Engineers of Happy Land

Engineers of Happy Land
Author :
Publisher : Princeton University Press
Total Pages : 335
Release :
ISBN-10 : 9780691186931
ISBN-13 : 0691186936
Rating : 4/5 (31 Downloads)

Book Synopsis Engineers of Happy Land by : Rudolf Mrázek

Download or read book Engineers of Happy Land written by Rudolf Mrázek and published by Princeton University Press. This book was released on 2018-06-05 with total page 335 pages. Available in PDF, EPUB and Kindle. Book excerpt: Based on close reading of historical documents--poetry as much as statistics--and focused on the conceptualization of technology, this book is an unconventional evocation of late colonial Netherlands East Indies (today Indonesia). In considering technology and the ways that people use and think about things, Rudolf Mrázek invents an original way to talk about freedom, colonialism, nationalism, literature, revolution, and human nature. The central chapters comprise vignettes and take up, in turn, transportation (from shoes to road-building to motorcycle clubs), architecture (from prison construction to home air-conditioning), optical technologies (from photography to fingerprinting), clothing and fashion, and the introduction of radio and radio stations. The text clusters around a group of fascinating recurring characters representing colonialism, nationalism, and the awkward, inevitable presence of the European cultural, intellectual, and political avant-garde: Tillema, the pharmacist-author of Kromoblanda; the explorer/engineer IJzerman; the "Javanese princess" Kartina; the Indonesia nationalist journalist Mas Marco; the Dutch novelist Couperus; the Indonesian novelist Pramoedya Ananta Toer; and Dutch left-wing liberal Wim Wertheim and his wife. In colonial Indies, as elsewhere, people employed what Proust called "remembering" and what Heidegger called "thinging" to sense and make sense of the world. In using this observation to approach Indonesian society, Mrázek captures that society off balance, allowing us to see it in unfamiliar positions. The result is a singular work with surprises for readers throughout the social sciences, not least those interested in Southeast Asia or colonialism more broadly.


Engineers of Happy Land Related Books

The Epworth Hymnal
Language: en
Pages: 239
Authors: Methodist Episcopal Church
Categories: Chants
Type: BOOK - Published: 1885 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Hymnal of the Methodist Episcopal Church
Language: en
Pages: 516
Authors: Methodist Episcopal Church
Categories: Hymns, English
Type: BOOK - Published: 1878 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Engineers of Happy Land
Language: en
Pages: 335
Authors: Rudolf Mrázek
Categories: Social Science
Type: BOOK - Published: 2018-06-05 - Publisher: Princeton University Press

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Based on close reading of historical documents--poetry as much as statistics--and focused on the conceptualization of technology, this book is an unconventional
Songs for the Sanctuary
Language: en
Pages: 560
Authors: Charles Seymour Robinson
Categories: Bible
Type: BOOK - Published: 1868 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK

Book of Praise
Language: en
Pages: 566
Authors: Church of the Pilgrims (Brooklyn, New York, N.Y.)
Categories: Congregational churches
Type: BOOK - Published: 1865 - Publisher:

DOWNLOAD EBOOK