Description
Book SynopsisBy focusing on such controversies and conflicts as the status of women, relations between the sexes, class antagonisms and the growth of a commercial mass culture, this book offers a new interpretation of the key decade of the 1920s and its significance for contemporary Thailand.
Trade ReviewBarmé performs a monumental task. He “peoples” Siam, bringing it to life with a vibrancy and immediacy by parading before us the issues and images that roused the population of early 20th century Bangkok. * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *
Unlike any other English or Thai language history, Barmé?s study puts you on the ground in the always scintillating and often over-stimulating Bangkok, a city characterized by moral and economic extremes as early as the 1910s. His book offers the firsturban social history of Bangkok that also chronicles the formation of Siam?s burgeoning middle class and its ideological stances. The sheer amount of detail Barmé gleaned from Thai-language newspapers, political cartoons, magazines, film booklets, novels, short stories, and other documentation, make his book a cornucopia of the quotidian. Barmé performs a monumental task. He ?peoples? Siam, bringing it to life with a vibrancy and immediacy by parading before us the issues and images that roused thepopulation of early 20th century Bangkok. Tamara Looss -- Tamara Loos * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *
Truly path-breaking. Men still expect to dominate lots of women, while women are expected to be passive and pure. That's why 1920s Bangkok and its gender debates still seem so familiar. Great book. -- Chris Baker, Bangkok Post
[A] fresh look at the last decades of absolutist rule....Barme's [be sure to get accent in] prose is very accessible, and with its attractive graphics, this paperback version will be a useful addition to courses on modern Southeast Asia. * American Historical Review *
Woman, Man, Bangkok is an important contribution to an understanding of the intersections of gender, class, sexuality, and nationlism and analytically situates this intersection within an important phase in Thailand's history. * Journal of Asian Studies *
Scot Barme's study of Bangkok is pathbreaking. By focusing on cinema, the press, cartoons, gender, and sexuality a century ago, he produces an original and fascinating picture of social and political change. There is no comparable work on Thailand's social history. No historian will want to ignore his story or his methods. No one will read this book and not have their image of Bangkok and Thailand changed. -- Kevin Hewison, City University of Hong Kong
Unlike any other English or Thai language history, Barmé’s study puts you on the ground in the always scintillating and often over-stimulating Bangkok, a city characterized by moral and economic extremes as early as the 1910s. His book offers the first urban social history of Bangkok that also chronicles the formation of Siam’s burgeoning middle class and its ideological stances. The sheer amount of detail Barmé gleaned from Thai-language newspapers, political cartoons, magazines, film booklets, novels, short stories, and other documentation, make his book a cornucopia of the quotidian. Barmé performs a monumental task. He “peoples” Siam, bringing it to life with a vibrancy and immediacy by parading before us the issues and images that roused the population of early 20th century Bangkok. Tamara Loos -- Tamara Loos * Journal of Southeast Asian Studies *
Table of ContentsChapter 1 Introduction Chapter 2 Proto-feminist Discourses in Early Twentieth Century Siam Chapter 3 Cinema, Film and the Growth of National Culture Under Absolutism Chapter 4 In and around the Cinema: Romance and Sex in the City Chapter 5 Visually Challenged: Graphic Critiques of the Royal-Noble Elite Chapter 6 Evocations of Equality: Female Education and Employment Chapter 7 A Question of Polygamy Chapter 8 Bourgeois Love and Morality: Gender Relations Redefined Chapter 9 Romance and Desire in Film and Fiction Chapter 10 Gender, Class, and Popular Culture in Post-absolutist Siam: 1932-1940 Chapter 11 Conclusion
