tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-11172728149621300992024-03-18T04:04:00.999+01:00Exploring the Victorian WorldVictorian England and BeyondJBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.comBlogger36125tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-66398190700918804322013-05-14T19:23:00.000+02:002013-05-14T19:26:39.060+02:00Wronged Women and Wretched Sinners - the Case of the Maid in Växjö<div class="" style="clear: both; text-align: left;">
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I have spoken about <a href="http://victorianexplorer.blogspot.se/2013/03/blood-tears-and-betrayal-shilling-sheet.html">my love for old murder ballads</a> before. A Swedish compilation of such old folk songs was made between 1896 and 1901 by a man called August Bondeson. If you speak Swedish, you can read the volume online <a href="http://runeberg.org/bondeson/6/0159.html">here</a>. </div>
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If you don't... Well, I thought I'd post a few translations here. Nothing fancy; no rhymes or anything, just the basic meaning so you can compare them to their English and American counterparts.<br />
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I thought I'd start with a particularly gruesome one called <i>Där tjänte en flicka</i> (<i>There served a girl</i>). It was recorded a few years ago by Swedish artist Louise Hoffsten. Her version is quite good, but it doesn't contain all the verses – only 1-3, 5 and 9-10. It's a pity in my opinion since that leaves out some of the more horrid ones. Anyway, if you have Spotify, you can listen to it <a href="http://open.spotify.com/track/7845IQ6Ffhx2707vrQVXvX">here.</a><br />
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I put the Swedish lyrics first and then the English translation right after each verse.And, like I said, it's not a fancy translation, but, I dare say, pretty accurate as far as content goes (but without any poetic flair like rhymes and rhythm).<br />
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And – gruesome and purple as this song is, contains at least a pinch of realism. Women being executed for infanticide is historical fact, not fancy. <br />
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1. Där tjänte en flicka i Växjö i två år,</div>
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hon tjänte hos en köpman, en ungkarl det var,</div>
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det var väl ett stort under, att hon torde</div>
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en sådan gärning göra, som hon gjorde.</div>
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1. <i>There served a girl in Växjö for two years,</i></div>
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<i>she was maid to a merchant, a bachelor too,</i></div>
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<i>but it was a mystery how she dared</i></div>
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<i>to do the deed she did</i></div>
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2. Det hände sig så om en lördagskväll,</div>
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hon födde två foster, dem mördade hon själv;</div>
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hon trodde, där var ingen, som såg det,</div>
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och därför tog hon livet utav dem.</div>
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<i>3. It happened on one Saturday night</i></div>
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<i>that she bore two children, she murdered them herself</i></div>
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<i>she thought there was no one who saw it</i></div>
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<i>and so she took their sweet lives. </i></div>
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3. Så svepte hon dem uti renaste lin,</div>
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så kastade hon dem i den skarpaste ström;</div>
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hon trodde, där var ingen som såg det,</div>
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och därför tog hon livet utav dem.</div>
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3. <i>She wrapped them in linen</i></div>
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<i>and cast them into a stream </i></div>
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<i>she thought there was no one who saw it</i></div>
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<i>and so she took their sweet lives. </i></div>
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4. Sen gångar hon sig på kyrkogården in,</div>
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och tårarne runno så stritt på hennes kind.</div>
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Ja, det var väl ett stort under, att hon torde</div>
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en sådan gärning göra, som hon gjorde,</div>
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<i>4. Into the graveyard she went</i></div>
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<i>and tears ran down her cheeks. </i></div>
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<i>Yes, it was a mystery how she dared</i></div>
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<i>to do the deed she did</i></div>
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5. "Men ett det är, som grämjer mitt hjärta allra mest,</div>
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att min allra yngste broder har mig i bojor fäst;</div>
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han fängslar och binder mig så svåra.</div>
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Gud nåde mig, syndare arma! </div>
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<i>5. "But what grieves my heart the most,</i></div>
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<i>is that my youngest brother has clasped me in irons,</i></div>
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<i>he traps me and binds me so badly.</i></div>
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<i>God have mercy on me, wretched sinner!" </i></div>
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6. Min moder lät stöpa en silverkanna ny,</div>
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med fyra förgyllande fötter däruti,</div>
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den fyllde hon med blanka riksdalrar,</div>
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hon ville själv med konungen samtala</div>
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<i>6. My mother had made a silver jar</i></div>
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<i>with four golden feet inside;</i></div>
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<i>filling it with shiny shillings,</i></div>
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<i>with the king she wanted plead </i></div>
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7. för att lösa mitt unga liv, om hon det kunde få.</div>
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Men mitt ungaste liv, det passar jag ej på:</div>
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när jag för mina synder haver lidit,</div>
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så hoppas jag, de äro mig tillgivna.</div>
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<i>7. for my young life, if she could</i></div>
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<i>but for my life I have no care;</i></div>
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<i>once I have paid for my sins</i></div>
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<i>I hope they are forgiven </i></div>
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8. I morgon så fyller jag mitt adertonde år,</div>
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då hade jag tänkt, att mitt bröllop skulle stå;</div>
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men då skall röda hjärteblodet rinna,</div>
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likt vatten uti stridaste strömmar."</div>
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8. <i>Tomorrow I will turn eighteen, </i></div>
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<i>when I had thought to be a bride</i></div>
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<i>but instead the red blood of my heart </i></div>
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<i>shall stream
in torrents like water.</i>" </div>
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9. Den andra dagen ’fördes hon till spetsgården fram. </div>
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Och fram kommer bödeln med yxan i sin hand: </div>
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"Si, här skall detta unga liv iörrinna, </div>
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liksom det vore blodröda strömmar!" </div>
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<i>9. She was brought to the scaffold on the second day</i></div>
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<i>and with an axe the executioner stands:</i></div>
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<i>"See, this young life shall run</i></div>
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<i>in blood red torrents like water!" </i></div>
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10. Så talte hon till folket, som däromkring stod: </div>
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"Ack, hör I, unga flickor, jag råder eder till, </div>
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låten inga falska gossar er behaga, </div>
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ty då fån I sorg i alla edra dagar!" </div>
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<i>10. She spoke to the people who stood all around:</i></div>
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<i>"Oh, hear me, girls, I shall offer you advice,</i></div>
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<i>trust not young men, fair and false, </i></div>
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<i>lest you shall grieve for all your days!"</i><br />
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<i>*Picture from <a href="http://graphicsfairy.blogspot.se/2013/04/old-photo-pretty-young-gypsy-woman.html">The Graphics Fairy </a>. It has nothing to do with the song besides looking rather dramatic.</i></div>
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<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-52011608956708685452013-04-23T20:42:00.000+02:002013-04-23T20:42:29.433+02:00Anyone for Swedish murder and fin-de-siècle gloom?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgRiiswLlZqgpXt3VUPOOMK3EuS7WrXwzGqM8ErDH2TOHHhQfHDRJgvtKBJkhYReOi8EIZ-Ugrn_bb0B7sD5JPEvzeqxaDwm-WDvqvpCCnZe3vriXE2NyNim9uLPJFrx5ayr4ICStLV4wM/s400/421px-Hjalmar_So%CC%88derberg.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;" width="280" /></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Hjalmar Söderberg (source: <a href="http://commons.wikimedia.org/wiki/File:Hjalmar_S%C3%B6derberg.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
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If you are looking for some good old fin-de-siècle gloom and you happen to be in the vicinity of London, England, you really should take the opportunity to see <i>Dr Glas,</i> starring Swedish actor Krister Henriksson (of Wallander-renown).<br />
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<i>Dr Glas</i> is based on a novel, first published in 1905, by Swedish writer Hjalmar Söderberg, considered to be one of the finest novelists this nation ever produced. It is, admittedly, not a cheerful story. On the other hand, it has murder, adultery, depression and lots and lots of good old misery. Nobody get a HEA, because that was not what Söderberg was about. He was, after all, the man who wrote the legendary phrase: "I believe in the lust of the flesh and the incurable loneliness of the soul" (from the play <i>Gertrud</i>), quoted by generations of Swedish teenagers suffering their first disappointment in love.<br />
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If you can't make it to the Wyndham's Theatre, I heartily recommend digging out <i>Doctor Glas</i> as a novel or Söderberg's other novel <i>The Serious Game</i> as they are both excellent and translated to English.<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-1660082411424245182013-04-21T09:55:00.001+02:002013-04-21T09:55:37.402+02:00Life around 1900<br /><div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/lQV1_B63LTM/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/lQV1_B63LTM&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/lQV1_B63LTM&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
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Just had to share this lovely enhanced video with footage from around
1900 – it really brings the past frighteningly close when you can meet
the eyes of strangers from a gap of more than 100 years.<br />
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Just lovely!<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-22435241088998940142013-04-12T12:28:00.000+02:002013-04-12T12:50:04.849+02:00Fashion Plates Galore!I just realised I've been a bit bad at sharing some of the truly awesome resources out there and thought I'd remedy that, by letting you in on a pretty little secret - <a href="http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/bibliotheque/collection-maciet-series" target="_blank">Collection Maciet.</a><br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzApA_fpxGu8djd1e0t5vnp2mh_50qEdhh8IC5obd-g7LXGSrtdZG1dYoSN7MsfHcghuWQbcyk9MytlZHqeJwpKkzgZ_scI6REM1FhBg-3tqVbKFhlmzk-YFytZ5ONEmVPxEzENTPzzP4/s1600/Hat+1896.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgzApA_fpxGu8djd1e0t5vnp2mh_50qEdhh8IC5obd-g7LXGSrtdZG1dYoSN7MsfHcghuWQbcyk9MytlZHqeJwpKkzgZ_scI6REM1FhBg-3tqVbKFhlmzk-YFytZ5ONEmVPxEzENTPzzP4/s400/Hat+1896.png" width="280" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://213.215.47.131/maciet2/map_zoom/prepare_visu.php?file=M5053MA_214X59X00004_L&collection_id=245&collection_name=M5053MA_214X59X" target="_blank">Collection Maciet, </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1117272814962130099" name="CLE171273">Mode. [XIXe siècle]. 1886</a></td></tr>
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It is hosted by Les Arts Décoratifs, which is a private not-for-profit association and recognized as being in the public interest under French law. It originated in 1882, in the wake of the Universal Exhibitions, when a group of collectors banded together with the idea of promoting the applied arts and developing links between industry and culture, design and production. Thus, it is a thoroughly Victorian product which in itself is rather nice, n'est-ce pas?<br />
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That's all very well, you're saying now, but what is it good for? Why, old chap, says I. Fashion, of course! Lots and lots of fashion!<br />
