural translation and selective presentation to appeal to a european audience.
it was a purely factual, unfiltered account of african societies.
it was written exclusively for muslim scholars in north africa.
18 multiple choice 1 point
when considered together, the perspectives of lerner and davis support which broader argument about the use of travel literature in historical study?
travel literature always promotes cultural understanding between civilizations.
travelers writings reveal more about the cultures they describe than about the travelers themselves.
the credibility and interpretation of travel accounts depend on understanding authors contexts and audiences.
travel accounts are unreliable and should be disregarded as historical sources.

Explanation:

For question 17, Leo Africanus adapting his descriptions to Italian readers shows cultural translation (adapting language - finding equivalents etc.) and selective presentation to appeal to a European audience. He was not downplaying his experiences for European myths, it wasn't a purely factual unfiltered account as he made adaptations, and it wasn't written only for North - African Muslim scholars.
For question 18, considering the perspectives of Lerner and Davis, the credibility and interpretation of travel accounts depend on understanding authors' contexts and audiences. Travel literature doesn't always promote cultural understanding, travelers' writings can reveal much about themselves too, and travel accounts aren't always unreliable.

Answer:

1. It reflected both cultural translation and selective presentation to appeal to a European audience.
2. The credibility and interpretation of travel accounts depend on understanding authors' contexts and audiences.