Lords of things : the fashioning of the Siamese monarchy's modern image
Lords of Things offers an interpretation of modernity in late 19th and early 20th century Siam by focusing on the novel material possessions and social practices adopted by the royal elite to refashion itself and its public image in the early stages of globalization.
ix, 232 pages : illustrations, map ; 24 cm
9780824824488, 9780824825584, 0824824482, 0824825586
48966933
Practices. Consumption modes, tastes, and identity of Siam's modernizing elite : changing modes of courtly consumption/westernized tastes, symbolic capital, and social identity/conspicuous consumption and royal absolutism. Presentation and representation of the royal self : refashioning civilization's accoutrements/presenting and representing the modern royal self/the image of Chulalongkorn in Siamese eyes
Spaces. Suburban playgrounds : urban layout and palatial architecture from the first to the early fifth reign/building the modernizing elite's Bangkok/the suburbanization of courtly life. Field of glory : the absolute monarchy's grand theater Manqu/larger than life
Spectacles. Refashioning the theater of power : first act/second act/third act/finale. On the world stage : Siam at international exhibitions. At the bazaar of exoticism/"the most despotic country in the civilized world". Bangkok on the Po. Epilogue : monarchy and memory