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<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNzf8E0q-RJZEa4UeIYtPdsGOJJgZhm5UE_q0lO_GHoVdoht_YOycha3s484adVilwlnmm2475W1k6hHaZJ3GrfwWoGw78Ha4zQQ4bKG9DUT0_Ockpx-A1gWnKTgb88D5AXXJZJTZYv4/s1600/Gentlemen+1842-43.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjlNzf8E0q-RJZEa4UeIYtPdsGOJJgZhm5UE_q0lO_GHoVdoht_YOycha3s484adVilwlnmm2475W1k6hHaZJ3GrfwWoGw78Ha4zQQ4bKG9DUT0_Ockpx-A1gWnKTgb88D5AXXJZJTZYv4/s640/Gentlemen+1842-43.png" width="436" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://213.215.47.131/maciet2/map_zoom/prepare_visu.php?im_pos=9&collection_name=M5053MA_214X20X&collection_id=206" target="_blank">Collection Maciet, </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1117272814962130099" name="CLE171234"></a><a href="http://213.215.47.131/maciet2/map_zoom/prepare_visu.php?im_pos=9&collection_name=M5053MA_214X20X&collection_id=206" target="_blank">Mode. [XIXe siècle]. 1842 à 1843, image 10</a><br />
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You see, the Collection Maciet contains a great number of fashion plates, going back to the 18th century and up to 1940. Well, they have later stuff too, but it's not available online, and, anyway, that's not what we're her for, is it? No, we want the 19th century stuff, right? No worries. There's plenty of that to be had.<br />
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The trick, however, is that the search function is in French. If you speak the lovely language of Molière and Racine, that's fine of course, but if you don't it's not entirely simple how to find what you are looking for. Because of that, I thought I'd provide a short guide.<br />
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Go <a href="http://www.lesartsdecoratifs.fr/francais/bibliotheque/collection-maciet-series" target="_blank">here</a>, and pick <i><a href="http://www.bibliothequedesartsdecoratifs.com/consultation2/consultation.html" target="_blank">Consulation du Catalogue</a></i> (or click that link obviously, but I wanted you to be able to hack it for yourselves without having to start here, appreciated that your visit is). Then pick "<i>Recherche simple</i>". If it isn't obvious, it means "simple search". You then get this menu:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KJ1yVLo4GUEiBvjUYZwsid_zGG5aAzwd5TaXX2hyGlFgIm9E5nQ7lqs3gRioCJWtugVrAmvzfAJSfF7q1FhdKWijv2_O7GzBstRRVC_U7DtXhnyOxOxMhc6NwQoBxxXt7lp_vnYmx_I/s1600/Search+screen.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh7KJ1yVLo4GUEiBvjUYZwsid_zGG5aAzwd5TaXX2hyGlFgIm9E5nQ7lqs3gRioCJWtugVrAmvzfAJSfF7q1FhdKWijv2_O7GzBstRRVC_U7DtXhnyOxOxMhc6NwQoBxxXt7lp_vnYmx_I/s400/Search+screen.png" width="386" /></a></div>
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Do what I have done here - fill in "<i>mode</i>" under <i>Termes de recherche</i> and select "<i>Album Maciet</i>". Then click <i>Rechercher</i> and you'll get a list of fashion related material, in chronological order. Scroll down to the years you are interested in. Say you want the fashions for 1868, for example. Just scroll down until you find the listing <i>Mode : [XIXe siècle] : 1868 .- ... .- [éditeurs divers] .- 1868 .- Collection Maciet. </i>Click the number next to the listing and you get this window:<br />
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<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6-tQ-kR8gzaBhRRBwt3G0pQjhPQ9FknYQ9tMPhKS6ynbeT0-1BcB8i7qc5UpxvaMPHSh2hbNHh9kDIUevF95MaaaUQZiVXlsOmrz_UQ1kzCroAsxbhXEs_QviIlIjZA9ZKvCwh8i4JY/s1600/Listing.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="228" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh_6-tQ-kR8gzaBhRRBwt3G0pQjhPQ9FknYQ9tMPhKS6ynbeT0-1BcB8i7qc5UpxvaMPHSh2hbNHh9kDIUevF95MaaaUQZiVXlsOmrz_UQ1kzCroAsxbhXEs_QviIlIjZA9ZKvCwh8i4JY/s640/Listing.png" width="640" /></a></div>
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Click "<i>Voir les vignettes Maciet</i>" and you get all the images as thumbnails. Select the ones that look interesting and enjoy - you can zoom rather far and also adjust contrasts and lighting, so you won't miss a single detail.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0CjnfZpPhvNBlppdMyLX1rYOYlKempoTf3M6IT2_EMcrwXS0rKg1SIYEolsNB-zQg4x3Z-nqDfgkABQ-H98FEAdbhQbZTk4VrdVs8SgaeaFNbz236zvSpp6fQY-n7X7s-qoZTyfHllc/s1600/Fashion+1868.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="430" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-0CjnfZpPhvNBlppdMyLX1rYOYlKempoTf3M6IT2_EMcrwXS0rKg1SIYEolsNB-zQg4x3Z-nqDfgkABQ-H98FEAdbhQbZTk4VrdVs8SgaeaFNbz236zvSpp6fQY-n7X7s-qoZTyfHllc/s640/Fashion+1868.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Source: <a href="http://213.215.47.131/maciet2/map_zoom/prepare_visu.php?file=M5053MA_214X40X00002_L&collection_id=226&collection_name=M5053MA_214X40X" target="_blank">Collection Maciet, </a><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1117272814962130099" name="CLE171254"></a><a href="http://213.215.47.131/maciet2/map_zoom/prepare_visu.php?file=M5053MA_214X40X00002_L&collection_id=226&collection_name=M5053MA_214X40X" target="_blank">Mode. [XIXe siècle]. 1868, image 2</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<br />
Hope it proves useful to you. If nothing else, there's plenty of eye candy for the Victorian-ly inclined!<br />
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-78545637245868645052013-04-03T08:43:00.000+02:002013-04-03T08:43:00.148+02:00The Daily Victorian, 1897<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdTBfxyG7bClJ4xuEj2X9k-zXfLxcH5qPShu4mlU9rV4J7my-Hxy_XjOGwKvXqFUJCayIexfJsZ0Gipu5F9cqcwR_YcUhiJyL7P_Q_8lh7I3y9epu4Q1DTF9BR00md8mamdZf1bC4Xfg/s1600/newspaper(1).jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhAdTBfxyG7bClJ4xuEj2X9k-zXfLxcH5qPShu4mlU9rV4J7my-Hxy_XjOGwKvXqFUJCayIexfJsZ0Gipu5F9cqcwR_YcUhiJyL7P_Q_8lh7I3y9epu4Q1DTF9BR00md8mamdZf1bC4Xfg/s640/newspaper(1).jpg" width="604" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-37133338741540827412013-03-29T08:02:00.000+01:002013-03-29T08:02:00.659+01:00The Daily Victorian, 1854<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazgy9XKQeKQ8TiZP9NJj5p_At_-e3QkqS-tDgsAw-uALjkQOIJoxIKWEQDv85Z8B1PisOzH7vLEgTrEQ8fNnv_H6fZK8rVqthEXBeZ6N3rBgPwQx_ktc-c3DCB65vLWDtbFpwlBOun_Y/s1600/newspaper.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiazgy9XKQeKQ8TiZP9NJj5p_At_-e3QkqS-tDgsAw-uALjkQOIJoxIKWEQDv85Z8B1PisOzH7vLEgTrEQ8fNnv_H6fZK8rVqthEXBeZ6N3rBgPwQx_ktc-c3DCB65vLWDtbFpwlBOun_Y/s640/newspaper.jpg" width="462" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">DECLARATION OF WAR. (1854, June 26). <i> </i></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;"><i>The Sydney Morning Herald </i>(NSW : 1842 - 1954), p. 5. </span></div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: x-small;">Retrieved March 23, 2013, from http://nla.gov.au/nla.news-article12960424</span></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-57903963904526904852013-03-24T10:52:00.002+01:002013-03-24T10:53:26.604+01:00Various updates<a href="http://www.bloglovin.com/blog/6392845/?claim=7wf3vpa8avy">Follow my blog with Bloglovin</a>
<br />I'm trying to organise myself a bit and so I've made some adjustments to the design of this blog. I also added some new elements, like a selection of news from my twitter feed of historical tweeters and links to my research shelf on Goodreads (at the bottom of the page). As you can see above, I also added this blog to Bloglovin for those who want to use that to follow it.<br />
<br />
I would also really like to hear from you. Tell me what was helpful and what wasn't and what you would like to see more of, please. You can reach me at <a href="mailto:contactvictorianexplorer@gmail.com" target="_blank">contactvictorianexplorer@gmail.com</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-83875848264697777642013-03-22T17:23:00.002+01:002013-03-22T17:23:43.011+01:00Reflections on the month of March<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kS1hpYWrQnVPPwLOtUgK002ZT30cyDvWWnl_pb1gF23YioaUTD-qsMiAR5Vn4lwWsQii3iTxNYQrrxq1eZtu2mguMfwbIN-7CZv_-QEuUyUhSfqIQ01jj-3SZxDWTnaKhtJa5V5UIoE/s1600/so%CC%88derberg+eng.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="450" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi4kS1hpYWrQnVPPwLOtUgK002ZT30cyDvWWnl_pb1gF23YioaUTD-qsMiAR5Vn4lwWsQii3iTxNYQrrxq1eZtu2mguMfwbIN-7CZv_-QEuUyUhSfqIQ01jj-3SZxDWTnaKhtJa5V5UIoE/s640/so%CC%88derberg+eng.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br /><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-72258356648231835682013-03-21T08:58:00.000+01:002013-03-21T20:21:17.269+01:00Forgotten Divas: Teresa Carreño<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrjJrgcnrG6qvIV0hCyHPii6X-aypKcWkhlC2tuKdnxSYJ2DWL8MegjmHRo4-gprWj0kJHCgL1xWafDCRrf7N38Ej1vOoV58Yfay16B-8eOGqBWDLE4kuR2FeOLSmWxEx-rIZ33OqMkFU/s1600/Teresa_Carren%CC%83o,_1916.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="400" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhCrjJrgcnrG6qvIV0hCyHPii6X-aypKcWkhlC2tuKdnxSYJ2DWL8MegjmHRo4-gprWj0kJHCgL1xWafDCRrf7N38Ej1vOoV58Yfay16B-8eOGqBWDLE4kuR2FeOLSmWxEx-rIZ33OqMkFU/s400/Teresa_Carren%CC%83o,_1916.jpg" width="322" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Teresa Carreño, ca. 1903 (picture from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Teresa_Carre%C3%B1o,_1916.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Born in Venezuela in 1853, Teresa Carrneño was an internationally
acclaimed singer, pianist, composer and conductor. She debuted very
early - only 10 years old, she performed for Abraham Lincoln - and moved
to Europe in 1866, where she toured as an opera singer and pianist. She
composed, among other things, over 40 works for piano, but her greatest
hit was a piece called Tendeur. Mme. Carreño also lived a rather
interesting personal life, being married no less than 4 times and having
altogether 5 surviving children.<br />
<br />
By lucky chance, she recorded some music in 1905 so we can actually here
her play today. Among pieces she recorded is the Chopin Ballade No. 1
in G minor Op. 23.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
</div>
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<object width="320" height="266" class="BLOGGER-youtube-video" classid="clsid:D27CDB6E-AE6D-11cf-96B8-444553540000" codebase="http://download.macromedia.com/pub/shockwave/cabs/flash/swflash.cab#version=6,0,40,0" data-thumbnail-src="http://img.youtube.com/vi/_SCoheEblp0/0.jpg"><param name="movie" value="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_SCoheEblp0&source=uds" /><param name="bgcolor" value="#FFFFFF" /><param name="allowFullScreen" value="true" /><embed width="320" height="266" src="http://youtube.googleapis.com/v/_SCoheEblp0&source=uds" type="application/x-shockwave-flash" allowfullscreen="true"></embed></object></div>
<br />
<br />
In December 1902, she appeared in London and played, among other things,
this very same Chopin ballade. The Times was reasonably impressed:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Mme. Teresa Carreño has long held a place of undisputed supremacy among
virtuousi of her sex, and the program of her recital, given on Monday
afternoon in Bechstein-hall, is surely a sign that she is no laying
stress upon the interpretative side of her art rather than on its merely
technical side. With the exception of a formidable "étude de concert"
by E. MacDowell, with which it concluded, there was not a note which
pianists of ordinary calibre could not execute with certainty, and there
must have been at least half-a-dozen people in the audiende whose
repertory includes all that Mme. Carreño played. The sonatas were the
"appassionata" of Beethoven, and Schumann's in G minor, op. 22, labelles
in the programme "Sorasch (sic) wie möglich," as if that were the title
of the whole sonata, instead of the direction for the first movement.
The Chopin selection included two preludes, in D flat and B flat
respectively, the nocturne in C sharp minor, the fine and rarely-hear
polonaise in E flat minor, the ballade in G minor, and, for an encore,
the éurde in A flat. Tchaikovsky's pretty "Chant sans Paroles" in F, and
Rubinstein's barcarolle in G, completed the proamme, and Henselt's "Si
oiseau j'étais" was given afterwards as an encore. The player was at her
best in Chopin and later composers, but parts of the Schumann sonata
were finely interpreted; her style has gained very remarkably in breadth
and her splendid tone and the absolute certainty of her execution
remain what they were."</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;"><b class="sourceCitation"><i>Source Citation: </i></b><span class="citation Generated"></span></span></div>
<div style="text-align: right; z-index: 9599;">
<span style="font-size: xx-small;">"Concerts." <i>Times</i> [London, England] 10 Dec. 1902: 4. <i>The Times Digital Archive</i>. Web. 9 Dec. 2012.</span></div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
</div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
Teresa Carreño died in 1917 in New York and today, the second largest
theatre in South America, the Teresa Carreño Cultural Complex in Careras
in Venezuela, carries her name, as does, oddly enough, a crater on
Venus.</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-88408228177473994042013-03-12T18:29:00.003+01:002013-03-13T11:48:32.022+01:00Blood, Tears and Betrayal: The Shilling Sheet Genre<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTPDd0pboTbpuBTTVOFQ8SZNNQQ4c9XA2RR3lj7sDzj4jBXj_DKbCWGVXoLi0VdNHDUVZS_jYeD1VTfZHmk-qJ6Jd3IHwjuZ85rLNxHgtyq5y0pkF-orvrrew_w-Q2hAZCz-6bB9QUbU/s1600/Portrait-Illustration-The-lions-bride.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="500" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjaTPDd0pboTbpuBTTVOFQ8SZNNQQ4c9XA2RR3lj7sDzj4jBXj_DKbCWGVXoLi0VdNHDUVZS_jYeD1VTfZHmk-qJ6Jd3IHwjuZ85rLNxHgtyq5y0pkF-orvrrew_w-Q2hAZCz-6bB9QUbU/s640/Portrait-Illustration-The-lions-bride.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Lion's Bride, referenced below (source: <a href="http://vintageprintable.com/wordpress/vintage-printable-portraits-2/vintage-printable-portraits-2/vintage-printable-portraits-3/portrait-illustration-the-lions-bride-2/" target="_blank">Vintage Printables</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In the 19th century, song sheets could be bought most everywhere in Sweden. Mostly they contained only lyrics and reference to an already well-known or traditional melody and cost one or two Swedish shillings ("skilling" in Swedish, pronounced very close to the English word "shilling"). These little booklets appeared already in the 16th century and were very common through the 18th and 19th centuries, until about 1910 when they were replaced by more modern versions of songbooks.<br />
<br />
In principle, they could contain any sort of songs – secular, religious, folk songs or newly written – but the most popular variety were tragic stories of death and broken hearts. Hence, in Swedish, this genre of music has become known as "Shilling Sheets" and most people still know snippets of them You might say they're part of our pop culture heritage every bit as much as ABBA or Stieg Larsson.<br />
<br />
One of the most famous shilling sheet songs is <i>Elvira Madigan</i>,
written in 1889 by Johan Lindström Saxon about the tragic elopement of tightrope dancer Elvira Madigan
and Lieutenant Count Sixten Sparre <a href="http://www.victorianexplorer.blogspot.se/2013/02/tragic-romance-story-of-elvira-madigan.html" target="_blank">that I have written about before on this blog</a>. Another example of a well-known shilling sheet song is <i>Amanda and Herman</i>.
