The Global 1930s: The International Decade
Thematically organized, this book is divided into four main parts, covering the evolving concept and trappings of modernism, growing political and cultural internationalism, the global economic crisis and challenges to liberalism.
Chapters discuss topics such as the rivalry between imperial powers, colonial migration and race relations, rising anti-colonial sentiments, feminism and gender dynamics around the world, the Great Depression and its far-reaching repercussions, the spread of both communist and fascist political ideologies and the descent once more into global warfare.
This book deftly interrogates the western-focused historical tropes of the interwar years, emphasizing the importance and interconnectedness of events in Asia, Africa and Latin America. Wide-ranging and comprehensive, it is essential and fascinating reading for all students of the international history of the 1930s.
Johannesburg 1936
Journal Article
ResponderEliminarJohannesburg's 1936 Empire Exhibition: Interaction, Segregation and Modernity in a South African City
Jennifer Robinson
Journal of Southern African Studies
Vol. 29, No. 3 (Sep., 2003), pp. 759-789
Published by: Taylor & Francis, Ltd.
Stable URL: http://www.jstor.org/stable/3557441
Page Count: 31
https://scholarworks.iu.edu/dspace/bitstream/handle/2022/2331/32%281-2%29%203-30.pdf?sequence=1&isAllowed=y
ResponderEliminarHistories of Empire, Nation, and City:
Four Interpretations of the Empire Exhibition, Johannesburg,
1936
Cati
Coe
On September
15,
1936,
the
Empire
Exhibition opened
in
Johannesburg, South
Africa.
One
and a
half million
people
passed
through
its
turnstiles during
the four
months
it
was open,
and
schoolchildren
traveled
by
train
from
all
over
southern
Africa
to
see
the exhibition. Celebrating the
fiftieth anniversary
of
Johannesburg's
founding and
the discovery
of
gold
on
the Witswatersrand
(otherwise
called the Rand
or
Reef),
the Exhibition presented a narrative
of
civilization
and technology. It displayed various
marvels, including
exhibits
of
minerals,
diamonds,
and
postage stamps; a
rock
garden; a
replica
of
Victoria
falls;
an animal
zoo;
and
a model
of
the
Rand.
Other attractions
included
a Jubilee
parade, an ice
rink, a cinema,
musical performances,
and
a pageant presenting South African history.
This international
fair, taking place
in
the
colony
rather than
the
metropole
of
Britain,
was part
of
a tradition
of
international
exhibitions
dating from
the
1850s. Scholars
have argued that
world's fairs are
hegemonic public displays sponsored and financed
by
private
corporations, the
social
and
economic elite, and
local
and
national
governments.
In
effect, world's fairs construct
the
organization,
harmony, and unity
of
the
city, nation, or world through their layouts,
exhibits, and entertainment,
glossing
over class-based and
racial
inequalities.
However,
as
I investigated
the
meaning
of
the
Empire
Exhibition
within
its social
and historical
context
in
South Africa,
I
began
to
see
divergent representations
of
the Exhibition
in the
South
African press
more interesting
than
the
event
itself. Although
world's fairs are
organized
to tell
a particular narrative, newspapers
in fact
told
multiple
stories about
the
event,
highlighting various
angles, commenting
on
different
symbolic elements,
and variously
interpreting the