Empire Of Diamonds: Victorian Gems In Imperial Settings, Hardcover - Adrienne Munich
About The In 1850, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond, gem of Eastern potentates, was transferred from the Punjab in India and, in an elaborate ceremony, placed into Queen Victoria's outstretched hands. Considering many of the era's most iconic voices--from Dickens and Tennyson to Kipling and Stevenson--as well as grand entertainments such as The Moonstone, King Solomon's Mines, and the tales of Sherlock Holmes, Munich explores diamonds as fetishes that seem to contain a living spirit exerting powerful effects, and shows how they scintillated the literary and cultural imagination. The story Munich tells eventually finds its way to America, as power and influence cross the Atlantic, bringing diamonds to a wide consumer culture. But, in a development that also reflected the British Empire's prosperity, the idea of owning a diamond came to be marketed to the middle class
Based on close textual attention and rare archival material, and drawing on ideas from material culture, fashion theory, economic criticism, and fetishism, Empire of Diamonds interprets the various meanings of diamonds, revealing a trajectory including Indian celebrity-named diamonds reserved for Asian princes, such as the Great Mogul and the Hope Diamond, their adoption by British royal and aristocratic families, and their discovery in South Africa, the mining of which devastated the area even as it opened the gem up to the middle classes. Diamonds were a symbol of political power--only for the very rich and influential. Considering many of the era's most iconic voices--from Dickens and Tennyson to Kipling and Stevenson--as well as grand entertainments such as The Moonstone, King Solomon's Mines, and the tales of Sherlock Holmes, Munich explores diamonds as fetishes that seem to contain a living spirit exerting powerful effects, and shows how they scintillated the literary and cultural imagination. The story Munich tells eventually finds its way to America, as power and influence cross the Atlantic, bringing diamonds to a wide consumer culture.About the AuthorAdrienne Munich is Professor of English, Art, Cultural Studies, and Gender Studies, Emerita, at Stony Brook University and author and editor of numerous books, including Queen Victoria's Secrets. This act inaugurated what author Adrienne Munich recognizes in her engaging new book as the empire of diamonds. In all kinds of writings, diamonds began to take on an affordable romance. In 1850, the legendary Koh-i-noor diamond, gem of Eastern potentates, was transferred from the Punjab in India and, in an elaborate ceremony, placed into Queen Victoria's outstretched hands. But, in a development that also reflected the British Empire's prosperity, the idea of owning a diamond came to be marketed to the middle class.
Carti > Carte straina > Biography,literature & literary studies > Literature: history & criticism
Empire Of Diamonds: Victorian Gems In Imperial Settings, Hardcover - Adrienne Munich
Carti > Carte straina > Biography,literature & literary studies > Literature: history & criticism
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