It tells the story of fair Amanda who is let down by the faithless
Herman and seeks her death in the waves (women betrayed by faithless men
is one of the most popular themes in these songs for some reason). It's been recorded many, many times and I found this lovely version uploaded to YouTube by the talented <a href="http://www.youtube.com/user/Elolinona?feature=watch" target="_blank">Elina Järventaus Johansson</a>:<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<iframe allowfullscreen='allowfullscreen' webkitallowfullscreen='webkitallowfullscreen' mozallowfullscreen='mozallowfullscreen' width='320' height='266' src='https://www.youtube.com/embed/MLPv3dw-Owg?feature=player_embedded' frameborder='0'></iframe></div>
<br />
Quite often shilling sheet songs are translations of foreign poems or songs - like <i>Lejonbruden</i> (<i>The Lion's Bride) </i>about a lion tamer's daughter who is tragically killed by the lion she
loves, which was originally written in German by Adelbert von Chamisso (it can be read in original German and English translation <a href="http://www.recmusic.org/lieder/get_text.html?TextId=3761" target="_blank">here</a> and you can listen to it in Swedish on <a href="http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=gZ5Y_JwVBWA&feature=share&list=UUv3Njm7sdBNTLTa50Qv_wmQ" target="_blank">YouTube</a>).<br />
<br />
As adults, we tend to laugh at the unbridled sentimentality of these songs, but most children still find them hauntingly fascinating and heartbreakingly sad. During my childhood, me and my friends would beg my mother to sing them to us over and over, and we cried and cried – for some reason singing them ourselves was not the same thing at all. We didn't want control, we wanted the tragedy to sweep over us with purposeful and unrelenting force.<br />
<br />
Why, one might debate. Personally, I think there is something about vicarious suffering that appeals to all people, and while we may think ourselves conditioned to prefer the less melodramatic forms of storytelling that our modern culture celebrates, let us not be fooled. What is the movie <i>Titanic</i>, really, but one long film-version of what would have made an excellent shilling sheet song?<br />
<br />
ETA: for those who want to hear more, I made a Spotify playlist with some of the most famous ballads, including Elvira Madigan and the other ones mentioned above:<br />
<br />
<a class="twitter-timeline-link" data-expanded-url="http://spoti.fi/YZua2c" dir="ltr" href="http://t.co/hXjaHHPnh7" target="_blank" title="http://spoti.fi/YZua2c"><span class="js-display-url">spoti.fi/YZua2c</span></a><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-21210686081275205142013-03-05T07:37:00.000+01:002013-03-05T07:37:01.052+01:00Images of India: A Bombay Wedding <div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimueNCiXCr2cgqbAg4OujUWThqvisnmx1GGtTjRXLCsE0WcE2p65HkHHLRz2kCXOE9eiylskct4NHcf3sj2kZvHLl5h3BXtHG55N1IIBU-kh8-teWNbhxOE7N5Wq7cd4kjJiRq_8FCMZI/s1600/fig001a.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="323" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEimueNCiXCr2cgqbAg4OujUWThqvisnmx1GGtTjRXLCsE0WcE2p65HkHHLRz2kCXOE9eiylskct4NHcf3sj2kZvHLl5h3BXtHG55N1IIBU-kh8-teWNbhxOE7N5Wq7cd4kjJiRq_8FCMZI/s400/fig001a.jpg" width="400" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
The following passages is found in Modern India, a book containing a series of letters written for <i>The Chicago
Record-Herald</i> during the winter of 1903-04 and recounts the American journalist's experiences at a wedding in Bombay:<br />
<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
"The home of the bridegroom's family is an immense wooden house
in the native quarter, and when we reached it we had to pass
through a crowd of coolies that filled the street. The gate and
outside walls were gayly decorated with bunting and Japanese
lanterns, all ready to be lighted as soon as the sun went down.
A native orchestra was playing doleful music in one of the courts,
and a brass band of twenty pieces in military uniforms from the
barracks was waiting its turn. A hallway which leads to a large
drawing-room in the rear of the house was spread with scarlet
matting, the walls were hung with gay prints, and Japanese lanterns
were suspended from the ceiling at intervals of three or four
feet. The first room was filled with women and children eating
ices and sweetmeats. Men guests were not allowed to join them.
It was then half past four, and we were told that they had been
enjoying themselves in that innocent way since noon, and would
remain until late in the evening, for it was the only share they
could have in the wedding ceremonies. Hindu women and men cannot
mingle even on such occasions. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
The men folks were in the large drawing-room, seated in rows
of chairs facing each other, with an aisle four or five feet
wide in the center. There were all sorts and conditions of men,
for the groom has a wide acquaintance and intimate friends among
Mohammedans, Jains, Parsees, Roman Catholics, Protestants and all
the many other religious in Bombay, and he invited them to his
marriage. Several foreign ladies were given seats in the place of
honor at the head of the room around a large gilt chair or throne
which stood in the center with a wreath of flowers carelessly
thrown over the back. There were two American missionaries and
their wives, a Jesuit priest and several English women.</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
Soon after we were seated there was a stir on the outside and
the groom appeared arrayed in the whitest of white linen robes,
a turban of white and gold silk, an exquisite cashmere shawl over
his shoulders, and a string of diamonds around his neck that
were worth a rajah's ransom. His hands were adorned with several
handsome rings, including one great emerald set in diamonds, so
big that you could see it across the room. Around his neck was
a garland of marigolds that fell to his waist, and he carried a
big bridal bouquet in his hand. </div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
/.../ </div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
The Parsees wore black or white with
closely buttoned frocks and caps that look like fly-traps; the
Mohammedans wore flowing robes of white, and the Hindus silks
of the liveliest patterns and the most vivid colors. No ballroom
belle ever was enveloped by brighter tinted fabrics than the silks,
satins, brocades and velvets that were worn by the dignified
Hindu gentlemen at this wedding, and their jewels were such as
our richest women wear. </div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
/.../</div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
They brought us trays of native refreshments, while the nautch girls
danced, handed each guest a nosegay and placed a pair of cocoanuts
at his feet, which had some deep significance--I could not quite
understand what. The groom did not appear to be enjoying himself.
He looked very unhappy. He evidently did not like to sit up in a
gilded chair so that everybody could stare and make remarks about
him, for that is exactly what his guests were doing, criticising
his bare legs, commenting upon his jewels and guessing how much
his diamond necklace cost. He was quite relieved when a couple
of gentlemen, who seemed to be acting as masters of ceremonies,
placed a second garland of flowers around his neck--which one
of them whispered to me had just come from the bride, the first
one having been the gift of his mother--and led him out of the
room like a lamb to the slaughter.
</blockquote>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63Ght7pHeRx-mEJBLLK8wbO0FoBnSJnlDK8G8Hvj1yGFS1MBn6E8oBqtXjX7rVOvPabydAc3CwVyG4VNvL_Do5cfhj4XZ8E2djENZBw0ws4nXIkf-Gm-z3w2f2JuUNipoQnoEcx7L_3U/s1600/fig005.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="510" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEj63Ght7pHeRx-mEJBLLK8wbO0FoBnSJnlDK8G8Hvj1yGFS1MBn6E8oBqtXjX7rVOvPabydAc3CwVyG4VNvL_Do5cfhj4XZ8E2djENZBw0ws4nXIkf-Gm-z3w2f2JuUNipoQnoEcx7L_3U/s640/fig005.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Nautch dancers (picture found in Modern India)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
When we reached the street a procession of the guests of honor
was formed, while policemen drove the crowd back. First came
the military band, then the masters of ceremonies--each having
a cane in his hand, with which he motioned back the crowd that
lined the road on both sides six or eight tiers deep. Then the
groom marched all alone with a dejected look on his face, and
his hands clasped before him. After him came the foreign guests,
two and two, as long as they were able to keep the formation,
but after going a hundred feet the crowd became so great and
were so anxious to see all that was going on, that they broke
the line and mixed up with the wedding party, and even surrounded
the solitary groom like a bodyguard, so that we who were coming
directly after could scarcely see him. The noisy music of the
band had aroused the entire neighborhood, and in the march to
the residence of the bride's family we passed between thousands
of spectators. The groom was exceedingly nervous. Although night
had fallen and the temperature was quite cool, the perspiration
was rolling down his face in torrents, and he was relieved when we
entered a narrow passage which bad been cleared by the policemen.
</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
The bride's house was decorated in the same manner as the groom's,
and upon a tray in the middle of a big room a small slow fire of
perfumed wood was burning. The groom was led to the side of it,
and stood there, while the guests were seated around him--hooded
Hindu women on one side and men and foreign ladies on the other.
Then his trainers made him sit down on the floor, cross-legged,
like a tailor. Hindus seldom use chairs, or even cushions. Very
soon four Brahmins, or priests, appeared from somewhere in the
background and seated themselves on the opposite side of the
fire. They wore no robes, and were only half dressed. Two were
naked to the waist, as well as barefooted and barelegged. One,
who had his head shaved like a prize fighter and seemed to be
the officiating clergyman, had on what looked like a red flannel
shirt. He brought his tools with him, and conducted a mysterious
ceremony, which I cannot describe, because it was too long and
complicated, and I could not make any notes. A gentleman who
had been requested to look after me attempted to explain what
it meant, as the ceremony proceeded, but his English was very
imperfect, and I lost a good deal of the show trying to clear up
his meaning. While the chief priest was going through a ritual
his deputies chanted mournful and monotonous strains in a minor
key--repetitions of the same lines over and over again. They
were praying for the favor of the gods, and their approval of
the marriage. </div>
</blockquote>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div class="indent">
After the groom had endured it alone for a while the bride was
brought in by her brother-in-law, who, since the death of her
father, has been the head of the household. He was clad in a
white gauze undershirt, with short sleeves, and the ordinary
Hindu robe wrapped around his waist, and hanging down to his
bare knees. The bride had a big bunch of pearls hanging from
her upper lip, gold and silver rings and anklets upon her bare
feet, and her head was so concealed under wrappings of shawls
that she would have smothered in the hot room had not one of
her playmates gone up and removed the coverings from her face.
This playmate was a lively matron of 14 years, a fellow pupil
at the missionary school, who had been married at the age of
9, so she knew all about it, and had adopted foreign manners
and customs sufficiently to permit her to go about among the
guests, chatting with both gentlemen and ladies with perfect
self-possession. She told us all about the bride, who was her
dearest friend, received and passed around the presents as they
arrived, and took charge of the proceedings.
</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
The bride sat down on the floor beside the husband that had been
chosen for her and timidly clasped his hand while the priests
continued chanting, stopping now and then to breathe or to anoint
the foreheads of the couple, or to throw something on the fire. There
were bowls of several kinds of food, each having its significance,
and several kinds of plants and flowers, and incense, which was
thrown into the flames. At one time the chief priest arose from
the floor, stretched his legs and read a long passage from a
book, which my escort said was the sacred writing in Sanskrit
laying down rules and regulations for the government of Hindu
wives. But the bride and groom paid very little attention to
the priests or to the ceremony. After the first embarrassment
was over they chatted familiarly with their friends, both foreign
and native, who came and squatted down beside them. The bride's
mother came quietly into the circle after a while and sat down
beside her son-in-law--a slight woman, whose face was entirely
concealed. When the performance had been going on for about an
hour four more priests appeared and took seats in the background.
When I asked my guardian their object, he replied, sarcastically,
that it was money, that they were present as witnesses, and each
of them would expect a big fee as well as a good supper.
</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
"Poor people get married with one priest," he added, "but rich
people have to have many. It costs a lot of money to get married."
</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
<div class="indent">
Every now and then parcels were brought in by servants, and handed
to the bride, who opened them with the same eagerness that American
girls show about their wedding presents, but before she had been
given half a chance to examine them they were snatched away from
her and passed around. There were enough jewels to set the groom
up in business, for all the relatives on both sides are rich,
several beautifully embroidered shawls, a copy of Tennyson's
poems, a full set of Ruskin's works, a flexible covered Bible
from the bride's school teacher, and other gifts too numerous
to mention. The ceremony soon became tedious and the crowded
room was hot and stuffy. It was an ordeal for us to stay as long
as we did, and we endured it for a couple of hours, but it was
ten times worse for the bride and groom, for they had to sit on
the floor over the fire, and couldn't even stretch their legs.
They told us that it would take four hours more to finish the
ritual. So we asked our hosts to excuse us, offered our sympathy
and congratulations to the happy couple, who laughed and joked
with us in English, while the priests continued to sing and pray."
