Lords of Things: The Fashioning of the Siamese Monarchy's Modern Image

by Maurizio Peleggi

Overview

Lords of Things offers a fascinating interpretation of modernity in late nineteenth and early twentieth century Siam by focusing on the novel material possessions and social practices adopted by the royal elite to refashion its self and public image in the early stages of globalization. It examines the westernized modes of consumption and self-presentation, the residential and representational architecture, and the public spectacles appropriated by the Bangkok court not as byproducts of institutional reformation initiated by modernizing sovereigns, but as practices and objects constitutive of the very identity of the royalty as a civilized and civilizing class.

Bringing a wealth of new source material into a theoretically informed discussion, Lords of Things will be required reading for historians of Thailand and Southeast Asia scholars generally. It represents a welcome change from previous studies of Siamese modernization that are almost exclusively concerned with the institutional and economic dimensions of the process or with foreign relations, and will appeal greatly to those interested in transnational cultural flows, the culture of colonialism, the invention of tradition, and the relationship between consumption and identity formation in the modern era.

Product Details

ISBN-13:	9780824825584
Publisher:	University of Hawaii Press, The
Publication date:	07/31/2002
Edition description:	New Edition
Pages:	248
Product dimensions:	6.00(w) x 9.00(h) x 0.51(d)

About the Author

Maurizio Peleggi is professor of cultural history at the National University of Singapore.

Table of Contents

	List of Illustrations	vi
	Acknowledgments	vii
	A Note on Romanization	ix
	Introduction: Monarchy and Modernity	1
Part I	Practices
1.	Consumption Modes, Tastes, and Identity of Siam's Modernizing Elite	19
2.	Presentation and Representation of the Royal Self	44
Part II	Spaces
3.	Suburban Playgrounds	75
4.	Field of Glory	94
Part III	Spectacles
5.	Refashioning the Theater of Power	113
6.	On the World Stage	143
	Epilogue: Monarchy and Memory	164
	Notes	171
	Bibliography	207
	Index	225