Women of Polynesia

Name: Women of Polynesia
Price: 30.00 USD
Availability: InStock
Author: Blackburn, Mark
ISBN: 9780764321740

✍️ Blackburn, Mark

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30 $

📚 ABOUT THE BOOK

Unveil the enigmatic allure of Polynesian women through a rare glimpse into a bygone era.

This compelling volume invites readers on a visual journey through the Pacific, showcasing the captivating women of Polynesia as captured in over 300 rare, historical postcards from 1898 to 1920. Traverse the islands of Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, and beyond, encountering their distinct cultures and landscapes. Each geographical section is accompanied by insightful narratives detailing the unique histories, indigenous customs, and artistic expressions encountered by early European visitors. The collection subtly explores the idealized portrayals of Polynesian women that fascinated Western observers, offering a unique lens into cross-cultural perceptions at the turn of the century.

Key themes

{'title': 'Colonial Gaze & Idealization', 'body': 'This collection offers a fascinating insight into how Western perceptions shaped the portrayal of Polynesian women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It subtly explores the "exotic" ideals projected onto these figures, revealing a complex interplay of admiration and cultural appropriation that was prevalent in European artistic and literary circles of the era.'} {'title': 'Historic Postcard Artistry', 'body': 'More than just ethnographic records, these 380 vibrant postcards serve as a remarkable archive of early 20th-century graphic design and photography. They illustrate the evolving aesthetics of mass-produced imagery, providing a unique historical document for collectors and enthusiasts interested in the intersection of visual culture and travel ephemera.'} {'title': 'Pacific Island Heritage', 'body': 'Beyond the visual allure, the book grounds each image within its specific cultural context. Concise geographical and historical notes accompany the postcards, illuminating the distinct traditions, local crafts, and first encounters with European explorers across Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, and other significant Polynesian regions, offering glimpses into their rich heritage.'}

In stock

🏛 Schiffer Publishing 📅 2005 📖 160 pages 📔 Paperback 📐 Paperback ISBN: 9780764321740

Fun fact

"Women of Polynesia" offers an undeniable visual feast for collectors of historical postcards and anyone drawn to the romanticized imagery of the Pacific. Blackburn expertly contextualizes each vibrant image, providing valuable geographical and historical background. However, those seeking a critical, decolonial analysis or contemporary indigenous perspectives might find its historical lens limiting. It excels as a beautifully curated archive of a specific era's visual culture and cross-cultural encounter.

📝 Description: Women of Polynesia

Beautiful Polynesian women will tempt you to linger on each page of this stunning new book. Be transported to Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, Tonga, Naratonga, Fiji, and the Maori regions of New Zealand to view their beguiling native inhabitants through 380 historic and rare color postcard images that date from 1898 to 1920. Concise text for each locale presents interesting pertinent facts about the geography, people, and local history that make them distinct. These include first sightings by European explorers, local crafts, and traditional customs. The women in Polynesian societies, as reflected in these images, portray exotic ideals that many European artists and writers have fallen in love with and immortalized. This compelling book will be cherished for years to come.

⭐ Reader reviews

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⭐ Esoterica editorial review Editorial rating 4.6/5

★★★★★

If you are drawn to the mystique of historical imagery, curious about the colonial lens on indigenous cultures, or a collector of rare ephemera, this book offers a visually rich and historically nuanced exploration. It's for those who appreciate beauty intertwined with cultural commentary.

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❓ Frequently asked questions

While visually stunning, it transcends a simple art book. It offers historical context for each locale and explores the cultural perceptions embedded within the postcard imagery, making it a valuable resource for cultural studies as well.

No, the focus is exclusively on historical postcards and the perspectives they represent, dating from 1898 to 1920. It provides a window into a specific historical period rather than contemporary views.

📖 Who should read this

🎯 Key themes and symbolism

Colonial Gaze & Idealization

This collection offers a fascinating insight into how Western perceptions shaped the portrayal of Polynesian women during the late 19th and early 20th centuries. It subtly explores the "exotic" ideals projected onto these figures, revealing a complex interplay of admiration and cultural appropriation that was prevalent in European artistic and literary circles of the era.

Historic Postcard Artistry

More than just ethnographic records, these 380 vibrant postcards serve as a remarkable archive of early 20th-century graphic design and photography. They illustrate the evolving aesthetics of mass-produced imagery, providing a unique historical document for collectors and enthusiasts interested in the intersection of visual culture and travel ephemera.

Pacific Island Heritage

Beyond the visual allure, the book grounds each image within its specific cultural context. Concise geographical and historical notes accompany the postcards, illuminating the distinct traditions, local crafts, and first encounters with European explorers across Hawaii, Tahiti, Samoa, and other significant Polynesian regions, offering glimpses into their rich heritage.

💬 Quotes from the book

«The verdant slopes of Tahiti, first sighted by Wallis in 1767, offered a vision of Eden to European eyes, with its inhabitants living in harmony with nature, their artistry evident in every woven mat and carved adornment.»

«Among the Maori of New Zealand, the intricate moko adornment symbolized status and lineage, a practice often misunderstood yet undeniably captivating to early European visitors who documented these striking countenances.»

📜 Historical context

Emerging from an era (1898-1920) when Western powers actively explored and sometimes colonized the Pacific, this book's imagery reflects a prevailing European fascination with "exotic" cultures. It sits within a tradition of ethnographic documentation, albeit one filtered through the popular medium of postcards, often romanticizing and idealizing indigenous populations, particularly women, for a Western audience.

📚 Glossary

Polynesia
Ephemera
Exotic Ideal

📔 Questions to reflect on

How do these historical postcards shape or challenge your contemporary understanding of Polynesian cultures and their women?
Reflect on the concept of the "exotic ideal" as presented in these images. What does it reveal about the observer's culture versus the observed?
If you were to create a similar visual archive of a culture today, what ethical considerations would guide your selection and presentation of images?