</div>
<div class="indent">
<br /></div>
</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<i>Modern India</i> by William Eleroy Curtis (1904) </div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-44670003415996877332013-03-04T14:17:00.000+01:002013-03-04T14:17:00.220+01:00The British on the Germans: the Junker Edition<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"The Prussian Junker is a kind of glorified peasant who may in some
individual cases or even for some generations have acquired the veneer
of Western civilization, French or English, but who remains essentially a
well-to-do peasant, cunning, grasping, tenacious, and jealous to the
death of his traditional privileges."</blockquote>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
- <i>The Times</i>, 27 October, 1906
</blockquote>
</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-81152174537381925022013-02-28T13:16:00.000+01:002013-02-28T13:16:00.319+01:00Policing Persia: Swedes Very far From Home<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
</h3>
<span style="font-variant: small-caps;">In the early 20th century</span>,
some forces in Persia were pushing to modernise the country which had,
in regards to organisation and government, changed very little in the
past few hundred years.<br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7IKOT0PO12xoF1LyYbVZdZwAaeCXYbQVXqcYrvf_lAz2E7vYMO0SJsI1L_1pybDpiwlr3MWuF-HSr0JYNU9k1SoFVln06IvPRM_KDz3_ot24L6ll5BNWAid_k2JxSoED63q8JDH6M5qz/s1600/3389731593_56c239be74_o.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="468" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi-7IKOT0PO12xoF1LyYbVZdZwAaeCXYbQVXqcYrvf_lAz2E7vYMO0SJsI1L_1pybDpiwlr3MWuF-HSr0JYNU9k1SoFVln06IvPRM_KDz3_ot24L6ll5BNWAid_k2JxSoED63q8JDH6M5qz/s640/3389731593_56c239be74_o.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The Shah of Persia arriving in Ourmiah</i><i>, 1911 (source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/library_of_congress/3389731593/in/photostream/">Library of Congress</a>) </i></div>
<br />
In July 1910, the Democrats came to power and one part of their
modernisation program was the construction of a national gendarmerie - a
sort of paramilitarian force that was part police force and part armed
force aimed at keeping the peace by any means necessary. While events
soon lead to the program being dropped, the idea of a gendarmerie
survived, partly likely because it was in the interest of the two
super-powers in the region - Russia and Great Britain - to ensure safe
passage through the notoriously dangerous region. As an example, Mr
Smart, the British Consul at Shiraz, was attacked in the neighbourhood
of Kazerun in December 1912. Grazed by a bullet, and trapped under his
wounded horse, he was only saved due to the efficiency of the troop of
the Central India Horse that escorted him and the kind care of some of
the locals, and the incident led to considerable diplomatic tension. In
fact, the Gendarmerie was to be in great part funded by Britain and
Russia – for example, in may 1913, the British Government advanced a sum
of £100,000 to the Persian government for this purpose, following the
Smart-incident.<br />
<br />
However, in order to build such a force, Persia needed help from the
outside since the country lacked officers with the relevant sort of
training. The question was which country to turn to? In 1907, Russia and
Great Britain had, much to the outrage of the Persians, divided the
country into two speheres of influence; one Russian and one Britain.
Naturally, it was unthinkable for either side to allow the other party
to organise a national armed Persian force, and they also vetoed
Teheran's first choice Italy, because Italy was viewed to be too much of
a power in itself.<br />
<br />
Sweden, however... Let's face it; while the Russians may once have been
trounced by Swedish forces in battles such as Narva, Sweden in the early
20th century was not that impressive. In fact, she had just voluntarily
granted Norway independence and was now only a small fraction of the
Baltic power she had once been. Nobody needed fear the Swedes – least of
all super-powers like Russia and Britain.<br />
<br />
Hence, in August 1911, Colonel Harald O. Hjalmarson (helpful tip: 'hj'
is pronounced as an English 'y', so he would be 'Yalmarson') arrived
and with the help of several other Swedish officers, began the laborious
task of organising a gendarmerie, aimed at maintaining security on the
highways and roads. It was called the Persian Central Governemt
Gendarmerie (or in Persian, <i>Zhandarmiri-yi Dawlati).</i><br />
<br />
<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FhxVyANAChTcZXoyfpQXRmHyRYte4o3kT2OmH84jHsqv-q7gsT-0wQwB-K6B9zDnvGig8oVKwFJg1NhpqoPqZJpQhnxXRogfTyl08IIYBKqRah941TOzI19tk-ebiMsZtx2GGRkRi0gz/s1600/418px-Genhilmar.jpg" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi1FhxVyANAChTcZXoyfpQXRmHyRYte4o3kT2OmH84jHsqv-q7gsT-0wQwB-K6B9zDnvGig8oVKwFJg1NhpqoPqZJpQhnxXRogfTyl08IIYBKqRah941TOzI19tk-ebiMsZtx2GGRkRi0gz/s640/418px-Genhilmar.jpg" width="446" /></a></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i> General Harald Hjalmarson (source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Genhilmar.jpg">Wikipedia</a>)</i></div>
<br />
The Swedish officers were to a large degree Swedish aristocrats, and the
Persian officers were also drawn from the higher social strata and
well-educated – many of them spoke French, for instance. At the end of
1912 the Gendarmerie consisted of 21 Swedes and
nearly 3,000 Persian officers and men. By the end of 1913, the number of
Swedish officers had risen to 36 while nearly 6,000 Persians were
employed. According to an article in The Times, around 2,000 of them
were mounted, and they were organised in six regiments, or more
accurately, nine battalions.<br />
<br />
The outbreak of World War I led to a distinct shift in policy. First of
all, Sweden recalled all the officers who were on the roll for active
duty. Second, Persia was in a very delicate position, finding itself
between Germany's ally Turkey and British India. Both sides wooed the
Persians, who nominally remained neutral. However, the Gendarmerie had
distinct German loyalties. Not only were the Swedish officers by
tradition friendly towards their bigger Germanic cousin, but nationalist
Persian forces who were still outraged at Russia's and Britain's
high-handedness in splitting the country between them, were also in
favour of Germany. They accepted subsidiaries from Germany and covertly
aided German expiditions, such as the expedition headed by Niedermayer,
as well as allowing Wasserman's proslyting among local potentates in
southern Persia.<br />
<br />
In 1916, the force split; some siding with the nationalists, actively
fighting the Russians, while parts of the first and second regiments in
Teheran remained neutral along with their Swedish officers. The troops
who had remained neutral would later form the nucleus for the
reconstructed Gendarmerie, which took part in the campaigns against the
Bolsheviks in the Caspian provinces and the Kurdish rebellion in
Azerbaijan, as well as keeping up its police duties of guarding the
roads.<br />
<br />
After the coup d'état in 1921, the Gendarmerie formed the core for the
new national Iranian army together with the the Iranian Cossack Division
and the remaining Swedish officers returned home. Harald O. Hjalmarson
would later head the Swedish Brigade in the Finnish Civil War, and died
in 1919, only 51 years old.<br />
<br />
And that is how, bizarrely, a few Swedish officers actively aided Germany's overtures to the Muslim World during World War I. <br />
<br />
<i><b>Sources:</b></i> <br />
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
<br />
"The Unrest In Southern Persia." <i>Times</i> [London, England] 5 Apr. 1912: 3. <i>The Times Digital Archive</i>. Web. 28 July 2012.</div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
"British Officer Killed In Persia." <i>Times</i> [London, England] 12 Dec. 1912: 6. <i>The Times Digital Archive</i>. Web. 28 July 2012. </div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
"Policing Persia." <i>Times</i> [London, England] 27 Dec. 1913: 5. <i>The Times Digital Archive</i>. Web. 28 July 2012.</div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
"Indian Soldiers Attacked in Dangerous Pass: The Consul Smart Incident." <i>The Straits Times</i>, 26 January 1912, Page 2
<br />
<br />
Cronin, Stephanie, <i>Gendarmerie</i>, Encyclopaedia Iranica www.iranica.com, online edition, 28 July 2012 (available at <a class="external free" href="http://www.iranica.com/articles/gendarmerie" rel="nofollow">http://www.iranica.com/articles/gendarmerie</a>)<br />
<br />
Hopkirk, Peter, <i>On Secret Service East of Constantinople: the plot to bring down the British empire</i>, J. Murray, London, 1994 <br />
<br />
Wikipedia; entry on Swedish Gendarmerie in English, and on Harald Hjalmarson in Swedish.</div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
</div>
<div style="z-index: 9599;">
<br />
<br />
<i>(This post was originally posted on my old blog) </i></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-34839209406110837442013-02-25T09:12:00.000+01:002013-02-25T09:12:00.143+01:00British Courts in India: Perpetuating Power Or Challenging It?<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvvBKBH-LqV9PAPKzNXI0Lo61Lqpx2ZO-1GNsi4pphPJ5Y1ZIrKbkaVmXWdSmeDpAoSoPWhnwTeRazn_EYSZX3BX8HJeuS1PveKH9_J5Q83KQ-W66PGhhWHp6Alegar0v9Qd_RCMTHjo/s1600/5405567716_16f9a87612_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="516" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiqvvBKBH-LqV9PAPKzNXI0Lo61Lqpx2ZO-1GNsi4pphPJ5Y1ZIrKbkaVmXWdSmeDpAoSoPWhnwTeRazn_EYSZX3BX8HJeuS1PveKH9_J5Q83KQ-W66PGhhWHp6Alegar0v9Qd_RCMTHjo/s640/5405567716_16f9a87612_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Bombay High Court, 1902 (source: <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/nationalarchives/5405567716/" target="_blank">The National Archive, Catalogue Reference<b id="yui_3_7_3_3_1361704151653_1203">:</b> Part of CO 1069/179</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
Having spent the some time reading about the administration and legal system of British India, I came across the following statement by Gandhi:<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"<i>Do you think it would be possible for the English to carry on their Government without law courts? It is wrong to assume that courts are established for the benefit of the people. Those who want to perpetuate their power do so through the courts.</i>" </blockquote>
Pretentious as it might seem, I couldn't help asking myself if Gandhi was right. Did law ultimately serve the purpose of upholding or undermining the structures of Victorian England, especially when seen in a colonial perspective?<br />
<br />
First, law can obviously both be a reflection of society as it is, or as we would like it to be when we make laws trying to accomplish social change (as when established legal systems reflecting the existing social order have been replaced in one fell swoop through Communist revolution in traditional societies, for example). But I would argue that even when "conservative", as in constructed to uphold the existing structures, law will always potentially threaten the very structures it is designed to protect. <br />
<br />
Why? Because law is about expressing power in a logical and structural way, and that in turn makes it vulnerable to structured arguments based on logic. While power is hidden, unexpressed and implicit, it cannot really be addressed except through violence. But when it is explained and structured, it is stripped of its almost magical abilities. In that sense, law is to power what exposing a marked deck is to magic. <br />
<br />
You might compare it to theology, which is really all about structuring faith in a logical fashion. While theology is more or less necessary in order to justify and uphold a complex belief system, it also makes that belief system vulnerable to attack. Look at Christianity, for example. The most successful attacks on the religious <i>status quo</i> are all founded on what are ultimately theological arguments – for example, Luther's and Calvin's Reformation are both "legal" revolutions in that they use the language and arguments of theology to challenge the tenets of that same theology. Thereby it made the justification for the existing beliefs the very foundation for the questioning of <i>status quo</i>. The same thing could be said for the challenge of science. It would be much harder to attack for science to call faith into question if it had not implicitly tried to justify itself by logic; i.e. through a carefully structured belief system that is rationalised through rational argument (and the truth is that modern scientific thought to a large extent is dependent on the rules for argument that was originally designed within a religious context, such as the tomistic logic). <br />
<br />
In the same way, when power is called into question in such a way that it feels it must defend itself by rational argument (as it increasingly did in Britain over the centuries), it also becomes vulnerable to being questioned on the very same premises it uses to legitimise itself. Law forces power to explain itself and no matter if it does so by positivism (it is the law because I say so and I am the power) or by utilitarianism (it is the law because it is the best for the majority) or any other mechanism (it is the word of God, for example), the explicit justification makes it possible to question it. Thereby, it is possible no only to call into question not only the ultimate cause for justification, but also that this justification makes the application of power (law) reasonable in an individual case. By laying claim to rationality, power can be questioned by rationality, and not just in legal theory but in its practical application in courts. <br />
<br />
Undoubtedly, British law and legal practices in the 19th century was an expression of power over an underprivileged majority by a fairly small and privileged group of white males, but in order to justify this order, British law and legal practices had long used the application of a set of principles that ultimately allowed its opponents to argue against those same inequalities.<br />
<br />
This is also evident in the ambivalence in 19th century British justification for its colonial ventures. The idea of British superiority, which was what was often considered to ultimately give Britain the right to occupy foreign countries such as India, also gave Britain an obligation to act in a "superior" manner and gave her a certain responsibility towards "inferior" cultures, which she had to shoulder if she was going to be able to successfully maintain her right to govern these people. In short, if Britain acted in a cruel, arbitrary and "uncivilised" manner, then the basic tenants underlying British legal thought disqualified her from laying claim to her colonies, unless she was to accept the collapse of the mental cosmology that had been created over several centuries. Since that was clearly intolerable, these principles had to be upheld in the laws and the courts, which in turn made it possible to question inequality before the law and the power of the privileged group over the disfranchised such as women, the poor and the colonial groups.<br />
<br />
Just, then, as the very carefully constructed theology of the Church in the Middle Ages, made it possible for Luther to call its tenets into question, the theories of rights and power that ultimately justified the British constitutional and legal order made it possible for the American colonialists to call it into question, and for the tea coolies of Assam to demand equality before the law. You might say that whenever the authorities applied the governmental power in an arbitrary on unjust way, they actually called the entire system into question and to do so too openly would necessarily have lead to its collapse. Therefore, in order to survive, it had no choice but to allow itself to be attacked on the grounds of being unfair and unjust.<br />
<br />
By providing both a monopoly on violence and a justification for that monopoly, you could say that the law, and the faith in the law by the oppressed, did serve to uphold the basic unfairness underlying the colonial order, and that if the oppressed had refused to acknowledge this order, they might have hastened its demise. But then, the almost sacrosanct status of the law and courts in the British mind also opened it up for a revolution from within – the demands of the oppressed became not a foreign power trying to force its will on the British, but made them an inevitable consequence of the system itself, which may ultimately have been a greater threat to it. In that context, peaceful protests and British violence in response to it, was a much greater threat to the existing order than separatist violence since the British could very well justify violence in the face of violence, but it was much harder justify violence applied in direct opposition of the justification for the monopoly of violence for the state.<br />
<br />
I would therefore argue that all justification for power, and its open and rational expression through laws and legal theories, necessarily makes it vulnerable to challenge, but the form of a successful challenge will vary depending on what that rationale is. In that sense, you could say that all belief systems are vulnerable their own kryptonite. The very different challenges faced by Russia in Central Asia, I think, serves to pinpoint this. Russia had a very different rationale underlying its social order, and thus, it was less vulnerable to protests based on fairness and the rights of the governed people, but was ultimately more vulnerable to open revolution, since the autocratic system could not be justified once it failed to apply its will successfully on the people. <br />
<br />
And thus, I would also argue that British law in India, while striving to uphold the social order actually, ultimately, undermined it. On the other hand, the fact that it contained the mechanisms for challenging it built into the system likely helped the fundamental social order in Britain to survive even the cataclysm of the social change of the 20th century, and survive well into the 21st.<br />
<br />
The modern Western law, then, I would say, is a double-edged sword that can be used both as a weapon against inherent unfairness in the system and as a shield to defend those very structural inequalities against radical change. The awareness of this somewhat contradictory nature of Western legal thought is, I think, helpful when discussing the role of law in oppressing and/or liberating marginalised groups in the past. I would be curious to hear if anyone agrees with me, or if I'm coming across as completely spaced out (or just repeating an argument that has been made many times before).<br />
<br />
Thoughts?<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-56327629472217557802013-02-21T07:14:00.000+01:002013-02-21T07:14:00.244+01:00Baghdad: Worth a Mosque?<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAEtvMl_x64l55qG4d8p7qwqnfxcrKsd_HJQ_-asQxXCJVkO4B0ZThQEeyjO6K80FVb5K9ImHi4YxmXjfsY91iik9RHMO_KZuUyvAPjUqACcY2uFmdxFFLOZJj0nbflOzS5Dpk564Kfhm/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-08-31+at+8.04.29+PM.png" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgNAEtvMl_x64l55qG4d8p7qwqnfxcrKsd_HJQ_-asQxXCJVkO4B0ZThQEeyjO6K80FVb5K9ImHi4YxmXjfsY91iik9RHMO_KZuUyvAPjUqACcY2uFmdxFFLOZJj0nbflOzS5Dpk564Kfhm/s640/Screen+shot+2012-08-31+at+8.04.29+PM.png" width="352" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">The Kaiser; aka "Hadji Wilhelm Mohammed" (Source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilhelm_II._1905.jpeg">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody>
</table>
World War I is usually associated with the trenches on the Western
Front. You know; shelling, gassing, the Somme, the Battle of Verdun...
