Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies (Routledge Indian Ocean Series)

Summary:"This book concentrates on textiles as a major commodity, and primary indicator of status, wealth and identity in Indian Ocean regions. Lavishly illustrated, it represents invaluable, and entirely new research." "Textiles in Indian Ocean Societies considers the importance of trade, and the transformation of the meaning of objects as they move between different cultures. It also addresses issues of gender, ethnic and religious identity, and economic status. The book covers a broad geographic range from East Africa to South-East Asia, and references a number of disciplines such as anthropology, art history and history."--Jacket Contents: Rome and India : early Indian cotton textiles from Berenike, Red Sea coast of Egypt / John Peter Wild and Felicity Wild Far-flung fabrics Indian textiles in ancient maritime trade / Himanshu Prabha Ray 'Portuguese' carpets from Khorasan, Persia / Steven Cohen Textile as commodity, dress as text : Swahili kanga and women's statements / David Parkin The kofia tradition of Zanzibar : the implicit and explicit discourses of men's head-dress in an Indian Ocean society / Zulfikar Hirji Ze maneva aze : looking for patterns in Malagasy cloth / Sarah Fee Cosmopolitan tastes and indigenous designs virtual cloth in a Javanese candi / Mary-Louise Totton Textiles of Jambi (Sumatra) and the Indian Ocean trade / Fiona Kerlogue Moving between cultures : textiles as a source of innovation in Kedang, eastern Indonesia / Ruth Barnes Notes: Papers presented at a workshop held at St. Antony's College, Oxford in March 1999, the third in a series on "The Indian Ocean: trans-regional creation of societies and cultures.".…