Title The alchemy of empire : abject materials and the technologies of colonialism / Rajani Sudan

Edition First edition Published New York : Fordham University Press, 2016 ©20 ©2016

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Description 1 online resource (223 pages) Contents Introduction: Mud, Mortar, and Empire -- The Alchemy of Empire -- Mortar and the Making of Madras -- Ice and the Production of British Climate -- Inoculation and the Limits of British Imperialism -- "Plaisters," Paper, and the Labor of Letters -- Epilogue Summary "The Alchemy of Empire unravels the non-European origins of Enlightenment science. Focusing on the abject materials of empire-building, this study traces the genealogies of substances like mud, mortar, ice, and paper, as well as forms of knowledge like inoculation. Showing how East India Company employees deployed the paradigm of alchemy in order to make sense of the new worlds they confronted, Rajani Sudan argues that the Enlightenment was born largely out of Europe's (and Britain's) sense of insecurity and inferiority in the early modern world. Plumbing the depths of the imperial archive, Sudan uncovers the history of the British Enlightenment in the literary artifacts of the long eighteenth century, from the correspondence of the East India Company and the papers of the Royal Society to the poetry of Alexander Pope and the novels of Jane Austen"-- Provided by publisher "The Alchemy of Empire unravels the non-European origins of Enlightenment science. Focusing on the abject materials of empire-building, this study traces the genealogies of substances like mud, mortar, ice, and paper, and forms of knowledge like inoculation, arguing that East India Company employees deployed the paradigm of alchemy in order to make sense of the new worlds they confronted"-- Provided by publisher Bibliography Includes bibliographical references and index Notes Online resource; title from digital title page (viewed on May 13, 2016) Subject Technology transfer -- History -- 18th century Enlightenment. Technology in literature. Imperialism -- History -- 18th century Enlightenment (18th-century western movement) LITERARY CRITICISM -- European -- English, Irish, Scottish, Welsh. HISTORY -- Social History. POLITICAL SCIENCE -- Imperialism. British colonies Civilization -- Oriental influences Enlightenment Imperialism Technology in literature Technology transfer SUBJECT Europe -- Civilization -- Oriental influences -- History -- 18th century Great Britain -- Colonies -- History -- 18th century Subject Europe Genre/Form History Form Electronic book LC no. 2015046367 ISBN 9780823270705 082327070X

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