But as Germany knew right at the outset; the Allies' weakest spot was
not the French border. No, the soft, unprotected underbelly of the
Allies was Britain's Achilles heel – India (why, yes, I do like mixing
my metaphors – why do you ask?).<br />
<br />
Germany had long groomed Turkey for the (officially un)express(ed)
purpose of getting a foothold in Asia. When the rest of the world
refused to have any truck with the late Sultan Abdul Hamid after his
brutal crushing of the rebellion by the (Christian) Armenian minority,
Germany had taken Turkey's side against the outraged Russians. Germany
had even helped Turkey arm itself by offering military advisors and
arms. In return, Germany only wanted a small thing – a railroad, running
straight from Berlin to Baghdad. That way, Germany would be well
prepared to open up an Asian front in case of a conflict with Russia and
Britain without risking that her troop movements were impeded by Russia
and her Slavic allies in Eastern Europe.<br />
<br />
In order to affirm the friendship Germany felt with the Islamic world,
Kaiser Wilhelm even declared himself the protector of the Muslim world.
During a state visit to Turkey in 1898, he made speech to that effect
which was repeated on postcards that were spread from Kabul to the
Bosporus. Islam's cause, Germany declared, was also Germany's.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78PIk5u6klRb8CZB6viMvdbDlyJqIcpX936zN5VFo5fGpWQZusKFY3aTtfJBLKbVrZFtyWEaaIphbfI04uq1GJr0DSNrP45MIaqgg-vXalvWqeAkg3SG-wLmBNJjrN21utGs_MHB_bsIH/s1600/Pamphlet.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="388" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEi78PIk5u6klRb8CZB6viMvdbDlyJqIcpX936zN5VFo5fGpWQZusKFY3aTtfJBLKbVrZFtyWEaaIphbfI04uq1GJr0DSNrP45MIaqgg-vXalvWqeAkg3SG-wLmBNJjrN21utGs_MHB_bsIH/s640/Pamphlet.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Example of the postcards described above, with the German text on the left and the same in Arabic on the right</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
When war finally broke out, Germany urged the Sultan as the leader of the Islamic world to declare a <i>jihad</i>,
a holy war, on Britain. The idea was that the vast Muslim population in
India would then rise up against its British masters and throw them
back into the sea from whence they came. Without India, Britain would be
little but a puny island kingdom whose bark was considerably worse than
its bite.<br />
<br />
Germany was not content to rely entirely on the sultan, however,
considering the rather bad relationship between the Ottomans and many
Islamic peoples. No, Germany was going to take it one step further and
try to persuade India's closest neighbours, Persia and Afghanistan, to
join their cause. In order to do so, Germany sent several expiditions in
order to treat with the Shah of Persia and the Emir of Afghanistan, as
well as to proselyte among the local tribes.<br />
<br />
The full story of Germany's <i>jihad</i> is too long and complicated to
relate here, but one of the more absurd aspects of it was the claim that
Kaiser Wilhelm had converted to Islam and gone on a pilgrimage to
Mecca. His name, therefore, was given as "Hadji Wilhelm Mohammed", a
rather shameless, not to say blasphemous, attempt to exploit the genuine
religious feeling of the Muslims. Meanwhile, Germany coldly planned to
lay claim to most of the land under Ottoman control as soon as Britain
and Russia had been defeated.<br />
<br />
It didn't work though, and perhaps it never could have. Perhaps Germany
underestimated her Muslim allies' ability to see through her rather
feeble ruse, or maybe they simply overestimated the religious ties and
underestimated the political and ethnic tensions within the Islamic
world.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, forgotten as it is today, the affair of the German Jihad
without a doubt managed to further increase the gap between Christian
Europe and Muslim Asia and helped contribute to the dichotomy so
strongly and painfully experienced in the century that followed World
War I.<br />
<br />
<i>(This post was originally posted on my old blog) </i><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-12814214347004941782013-02-18T10:01:00.000+01:002013-02-18T10:01:01.112+01:00George Gissing; Or, Fact Is Indeed Sometimes Stranger Than (Credible) Fiction <table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEQVF_uQtq7OvJMvGA-pYHkTTdTBWWfozSK4d9xp6s0poCKPzLqK5IpiPqvUonf5AQWCWcFXgZkSRs3T1R7A8on9f2jzMjlFLqnNM74XVtFocoip2V8ttTnen67bczrgQL1fi1u0Ihic/s1600/436px-George_Gissing.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhTEQVF_uQtq7OvJMvGA-pYHkTTdTBWWfozSK4d9xp6s0poCKPzLqK5IpiPqvUonf5AQWCWcFXgZkSRs3T1R7A8on9f2jzMjlFLqnNM74XVtFocoip2V8ttTnen67bczrgQL1fi1u0Ihic/s320/436px-George_Gissing.jpg" width="232" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">George Gissing (source: <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:George_Gissing.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
George Gissing was born in the year of the Indian Uprising and although he survived Queen Victoria by two years, dying in 1903, he is almost the epitome of a Victorian writer, not only in that his books are unmistakably Victorian in flavour, but also because his personal life contained all the elements of prime Victorian melodrama.<br />
<br />
The son of a Yorkshire pharmacist, young George showed promise and scholarly aptitude. However, his budding career in the academic field came to a rather sudden halt at a young age, after he became more or less obsessed with a young prostitute named Nell (she was an orphan, naturally - how could it be a Victorian melodrama otherwise?). Having ruined himself trying to keep her off the streets, he began stealing from his fellow students, but was soon exposed (the shame! the shame!) and sentenced to a month of hard labour.<br />
<br />
He tried to get a fresh start in America, but he soon returned to England, propelled by the twin forces of financial failure and longing for his Nell, whom he married. It wasn't a successful marriage (I don't think you can label a marriage in which one party engages in prostitution and that ends with separation and the wife dying from alcoholism and/or syphilis as "successful" even if you try) but at least the 1880s saw the beginnings of his writing career – he was first published in 1880 and kept up a decent productivity with seven more novels published in that decade and 12 in the next. <br />
<br />
He remarried in 1891, and to hear his friend H.G Wells tell it, the screening process was rather erratic – he simply picked up a
servant girl in Regents Park one Sunday afternoon and married
her. <span class="pagenum"><a href="http://www.blogger.com/blogger.g?blogID=1117272814962130099" id="Page_483" name="Page_483"></a></span>
His reasons were, according to Wells, splendidly Victorian:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"he felt that to make love to any woman he could regard as a social
equal would be too elaborate, restrained and tedious for his urgencies,
he could not answer questions he supposed he would be
asked about his health and means, and so, for the second time, he
flung himself at a social inferior whom he expected to be easy and
grateful."</blockquote>
<br />
This is obviously not a sound basis for married bliss, and so, rather predictably, the marriage was yet another failure. Mrs Gissing's violent and
erratic behaviour led firstly to their children being sent away for
their safety, and finally, to her being committed to a lunatic
asylum in 1902 (yes, that's one wife who was a prostitute and another who went mad, albeit not hidden in the attic, which gives Mr Gissing 8/10 on the Victorian melodrama scale). <br />
<br />
To make it even better, Gissing was, according to Wells, "an extremely good-looking, well-built
man, slightly on the lean side, blond, with a good profile and
a splendid leonine head" (yes, it's hard to tell behind that moustache, I agree, but we'll have to trust Mr Wells on this one). No wonder then that his insane wife should not keep him from scoring yet again – this time with a Frenchwoman, with whom he lived in "psuedo-marriage" until his death. Even that was suitably novel-esque – he died from pneumonia originating from a cold caught on a winter walk (he had emphysema and was thus in poor shape to begin with). It seems his final relationship was only just better than his former ones, and Wells gives poor Gissing a rather depressing epigraph:<br />
<br />
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"So ended all that flimsy inordinate stir of grey matter that was
George Gissing. He was a pessimistic writer. He spent his big fine
brain depreciating life, because he would not and perhaps could not
look life squarely in the eyes,—neither his circumstances nor the
conventions about him nor the adverse things about him nor the
limitations of his personal character."</blockquote>
<br />
Gloomy, isn't it? If you don't trust Mr Wells' word, you can become personally acquainted with Mr Gissing's writing, since most of his novels can be found online these days.<br />
<br />
If you don't know where to start, the most well-known of his books is <i>New Grub Street</i>, followed by <i>Odd Women</i>. His style is
generally realistic, close to documentary, but at the same time, he was an idealist, deeply in love with the Classical world, and his political stance was certainly not that of a reformer – he looked at the lower classes as doomed and mostly unable to reform. <i>The Nether World</i> is especially bleak, being written after Nell's
death and describing the life of London's poor. Not a feel-good author, certainly, but a good choice for a
close and unsentimental look at Victorian Britain. <br />
<br />
<i>Workers in the Dawn (1880)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4305" target="_blank">The Unclassed</a> (1884)<br />
Isabel Clarendon (1885)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4309" target="_blank">Demos</a> (1886)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4302" target="_blank">Thyrza</a> (1887)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4312" target="_blank">A Life's Morning</a> (1888)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4301" target="_blank">The Nether World</a> (1889)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4311" target="_blank">The Emancipated</a> (1890)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1709" target="_blank">New Grub Street</a> (1891)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4303" target="_blank">Denzil Quarrier</a> (1892)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4526" target="_blank">Born In Exile</a> (1892)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4313" target="_blank">The Odd Women</a> (1893)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4307" target="_blank">In the Year of Jubilee</a> (1894)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4297" target="_blank">Eve's Ransom</a> (1895)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4298" target="_blank">The Paying Guest</a> (1895)<br />
Sleeping Fires (1895)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4299" target="_blank">The Whirlpool</a> (1897)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4308" target="_blank">The Town Traveller</a> (1898)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4541" target="_blank">The Crown Of Life</a> (1899)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4354" target="_blank">By the Ionian Sea</a> (1901)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4304" target="_blank">Our Friend the Charlatan </a>(1901)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/1463" target="_blank">The Private Papers of Henry Ryecroft </a>(1903)<br />
<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/4310" target="_blank">Will Warburton</a> (1905)
<b> </b></i><br />
<i><b><br /></b></i>
<i><b>Enjoy!</b></i><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-20129994364533179032013-02-14T07:12:00.000+01:002013-02-14T07:12:00.258+01:00Tragic Romance: The Story of Elvira Madigan<h3 class="post-title entry-title" itemprop="name">
</h3>
<div class="post-header">
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<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6923477178768217255" itemprop="description articleBody">
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk25P1_Ffh6GhyphenhyphenlEFROB2XjAmCL0s1QfWOk3LEqEKsBF8h_FJFGobxWxR64Bgw9pkUvhDtVIse8LyC6u7kZU2uXLhMco68cZUo5_F29qcix4M_SPjKcyJC23thT8-Wlt5TUpCgBrN9V9UX/s1600/ElviraMadigan01.jpg" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjk25P1_Ffh6GhyphenhyphenlEFROB2XjAmCL0s1QfWOk3LEqEKsBF8h_FJFGobxWxR64Bgw9pkUvhDtVIse8LyC6u7kZU2uXLhMco68cZUo5_F29qcix4M_SPjKcyJC23thT8-Wlt5TUpCgBrN9V9UX/s320/ElviraMadigan01.jpg" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Elvira Madigan (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:ElviraMadigan01.jpg">Wikipedia</a></td></tr>
</tbody></table>
In 1888, the Madigan Circus visited the small Swedish town of
Kristianstad. There, the young tightrope walker Elvira Madigan, the
step-daughter of the circus' owner, met and fell in love with the
considerably older Lieutenant Count Sixten Sparre. Since he was already
married and had two children, it was inappropriate to say the least,
and during the exchange of passionate letters that followed the meeting,
Elvira's mother and step-father did their best to dissuade her.<br />
<br />
Love, however, isn't just blind, but infinitely stupid as well, and so,
in 1889, when Sixten asked her to, she ran away and joined him. They
travelled together to Elvira's home-country Denmark (her real name was
Hedvig Olsen) where they lived together until they ran out of funds.<br />
<br />
<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: right; text-align: right;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnPduh0rlBC8Hzx22j-WtN3VOsP9NHqjW5xZ2fI5JR4lh5LW6lqXtiiVSPF3icHzQ36Ixijl_IGT6oIad-TjhbgrCcoXsvWtqixCo73j7vlqi-qSA8MBGBm3SPzClcWfUO_8_vaGhJF4x/s1600/Sixten.gif" style="clear: right; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhDnPduh0rlBC8Hzx22j-WtN3VOsP9NHqjW5xZ2fI5JR4lh5LW6lqXtiiVSPF3icHzQ36Ixijl_IGT6oIad-TjhbgrCcoXsvWtqixCo73j7vlqi-qSA8MBGBm3SPzClcWfUO_8_vaGhJF4x/s320/Sixten.gif" width="225" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Lieutenant Count Sixten Sparre (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Sixten.gif">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
By then, their situation was desperate; Sixten's family refused to help him
and he was wanted for deserting his regiment. Faced with financial
ruin, disgrace and without any recourse from friends or family, the
future was beyond bleak.<br />
<br />
On 20 July, 1889, the couple packed a picnic bag and declared they were
going on an outing to Norreskøv. There, they had a final meal, after
which Sixten shot Elvira, and then killed himself with his service
revolver.<br />
<br />
The story naturally caused a scandal when it became public knowledge. A
penny-sheet ballad was written about the
affair, and I think to this day most Swedes know at least the first verse of it – it
was one of those horribly moving songs that made me cry as a child (I
loved those). The story has also been filmed on several occasions. The
most famous version is the heart-breakingly beautiful film by Bo Widerberg from
1967. It rather famously used Mozart's Piano Concerto No. 21 as a theme
song – the piece is sometimes referred to as "Elvira Madigan" today
though I'm sure many people have no idea why.<br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzfUOXxLr6PVdQUatjHlBRrNc1LscRdoHgNxXvq2KqboYQkISm8W1DAyqRNiCy98i5dLbd5KNm9EQm_sf-0tUw2jxXh0J7_-7bXenPMJ1Tim8pmqLMKBoLz_Ld-fU_QvQUOTM0SFqqQaa/s1600/elvira-madigan-01.jpg" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="255" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgFzfUOXxLr6PVdQUatjHlBRrNc1LscRdoHgNxXvq2KqboYQkISm8W1DAyqRNiCy98i5dLbd5KNm9EQm_sf-0tUw2jxXh0J7_-7bXenPMJ1Tim8pmqLMKBoLz_Ld-fU_QvQUOTM0SFqqQaa/s400/elvira-madigan-01.jpg" width="400" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Tommy Berggren as Sixten Sparre and Pia Degermark as Elvira Madigan in the 1967 film</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
