The alchemy of empire : abject materials and the technologies of colonialism

Resource Information

The work The alchemy of empire : abject materials and the technologies of colonialism represents a distinct intellectual or artistic creation found in European University Institute. This resource is a combination of several types including: Work, Language Material, Books.

Label

The alchemy of empire : abject materials and the technologies of colonialism

Title remainder

abject materials and the technologies of colonialism

Statement of responsibility

Rajani Sudan

Creator

• Sudan, Rajani

Contributor

• JSTOR (Organization)

Subject

• Europe -- Civilization | Oriental influences | History -- 18th century
• Great Britain -- Colonies | History -- 18th century
• Imperialism -- History -- 18th century
• Enlightenment
• Technology transfer -- History -- 18th century
• Technology in literature

Language

eng

Summary

The Alchemy of Empire unravels the non-European origins of Enlightenment science. Focusing on the abject materials of empire-building, this study traces the genealogies of substances like mud, mortar, ice, and paper, as well as forms of knowledge like inoculation. Showing how East India Company employees deployed the paradigm of alchemy in order to make sense of the new worlds they confronted, Rajani Sudan argues that the Enlightenment was born largely out of Europe's (and Britain's) sense of insecurity and inferiority in the early modern world. Plumbing the depths of the imperial archive, Sudan uncovers the history of the British Enlightenment in the literary artifacts of the long eighteenth century, from the correspondence of the East India Company and the papers of the Royal Society to the poetry of Alexander Pope and the novels of Jane Austen.--

Assigning source

Provided by Publisher

Cataloging source

NhCcYBP

Index

index present

Literary form

non fiction

Nature of contents

• dictionaries
• bibliography

Series statement

JSTOR eBooks