Colonial Figures

Memories of Street Traders in the Colonial and Early Post-colonial Periods

Bibliographic Data

ID4167543
AuthorsSheri Lynn Gibbing, Sheri Gibbings (Wilfrid Laurier University), Fridus Steijlen (Royal Netherlands Institute of Southeast Asian and Caribbean Studies)
Year2012
Volume19
Pages63-85
Publication date2012-12-29
Open AccessYes
TypeARTICLE
VenuePublic history review (JOURNAL)
Journal identifiersISSN: 1037-9851 • E-ISSN: 1833-4989
PublisherUniversity of Technology, Sydney (UTS) (PUBLISHER)
DOI10.5130/phrj.v19i0.2870
OpenAlexW1891569933
LanguageEN
Citations received1
References cited10

This article explores post-colonial memories about street traders among individuals who lived in the former colony of the Dutch East Indies. It argues that these narratives romanticize the relationship between Europeans and indigenous peoples. Street vendors are also used to differentiate between periods within colonial and post-colonial history. The nostalgic representation of interracial contact between Europeans and traders is contrasted with representations of other figures such as the Japanese and the nationalist. A recurring feature of these representations is the ability of Europeans to speak with street traders and imagine what they wanted and needed. The traders are remembered as a social type that transgressed politics and represented the neutrality of the economic sphere as a place for shared communication. The article concludes that the figure of the street vendor contributes to the nostalgic reinvention of the colony but is also used in narratives to differentiate between and mark changes across the colonial and post-colonial periods

Archaeology · Art · Colonialism · Indigenous · Literature · Narrative · Nationalism · Political science · Politics · Sociology · African history and culture studies · Gender Studies · Global Maritime and Colonial Histories · History · Law · Migration, Ethnicity, and Economy

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