If you haven't seen it, I heartily recommend it – it's available on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Elvira-Madigan-Import-All-Regions/dp/B001W8C0F2">Amazon</a> among other places.</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6923477178768217255" itemprop="description articleBody">
</div>
<div class="post-body entry-content" id="post-body-6923477178768217255" itemprop="description articleBody">
<br />
<br />
<i>(this is a modified version of a post that first appeared on my old blog) </i></div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-15298918228634541872013-02-11T08:11:00.000+01:002013-02-11T08:11:00.341+01:00Review: The Prisoner of Zenda by Anthony Hope<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVH2dWtJeoq0Xaa2qmR-Q_hMKNu5qdMGuKClXdD1T7qQB4tnWRbbh7AIpt28KIQBF29JEAoo2TeDdknGUkZtQ36yOxCBy1RwoXmEWuU9kOr5tUgEKXNrn7giHSNnub1RDphlwSj1OHTEv/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-09-15+at+8.18.10+PM.png" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjgVH2dWtJeoq0Xaa2qmR-Q_hMKNu5qdMGuKClXdD1T7qQB4tnWRbbh7AIpt28KIQBF29JEAoo2TeDdknGUkZtQ36yOxCBy1RwoXmEWuU9kOr5tUgEKXNrn7giHSNnub1RDphlwSj1OHTEv/s320/Screen+shot+2012-09-15+at+8.18.10+PM.png" width="186" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Full title: </b><i>The Prisoner of Zenda</i> (novel)<b> </b><br />
<b>Writer: </b>Anthony Hope<b> </b><br />
<b>First published: </b>1894<b> </b><br />
<b>Available: </b>digitally on <a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/95">Project Gutenberg</a>; in print on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/Prisoner-Zenda-Penguin-Red-Classics/dp/B002N2XGF4/ref=sr_1_5?s=books&ie=UTF8&qid=1347733260&sr=1-5&keywords=prisoner+of+zenda">Amazon</a><b> </b><br />
<br />
<b>Quote:</b> <i>"</i><i>For my part, if a man needs be a knave, I would have him a debonair knave." </i><br />
<br />
<i>The Prisoner of Zenda</i> is a classic story taking place in the
fictional German state "Ruritania"–a word which has come to be a generic
term for "small fictional country in Europe which saved the writer the
trouble of too much research", so well-known was Anthony Hope's story
once. I should probably state up front that I love fictional places;
countries, cities, stately homes, the occasional uninhabited island...
You name it. That I would sooner or later have to visit Ruritania was
obviously inevitable.<br />
<br />
The basic story is what I like to call the "Two Peas In A Pod"-plot. You've encountered it before–in Mark Twain's <i>The Prince and The Pauper</i>, Dumas' <i>The Man in the Iron Mask</i>, the film <i>Dave</i>...
You've surely encountered it in some form before. The idea is that you
have two people so incredibly alike that they can switch places and none
will be the wiser. In this case, the reason is a common ancestor and
obviously very dominant genes, and the result is that Rudolf Rassendyll
and King Rudolf of Ruritania look exactly the same. Due to sinister
plots and intrigues, Rassendyll is forced to take the king's place while
he is imprisoned in the castle of Zenda. This leads to romantic
entanglements when the king's future wife and cosuin Flavia suddenly
finds herself liking Rudolf a lot more than she ever did before, and
swashbuckling adventure as the king must be saved and put safely back on
the throne.<br />
<br />
Rassendyll isn't a bad sort of character – he's reasonably likeable and
not insufferably goody-two-shoes. He's not splendidly charismatic either
– the major star of the book is without a doubt the utterly despicable
and dashingly handsome villain Rupert of Henzau who kills and kisses
with the same flair and splendid lack of remorse. Flavia is nice and not
a nitwit at all; she doesn't actually require saving even once, mostly
because she behaves perfectly reasonably (take note, modern writers!).
There are sword-fights and moat-swimming and the occasional witty verbal
exchange so I can't complain. I also find the description of Rudolf's
life as a royal fairly realistic in the peculiar mix of power and
circumscription.<br />
<br />
The plot is obviously over the top ridiculous and the book is clearly
not written yesterday, but it mostly shows in a rather charming way.
Vintage, rather than mouldy. I especially love the very period realistic
touches, such as when Rudolf goes on a swimming mission at night and
describes his dress as: "I was covered with a large cloak, and under
this I wore a warm, tight-fitting woollen jersey, a pair of
knickerbockers, thick stockings, and light canvas shoes. I had rubbed
myself with oil, and I carried a large flask of whisky." Take that,
Jason Bourne!<br />
<br />
To sum up; a classic swashbuckling adventure that still entertains after all these years and is a must for lovers of the genre.<br />
<br />
<i><b>I gave it 4/5 on Goodreads. </b></i><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-12018405639557195492013-02-09T15:56:00.000+01:002013-02-09T15:57:18.352+01:00Wilkie Collins Journal Online<table cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="float: left; margin-right: 1em; text-align: left;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4lghngGoNI7E5-VKsmdZLyXxAcOsKwBzRfhfXOkX6xRjQdkaXlQgIHr_PUS1tt3YVDsj7Lbf95tldibVCDZUFTxCwQGg1I5hTrkqNN8eFdtl5Xr9gGRZV3nv6BHGYdxHOURNfYdZ7TVY/s1600/415px-Wilkie-Collins.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="clear: left; margin-bottom: 1em; margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="200" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEg4lghngGoNI7E5-VKsmdZLyXxAcOsKwBzRfhfXOkX6xRjQdkaXlQgIHr_PUS1tt3YVDsj7Lbf95tldibVCDZUFTxCwQGg1I5hTrkqNN8eFdtl5Xr9gGRZV3nv6BHGYdxHOURNfYdZ7TVY/s200/415px-Wilkie-Collins.jpg" width="138" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Public domain image (<a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Wilkie-Collins.jpg" target="_blank">source</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<br />
For those interested in Victorian literature in general and the great Wilkie Collins specifically, <i>The Wilkie Collins Journal</i>, formerly <i>The Wilkie Collins Society Journal</i>, has recently been relaunched as an on-line, open access, peer-reviewed resource. It contains both articles on Collins-related topics and reviews, and can be found here: <a href="http://acc.wilkiecollinssociety.org/" target="_blank">http://acc.wilkiecollinssociety.org/ </a><br />
<br />
I'm going to add the link to the Resources page as well.<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-24598276751180891112013-02-06T20:30:00.000+01:002013-02-06T20:30:27.487+01:00A Visit to Lapland, 1868Today is the international Sami Day. If you don't know the word, the Sami are the indigenous people inhabiting the far northern region of Norway, Sweden, Finland and the Kola peninsular of Russia that is sometimes called "Sàpmi" or "Sami land". The Sami are traditionally hunters, gatherers and reindeer herders and were continually pushed north from part of their traditional lands by settlers, and their way of life, religion and language has been under threat for hundreds of years. The old Swedish word for the Sami is "Lapps", which is now considered derogatory and no longer in use. The word "Lappland" derives from that, and it is still used for parts of northern Sweden and Finland.<br />
<br />
I'm part Sami, and in the 19th century, my family all lived in the traditionally way. They were nomads and reindeer herders and they lived in materially very poor conditions, in lands that were covered in snow and ice for 9 months a year and where there was no daylight at all in December.<br />
<br />
In the 19th century, anthropological studies were gaining in popularity, and in 1868 Swedish physician and
anthropologist Gustaf von Düben
organized the first of two expeditions
to Swedish Lapland in order to study the
Sami people. He brought his wife Lotten, who helped document the Sami way of life using the still relatively new tool of photography. Her photographs are now in the care of Nordiska Museet of Stockholm, Sweden, who has kindly made them available on Flickr Commons. <br />
<br />
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6V65jSbswV6WtwXSq6sLxNoHpxysW4zJDJCxOvKCDIguL9-AG6g4XNTG_rqUV-fqekl7CibSFIbYliAZb1rpfVa37LR9DwHxNEAhVvfPVEt35Pp3KdWARAKX-kcY_BIPKXS5tddXwKA/s1600/4663144095_b1a02a6208_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhO6V65jSbswV6WtwXSq6sLxNoHpxysW4zJDJCxOvKCDIguL9-AG6g4XNTG_rqUV-fqekl7CibSFIbYliAZb1rpfVa37LR9DwHxNEAhVvfPVEt35Pp3KdWARAKX-kcY_BIPKXS5tddXwKA/s640/4663144095_b1a02a6208_z.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Maria Persdotter Länta, aged 45, from Sirkas Sami village (from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/4663144095/in/set-72157624064863795" target="_blank">Flickr Commons</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jacViLnnfnT-9U1tugxx-dnWApePTHUyRwC7NaZYL70ltVzcKylWgYsiE_oZ8bRrM8dswVj-3QJ5fAPm3IA5BM_njQZpC8xClTYPxhwuKbwhmom37emORsjGwbXVnByC_jLocAD5FrY/s1600/4663142015_2ef01a780d_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEh-jacViLnnfnT-9U1tugxx-dnWApePTHUyRwC7NaZYL70ltVzcKylWgYsiE_oZ8bRrM8dswVj-3QJ5fAPm3IA5BM_njQZpC8xClTYPxhwuKbwhmom37emORsjGwbXVnByC_jLocAD5FrY/s640/4663142015_2ef01a780d_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Inga Pantsi, a widow from Tuorpon Sami village, and her granddaughter (from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/4663142015/in/set-72157624064863795" target="_blank">Flickr Commons</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzhyphenhyphenE0eFuTxnt5vgvtmKSl1ZWZIJmyWHyPJRwbRBN9RcGXdqIegHzpPp5VOkKM8dRc5kHKBUy4MJ9By1ZoDBoOlelYCFiIMhg4g8z8mHyhdsknoSiGKIQACuLFmn54rsCorD4Nwcu1Yg/s1600/4663147319_f9d2494a27_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEgLzhyphenhyphenE0eFuTxnt5vgvtmKSl1ZWZIJmyWHyPJRwbRBN9RcGXdqIegHzpPp5VOkKM8dRc5kHKBUy4MJ9By1ZoDBoOlelYCFiIMhg4g8z8mHyhdsknoSiGKIQACuLFmn54rsCorD4Nwcu1Yg/s640/4663147319_f9d2494a27_z.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">A Sami man carrying a spear (from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/4663147319/in/set-72157624064863795" target="_blank">Flickr Commons</a>) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjLpwIyOcLpZskmJWctNGCMfXy8_omBnIBJQ9rPQV8edwFi3XUoEgF0F2UZGi9CS6N5BQWpGAe5RDzpxH50y92wDuL7XYVId_agpex3J2rGaigFDZvR5d_-7kOTt42uPEoDT2y31OkLI/s1600/4663139749_f6f2954165_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEicjLpwIyOcLpZskmJWctNGCMfXy8_omBnIBJQ9rPQV8edwFi3XUoEgF0F2UZGi9CS6N5BQWpGAe5RDzpxH50y92wDuL7XYVId_agpex3J2rGaigFDZvR5d_-7kOTt42uPEoDT2y31OkLI/s640/4663139749_f6f2954165_z.jpg" width="446" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Lars Anders Baggi, aged 25, from Jokkmokk (from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/4663139749/in/set-72157624064863795" target="_blank">Flickr Commons</a>) </td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiOgOp7tLIkxRrSFwmmcwd7psDN_BGoaiKChmpMmUmpYHaYb9s0RGrN3JzebeT0FDH9YJxg7Ctdx3qqwjpgCiYh9oTXWcU3qSaich0Fzk0FXTHrpgIdbJ1oyyTQ8HoMbfraNIFYyMt-g/s1600/4663763122_c814defbc7_z.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="448" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJiOgOp7tLIkxRrSFwmmcwd7psDN_BGoaiKChmpMmUmpYHaYb9s0RGrN3JzebeT0FDH9YJxg7Ctdx3qqwjpgCiYh9oTXWcU3qSaich0Fzk0FXTHrpgIdbJ1oyyTQ8HoMbfraNIFYyMt-g/s640/4663763122_c814defbc7_z.jpg" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Portrait of Karin Savalo, a widow from Tuorpon Sami village, and her
daughter Inga (from <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/4663763122/in/set-72157624064863795" target="_blank">Flickr Commons</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
Please feel free to have a look at <a href="http://www.flickr.com/photos/34380191@N08/sets/72157624064863795/with/4663145447/" target="_blank">the entire collection</a> (which is really rather remarkable), and if you are interested in more facts about the Sami, you can of course find an article on <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Sami_people" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>.<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com2tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-15468912157040176982013-02-05T06:51:00.000+01:002013-02-05T06:51:00.119+01:00Added Information and Helpful Links<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDLTftwHSc6da1elkJEoBvXJn5i3rRFPPJIqe0f7ivnqnjc6tMttozqaBO3ORMVx6r_XMis0KWGnYpe2dnGw4w_GgX9Q2sx7xl-Djur-yVWnlpnJk1UTcbsRo0yAPbhz3i2YS1liE6_E/s1600/newresources.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="235" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjMDLTftwHSc6da1elkJEoBvXJn5i3rRFPPJIqe0f7ivnqnjc6tMttozqaBO3ORMVx6r_XMis0KWGnYpe2dnGw4w_GgX9Q2sx7xl-Djur-yVWnlpnJk1UTcbsRo0yAPbhz3i2YS1liE6_E/s640/newresources.jpg" width="640" /></a></div>
<br />
I have added <a href="http://victorianexplorer.blogspot.se/p/entertainment.html" target="_blank">a page with Victorian-related entertainmen</a>t. You'll find both period fiction and modern, Victorian-set novels, as well as a tentative list of films set in the period.<br />
<br />
I have also updated <a href="http://victorianexplorer.blogspot.se/p/resources.html" target="_blank">the page of resources</a> with, among other things, some online research resources. It's obviously embarrassingly incomplete, but please browse and see if you can find what you are looking for anyway!<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-51538314695785859532013-02-04T08:44:00.000+01:002013-02-04T08:46:38.636+01:00In the Valley of the Shadow of Death: Life in the Time of Cholera<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNQ4AuMh_hdZ8HypFb_Fqslmi897-Z_IuX0tr9tICngP57g0dfwIN-iV49_rRn8tMYrdFizsWGIkSHB8HtxbB3Af5oFTT0AIjl38guTpxH74VgSZUQxGcXhGP9AhN7AVDTxolZOdd8oQ/s1600/405px-Cholera.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="640" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEjPNQ4AuMh_hdZ8HypFb_Fqslmi897-Z_IuX0tr9tICngP57g0dfwIN-iV49_rRn8tMYrdFizsWGIkSHB8HtxbB3Af5oFTT0AIjl38guTpxH74VgSZUQxGcXhGP9AhN7AVDTxolZOdd8oQ/s640/405px-Cholera.jpg" width="432" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;"><span class="description">Depiction of cholera from Le Petit Journal, 1 Dec, 1912 </span>(image from <a href="http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/File:Cholera.jpg" target="_blank">Wikipedia</a>)</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">In circling dances so lightly swinging</span></i>
<i><span class="i0">
<span class="i4"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">You follow wildly amusement's thread,<br /> With myrtle blooming and music ringing ... </span>
<span class="i4"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>But solemn I on the threshold tread: <span class="i0">
<span class="i4"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>— The dance is checked </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And the clang is wailing, <span class="i0">
<span class="i4"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The wreath is wrecked <span class="i0">
<span class="i4"> </span></span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>And the bride is paling: </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i>The end of splendor and joy and might <span class="i0"><br />Is only sorrow and tears and blight.<br /><br />I am the mighty, who has the power,</span>
<span class="i0"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">Till yet a mightier shall appear.</span> </i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">In deepest pit, on the highest tower,</span>
<span class="i0"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">My chilling spirit is ever near:</span>
<span class="i4"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i4">Those plagues of night</span>
<span class="i4"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i4">And of desolation,</span>
<span class="i4"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i4">Whose breath of blight</span>
<span class="i4"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i4">May annul a nation,</span>
<span class="i0"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">They slay the victims, which I select,</span>
