Global Gifts The Material Culture of Diplomacy in Early Modern Eurasia
Produktdetaljer
Biographical note
Zoltán Biedermann is Associate Professor and Head of Spanish, Portuguese, and Latin American Studies at University College London. Anne Gerritsen is Professor of History and directs the Global History and Culture Centre at the University of Warwick. Giorgio Riello is Professor of Global History and Culture at the University of Warwick.'Combining the thriving field of material culture with the intriguing paths of new diplomatic history, this book explores in novel ways the gift-exchange processes between individuals, courts and empires in the early modern era. Global Gifts is an unusually cohesive collective endeavor that truly enriches our understanding of the diverse nexus between Europe and Asia in the period.' Jorge Flores, European University Institute, Florence
'This rich collection demonstrates the power of 'things' to shape cross-cultural relations in formal diplomacy. Gifts of art and material culture were fulcrums around which negotiations were staged in early modern Eurasia. Pushing interpretive boundaries, these trans-cultural histories illuminate the thorny mechanics of gifting, the meanings of gifts and the diplomatic aims these served.' Beverly Lemire, University of Alberta
'Asking what made a good gift in the early modern past, Global Gifts explores the intersection of diplomatic history and material culture studies. Textured and deeply researched, this volume traces the itineraries of exotica across a tangle of cultural and geographic boundaries. Whether one is Thailand or Portugal, India, or Italy, this book will prompt new thinking about issues that were crucial in the past yet have resonance in our own time – labor and luxury, politics and trade, generosity and thwarted desire.' Dana Leibsohn, Smith College, Massachusetts