Modernity and Culture from the Mediterranean to the Indian Ocean, 1890–1920

Edited by Leila Fawaz and C. A. Bayly, with the collaboration of Robert Ilbert

Paper, 432 pages, 20 halftones
ISBN: 978-0-231-11427-1
$30.50 / £18.00

May, 2001
Cloth, 432 pages, 20 halftones
ISBN: 978-0-231-11426-4
$83.50 / £49.00

Between the 1890s and 1920s, cities in the vast region stretching from the Mediterranean Sea to the Indian Ocean were experiencing political, social, economic, and cultural changes that had been set in motion at least since the early nineteenth century. As the age of pre-colonial empires gave way to colonial and national states, there was a sense that a particular liberalism of culture and economy had been irretrievably lost to a more intolerant age.

Avoiding such dichotomies as East/West and modernity/tradition, this book provides a comparative analysis of contested versions of the concept of modernity. The book examines not only the “high” culture of scholars and the literati, but also popular music, the visual arts, and journalism. The contributors incorporate discussion of the way in which the business in both commodities and ideas was conducted in the increasingly cosmopolitan cities of the time.

About the Author

Leila Tarazi Fawaz is a professor of history in the School of Arts and Sciences and a professor of diplomacy at The Fletcher School of Law and Diplomacy, both at Tufts University. C. A. Bayly is professor of history at Cambridge University and fellow of St. Catharine’s College.

top of page