<span class="i0"> </span></i></div>
<div style="text-align: center;">
<i><span class="i0">Whom shield and armor can not protect.</span></i>
</div>
<div style="text-align: right;">
<blockquote class="tr_bq">
<b><i>Johan Olof Wallin, 1834</i></b> (<a href="http://www.gutenberg.org/ebooks/20135" target="_blank">translation by A.W. Almqvist)</a></blockquote>
</div>
</blockquote>
<br />
These lines were written during the first cholera epidemic ever in Sweden in 1834, by J.O. Wallin, minister, orator, poet and Archbishop, and the sentiment is echoed in thousands of accounts from across the world. Cholera struck quickly and fatally, and entire communities succumbed as if an avenging angel had walked from door to door. <br />
<br />
Most likely originating in India, the first known pandemic began
in the Bengal region of India in 1817and spread across Southeast Asia, China, Japan, the Middle East, and southern Russia. In 1827, the first epidemic occurred in Europe and America and lasted until 1835. After that, cholera, nicknamed "Jack Morbius" in English, was a recurring and deadly guest for most of the 19th century.<br />
<br />
Initially, no one knew how it was caused or transmitted, and the advice given was therefore inadequate and erroneous. The New York Health Board advocated temperance in food and drink, while among the British troops in India, rumour had it that the men who went on drinking heavily had the best chance of recovery. Usually, ventilation was advocated since it was assumed that the disease was airborne. In Flora Anne Steel's The Complete Indian Housekeeper and Cook, first published in 1888, it is claimed that cholera is often "enveloped in damp clouds" why living on mountain ridges is not recommended. She also suggests cutting down "rank vegetation" as "it harbours dirt, and emits injurious gases".<br />
<br />
In fact, Dr John Snow had established a connection between cholera and contaminated drinking water already in 1854, and suggested that contamination from human sewage had been the cause of the London epidemic in 1854. In 1883, five years before Flora Steel's book was published, Robert Koch identified the bacteria responsible, <i>vibrio cholerae</i>, through a microscope. <br />
<br />
<i>Vibrio cholerae</i> can survive for extended periods in cold, clean water but rarely survives in foodstuff. Humans are usually the only living hosts for the cholera bacteria, and it is primarily spread through the contamination of drinking water by human fecies. The critical dose - ie the amount of bacteria required in order for the victim to be ill - is fairly high, which means that any epidemic will have a fairly large amount of symptom-free carriers, which helps spreading the disease.<br />
<br />
Undernourished people are more likely to catch the disease, as are people with low amount of acid in their stomach, since the bacteria is vulnerable to acidic conditions. Flora Steel claims that the acid treatment is the most successful, and she gives several recipes for different acidic cures - the most basic being the one she claims is used by tea coolies which consisting of a tablespoon each of vinegar and Worcester sauce.<br />
<br />
The incubation time can vary from a few hours to five days, but in most cases it is 2-3 days. The symptoms start with acute bowel pains and profuse watery diarrhea (up to about 20 litres a day and sometimes described as "rice water"). Vomiting occurs occasionally, but is not common. Due to the dehydration caused by the diarrhea, circulation collapse frequently follows and untreated epidemics have a death rate of about 50%. The primary treatment is rehydration; i.e. replacing the lost fluid and salts. With the proper rehydration treatment, casualties may be brought as low as 1%.<br />
<br />
Though such a frequent and efficient killer, cholera is rather
under-represented as a killer in fiction (compare it with the frequent application of "the cough of death"in books and films, for
example). I suppose the main reason is the complete<i> </i>lack of
romanticism and dignity in voiding your body of 20 litres of diarrhea in
a few hours. For realism though, it can hardly be beat as it was the
cause of a staggering number of deaths over the 19th century, and it can be used as a handy
little <i>mors ex machina</i> for anyone writing fiction set in the Victorian period. Also, the vast host of victims across the world deserves some sort of tribute I think, even if their deaths lacked cinematic appeal. <br />
<br />
As consciousness of the importance of proper water
hygiene grew over the 19th century, the cholera outbreaks grew less and less frequent, but
mortality in
the recorded cases remained high. Even today, cholera outbreaks cause a
number of deaths around the world, most often in poor regions with
severe water shortage. It also tends to appear following natural
catastrophies, such as the earthquake in Haiti in 2010. A donation to
an aid organisation for the purpose of supplying refugee camps and
disaster areas with clean water is therefore strongly encouraged! <br />
<br />
<br />
<i>Special thanks to the Swedish Institute for Communicable Disease Control for great and precise information!</i><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-81548224236678071392013-01-30T14:22:00.000+01:002013-01-30T14:22:00.564+01:00Bustles, Drama & Dickens: Victorian-set FilmsI tried to put together a list of films set in the Victorian era. It's not exhaustive, and I'm not saying they're all good (or even that I saw them all) but it's a start for getting your Victorian fix, anyway.<br />
<br />
Please suggest additional Victorian movies by commenting or <a href="mailto:victorianexplorer@ymail.com" target="_blank">emailing me</a> and I'll add them to the Entertainment page!<br />
<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0216621/" target="_blank">A Christmas Carol</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0113670/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">A Little Princess</a> (1995) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0140379/" target="_blank">A Midsummer's Night Dream</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815233/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Adventures of Sherlock Holmes</a> (1984)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1014759/" target="_blank">Alice in Wonderland</a> (2010)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118607/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Amistad</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0122541/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">An Ideal Husband</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115097/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Andersonville</a> (1996)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0166485/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Anna and the King</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118623/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">Anna Karenina</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1781769/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Anna Karenina</a> (2012)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0088727/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Anne of Green Gables </a>(1985)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0450972/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">As You Like It</a> (2006) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0442632/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Bleak House</a> (2005)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111902/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Buccaneers</a> (1995)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0027438/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Charge of the Light Brigade</a> (1936)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0159365/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Cold Mountain</a> (2003) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0968264/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Conspirator </a>(2010)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118894/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Cousin Bette</a> (1998)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0974077/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Cranford</a> (2007)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0384013/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Crimson Petal and the White</a> (2011)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0321897/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Daniel Deronda</a> (2002)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0167872/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">David Copperfield</a> (1999)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1346018/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Desperate Romantics</a> (2009)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1235124/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank">Dorian Gray</a> (2009)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0103874/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Dracula</a> (1992)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0061620/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Elvira Madigan</a> (1967)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0236195/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Enslavement: The True Story of Fanny Kemble</a> (2000)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0106833/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Ethan Frome</a> (1993)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0157616/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">Far from the Madding Crowd</a> (1998)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0423651/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Fingersmith </a>(2005)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0260615/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Forsyte Saga</a> (2002)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0240510/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Four Feathers</a> (2002)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0082416/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The French Lieutenant's Woman</a> (1981)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120681/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">From Hell</a> (2001)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0217505/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Gangs of New York</a> (2002)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107007/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Gettysburg</a> (1993)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0111913/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Glass Virgin</a> (1995)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120687/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Governess</a> (1998) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0097441/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Glory</a> (1989)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0031381/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Gone With the Wind</a> (1939)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1836808/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Great Expectations</a> (2012)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0087365/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Greystoke: The Legend of Tarzan, Lord of the Apes</a> (1984)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0116477/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Hamlet</a> (1996)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0294611/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">Hans Christian Anderson: My Life as Fairy Tale</a> (2001)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0322622/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">The Hound of the Baskervilles</a> (1999)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443543/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Illusionist</a> (2006)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0278500/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Importance of Being Earnest</a> (2002)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0496201/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Impressionists</a> (2006) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1229822/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Jane Eyre</a> (2011)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0780362/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">Jane Eyre</a> (2006) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110213/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Jungle Book</a> (1994)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0325710/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Last Samurai</a> (2003)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0386140/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Legend of Zorro</a> (2005)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1707386/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Les Misérables</a> (2012)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0169102/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Lagaan: Once upon a Time in India</a> (2001) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0253312/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Life and Adventures of Nicholas Nickleby</a> (1982, 2001)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0077042/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Lillie</a> (1978)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0443272/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Lincoln</a> (2012)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1178522/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Little Dorrit </a>(2008)
