Cities in Motion: Urban Life and Cosmopolitanism in Southeast Asia, 1920-1940

By Su Lin Lewis

Book Overview

In the 1920s and 1930s, the port-cities of Southeast Asia were staging grounds for diverse groups of ordinary citizens to experiment with modernity, as a rising Japan and American capitalism challenged the predominance of European empires after the First World War. Both migrants and locals played a pivotal role in shaping civic culture. Moving away from a nationalist reading of the period, Su Lin Lewis explores layers of cross-cultural interaction in various spheres: the urban built environment, civic associations, print media, education, popular culture and the emergence of the modern woman. While the book focuses on Penang, Rangoon and Bangkok - three cities born amidst British expansion to the region - it explores connected experiences across Asia and in Asian intellectual enclaves in Europe. Cosmopolitan sensibilities were severely tested in the era of post-colonial nationalism, but are undergoing a resurgence in Southeast Asia's civil society and creative class today.

• Format: Hardcover
• Language: English
• ISBN: 1107108330
• ISBN13: 9781107108332
• Release Date: July 2016
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press
• Length: 320 Pages
• Weight: 1.47 lbs.
• Dimensions: 0.9" x 6.2" x 9.4"