Metallic modern : everyday machines in colonial Sri Lanka / Nira Wickramasinghe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Wickramasinghe, Nira, author.

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Industries--Social aspects--Sri Lanka--History.

Industries.

Consumption (Economics)--Sri Lanka.

Consumption (Economics).

Civilization, Modern.

Physical Description:

1 online resource (191 p.)

Edition:

First edition.

Place of Publication:

New York : Berghahn Books, 2014.

Language Note:

English

Summary:

Everyday life in the Crown colony of Ceylon (Sri Lanka) was characterized by a direct encounter of people with modernity through the consumption and use of foreign machines - in particular, the Singer sewing machine, but also the gramophone, tramway, bicycle and varieties of industrial equipment. The 'metallic modern' of the 19th and early 20th century Ceylon encompassed multiple worlds of belonging and imagination; and enabled diverse conceptions of time to coexist through encounters with Siam, the United States and Japan as well as a new conception of urban space in Colombo. Metallic

Contents:

Contents; Illustrations; Preface and Acknowledgements; Introduction - Exploring Sri Lanka's Modern: Multiple Loops of Belonging; Chapter 1 - Following the Singer Sewing Machine: Fashioning a Market in a British Crown Colony; Chapter 2 - Creating a Market Imaginary; Chapter 3 - Paths to a Buddhist Modern: From Siam to America; Chapter 4 - The Gramophone: Soulful Sounds and Sacred Speeches; Chapter 5 - An Asian Modern: Japan; Chapter 6 - Trams, Cars, Bicycles: Modern Machines in the City; Chapter 7 - A Tailor's Tale and Machines in the Home; Chapter 8 - Working like Machines

Conclusion - Metallic ModernGlossary; Bibliography; Index

Notes:

Description based upon print version of record.

Includes bibliographical references and index.

Description based on print version record.

ISBN:

9781782382430

1782382437

OCLC:

875096002