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108838/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3" target="_blank">Little Lord Fauntleroy</a> (1995)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0110367/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Little Women</a> (1994)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0212318/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3" target="_blank">Madame Bovary</a> (2000)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0073341/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Man Who Would be King</a> (1975) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0283474/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Mayor of Casterbridge</a> (2003)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119673/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Mill on the Flos</a>s (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0246786/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Miracle Worker</a> (2000)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0338188/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Missing</a> (2003)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117080/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Moonstone</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0091574/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank">The Murders in the Rue Morgue</a> (1986)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1991897/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Mystery of Edwin Drood </a>(2012) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0112062/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Martin Chuzzlewit</a> (1994)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108858/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Middlemarch</a> (1994)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118443/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Millie</a> (1997) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0189744/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Miss Julie</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482546/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Miss Potter</a> (2006)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120756/?ref_=fn_al_tt_4" target="_blank">Moby Dick</a> (1998)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0165196/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Molokai: The Story of Father Damien </a>(1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0203009/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Moulin Rouge</a> (2001)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0100196/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Mountains of the Moon</a> (1990)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119280/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">Mrs. Brown</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0277941/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Ned Kelly</a> (2004)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0309912/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Nicholas Nickleby</a> (2002)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0417349/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">North and South</a> (2004)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1023343/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Old Curiosity Shop</a> (2007) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1065309/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3" target="_blank">Oliver Twist</a> (2007)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0119079/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Onegin</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0218922/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Original Sin </a>(2001)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0144727/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Our Mutual Friend</a> (1998)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0316396/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Peter Pan</a> (2003)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0293508/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Phantom of the Opera</a> (2004)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0107822/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">The Piano</a> (1993)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117364/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Portrait of a Lady</a> (1996) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0256276/?ref_=sr_2" target="_blank">Possession (2002)</a><br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0090509/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Return of Sherlock Holmes</a> (1987)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120023/?ref_=fn_al_tt_3" target="_blank">The Ripper</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346457/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Rising: Ballad of </a><a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0346457/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Mangal Pandey </a>(2005)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0482571/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Prestige</a> (2006)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0029442/?ref_=sr_3" target="_blank">The Prisoner of Zenda</a> (1937)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108071/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Secret Garden </a>(1993) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0815233/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Secret Life of Mrs. Beeton</a> (2006)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0270645/?ref_=fn_al_tt_6" target="_blank">The Sign of Four</a> (2001) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0494834/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Silk</a> (2007)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0108185/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Sommersby</a> (1993) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0232676/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Song of the Lark</a> (2000)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1186342/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Tess of the D'Urbevilles</a> (2008)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0178928/?ref_=fn_al_tt_5" target="_blank">The Tempest</a> (1998))<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0115387/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Tenant of Wildfell Hall</a> (1996) )<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0268695/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Time Machine</a> (2002 <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0324264/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Tipping the Velvet</a> (2002)<br />
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<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0151568/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Topsy Turvy</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1403865/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">True Grit</a> (2010)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0118499/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">True Women</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1577883/?ref_=fn_al_tt_2" target="_blank">The Turn of the Screw</a> (2009)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0117991/?ref_=sr_6" target="_blank">Twelfth Night</a> (1996)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0465653/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Under the Greenwood Tree</a> (2005)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0262995/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Victoria and Albert</a> (2001) <br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0300879/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">The Way We Live Now</a> (2001)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0120514/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Wilde</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0215364/?ref_=sr_1" target="_blank">Wives and Daughters</a> (1999)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0137279/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Woman in White</a> (1997)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1181614/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Wuthering Heights </a>(2011)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt1181614/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Wyvern Mystery</a> (2000)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086619/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Yentl</a> (1983)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086619/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">Young Sherlock Holmes</a> (1985)<br />
<a href="http://www.imdb.com/title/tt0086619/?ref_=fn_al_tt_1" target="_blank">The Young Victoria</a> (2009)
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com1tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-31964636376182012632013-01-28T07:57:00.000+01:002013-01-28T07:57:00.278+01:00Review: The Ruling Caste by David Gilmour<div class="separator" style="clear: both; text-align: center;">
<a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjV3zAQAXX6N3hIPhSJlkR013cauQjNPVfxMkWuwPB9e3ZN4F9Tv4IZtp0jIW-XZwfl2AJ8mcWgWLhepUI1F3M8Zp_3BuWDuJiDC608I_bnV4MAKHGTXs_pateZNqWVZchbAGH93zGZQ/s1600/906319.jpg" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: 1em; margin-right: 1em;"><img border="0" height="320" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEhJjV3zAQAXX6N3hIPhSJlkR013cauQjNPVfxMkWuwPB9e3ZN4F9Tv4IZtp0jIW-XZwfl2AJ8mcWgWLhepUI1F3M8Zp_3BuWDuJiDC608I_bnV4MAKHGTXs_pateZNqWVZchbAGH93zGZQ/s320/906319.jpg" width="212" /></a></div>
<br />
<br />
<b>Full title: </b><i>The Ruling Caste: Imperial Lives in the Victorian Raj</i> (non-fiction)<b> </b><br />
<b>Writer: </b>David Gilmour <br />
<b>First published: </b>2005<b> </b><br />
<b>Available: </b>digitally on <a href="http://www.amazon.com/The-Ruling-Caste-Victorian-ebook/dp/B009SJD4CA/ref=sr_1_3?ie=UTF8&qid=1359215548&sr=8-3&keywords=the+ruling+caste">Amazon</a> and possibly in a library near you (I used both options as the pictures and extremely helpful sketch over the organisation of the Indian administration wasn't included in the Kindle version)<br />
<br />
<b>Quote:</b> <i>"Their ethos is portrayed in Kipling's story 'The Head of the District' in the persons of Orde, who on his deathbed by the Indus remembers that four villages need a remission of rent because their crops have been poor, and of Tallantire, who defeats a tribal rebellion and brings order to the district after the Indian Civilian has run away."</i><br />
<br />
<i>The Ruling Caste</i> is an ambitious book. Gilmour states in the preface that his aim is to show how the senior Civil servants of Victorian India lived from <i>chota hazri</i> to sundown and to portray not only their careers but their thoughts and beliefs and domestic arrangements<i>. </i>Somehow, he actually manages that rather well, which is a feat in only 300 pages. I have seen several reviews that complain that too many details make it a sluggish read, and certainly, there isn't a page that is not loaded with information, facts and footnotes. However, to me it read fairly easily all the same – I admit that I may not be the typical reader being both obscenely interested in the Victorian world and having a good deal of bureaucratic experience myself which probably made it easier for all those administrative proceedings to leap to life for me – and the focus is always rather up-close and personal.<br />
<br />
Gilmour uses a rather fixed set of characters as the focus of his narrative – we meet and get acquainted with Henry Cotton, Alfred Lyall, Henry Lawrence among others – and mixes personal accounts and letters with official accounts of the India Civil Service in the late 19th century. Therein lies one of my reservations against this book; reading it, as I was, for the express purpose of research, it was a little annoying to have the dates occasionally obfuscated, especially since Gilmour also points out that the organisation and attitudes of the ICS was not static but evolving over the period. Despite that, there are sections where accounts as far apart as 50 years are treated side-by-side and the time-gap is only visible if you actually check the footnotes. Also, you may quirk an eyebrow at finding quotes etc. from the teens and 20s in a book that has "Victorian" in the title, but seeing as I do the same thing here, I'm not really at liberty to criticise a slightly wider interpretation of the Victorian era.<br />
<br />
It is a fascinating world Gilmour describes; utterly different from the modern bureaucracy and yet strangely familiar. His Civilians work, dream, win promotions and marry until, finally, most of them slip into oblivion as pensioners reminiscing about "the good old days" in a rather suburban atmosphere in South Kensington. The book is a treasure trove for a novelist, because it tells you so much about the mundane life and attitudes of the British Raj precisely because of it's obsessive unfolding of details, and David Gilmour's love for his subject shines through on every page. While making for an entertaining read, that fondness is also the reason for my second big reservation about this book – there is a strong bias pro-ICS/Britain that sometimes shines through. While mostly providing a rather sober look at the British Civilian, there are places when Gilmour leaps to the defence of the ICS in a rather jarring way (he clearly loathes <i>A Passage To India</i>, for example). It's a pity, because these almost chauvinistic little outbursts mar an otherwise brilliant and detailed study, and makes me question if there is an underlying bias that tilts the entire narrative. That nagging doubt makes me a little wary about trusting it too much, which detracts a little from its usefulness.<br />
<br />
Nevertheless, it is still a fascinating read and recommended for anyone interested in the subject.<br />
<br />
<b><i>I gave it 4/5 on Goodreads.</i></b><div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0tag:blogger.com,1999:blog-1117272814962130099.post-940790518541034532013-01-23T07:02:00.000+01:002013-01-23T07:02:00.121+01:00Life in the Khyber: The Warrior, His Mother & Her Husband<table align="center" cellpadding="0" cellspacing="0" class="tr-caption-container" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto; text-align: center;"><tbody>
<tr><td style="text-align: center;"><a href="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSM5yOB7rF3oQXmaylgzPCJiBYfz7EOY54zRZNcKSBNVFbsB9a1VmcNg117sC-Usd8veko1rn2BkIEmqgBnQM4EeUOQj6ef69VIOzTfT3MsnRElTJ0uSj3UjLXZ3bVdrROdkrszsll7FA/s1600/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+3.20.39+PM.png" imageanchor="1" style="margin-left: auto; margin-right: auto;"><img border="0" height="451" src="https://blogger.googleusercontent.com/img/b/R29vZ2xl/AVvXsEiSM5yOB7rF3oQXmaylgzPCJiBYfz7EOY54zRZNcKSBNVFbsB9a1VmcNg117sC-Usd8veko1rn2BkIEmqgBnQM4EeUOQj6ef69VIOzTfT3MsnRElTJ0uSj3UjLXZ3bVdrROdkrszsll7FA/s640/Screen+shot+2012-12-16+at+3.20.39+PM.png" width="640" /></a></td></tr>
<tr><td class="tr-caption" style="text-align: center;">Peshawar street scene, 19th century</td></tr>
</tbody></table>
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<blockquote class="tr_bq">
"Strange events occur in the history of these frontier tribes. Outsiders will hardly credit some of the stories told, but numbers of reliable witnesses can testify to the veracity of the following one. Amongst Afridis and Pathans the disposal of a widow lies in the hands of the nearest relation to her deceased husband. If the son is of age, of course he is first consulted; but an Afridi mother with a grown son is not often of much cash value in the Khyber market. If, on the other hand, the woman is attractive and the son very young, the deceased husband's bother, should he be the guardian, either marries her himself or sells her to someone else. The widow of a Zakha Khel Afridi at Karamna in the Bazir Valley, found herself in this unhappy predicament;she had a young son, and an exceedingly objectionable brother of her husband to claim her in marriage or to dispose of her for cash. She therefore took the matter into her own hands, and fled to the country of the Mullagoris, and married a man of her own choice. /.../<br />
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[T] he Mullagori who married the widow from Karamna had no idea that she had left a young son on going to him, or, if he had, the recollection had passed out of his mind. The son, on the other hand, grew up, and nourishing his wrath, looked forward to a meeting with his stepfather, having taken care to make himself acquainted with his appearance. He was in the Khyber Jazailchies at Landi Kotal when one day he saw the man who had married his mother, and he followed him rifle in hand. The Mullagori, seeing that he was followed,a sked the young man where he was going, and in reply the latter pointed to the Shinwari village not very far away. The older man was put off his guard, and as he was passing some rough ground the younger individual knelt down and fired his piece at him, inflicting a slight flesh wound. Drawing out his long Afridi knife the wounded man chased the treacherous lad, who was unable to reload, into the Shinwari village, whose residents ecured both persons and prevented further damage being done. The Mullagori complained that, without any just cause or reason the young man had tried to murder him close to the Shinwari village. Having heard the charge the Zakha Khel shouted "No cause or reason! Did you not wed my mother without my permission?"<br />
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The Shinwaris took care to let one depart a good time before the other so as to prevent any further attempts on the life of the stepfather by his angry stepson."</blockquote>
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<i>Eighteen Years in the Khyber</i>, by Sir Robert Warburton, 1899</div>
<div class="blogger-post-footer">©The Victorian Explorer, 2013</div>JBhttp://www.blogger.com/profile/17961985072401149284noreply@blogger.com0