Gum Arabic

Dorrit van Dalen has worked in West Africa in international cooperation and as a journalist. She is now affiliated with Leiden University.

• Preface I Lustre Precious jewels It makes your hair curl Tears of the acacia Gum, balm and resin II Modest gum Glue Ink The best gum sticks to the teeth III Noble gum Rubens’ portrait Healing properties Othello’s plea To Timbuctoo IV Wealth of Nations Nothing but the pain Nixon’s secret Free trade or privilege All anomaly! V The gum wars of the eighteenth century The stakes Brüe and A.li Shanzura Floating watchmen Cumming and A.mar ould A.li Shanzura VI Mystère et boule de gomme Far from here These barbarous meetings A battle of cunning and fraud Impotence and prestige Saint-Louis VII Sudan: the roller-coaster Do the world a favour I saw a man in El Obeid The promised land Manna from heaven VIII Chad: the idea of kitir Purity and danger Land rights and religion The inner circle Arabian nights IX Intangible tears Definitions To stock or to substitute Botany Chemistry Bibliography Index