Urban Symbolism / / edited by Peter J.M. Nas.

• Superior document: Studies in human society ; volume 8
• TeilnehmendeR: Nas, P.,
• Place / Publishing House: Leiden ;, New York ;, Köln : : Brill,, 1993.
• Year of Publication: 1993
• Edition: 1st ed.
• Language: English
• Series: Studies in human society ; volume 8.
• Physical Description: 1 online resource (393 pages).

This volume deals with a hitherto largely neglected aspect of cities, namely the symbolic and ritual structure in which the urban community is rooted. This fascinating facet is explored in a combined effort by social anthropologists, sociologists, historians and philologists for cities like Jakarta, Padang, Bangkok, Beijing, Tokyo, Baghdad, Kathmandu, Lucknow, Francistown, Vitoria and Buenos Aires. Three perspectives on the study of symbolism in the urban arena are developed, namely the material, cultural and structural point of view. This results in a series of new concepts for comparative use and provides lively descriptions suffused by rich detail of the social processes by which urban symbols and rituals are constituted.

Table of Contents

Intro -- Title Page -- Copyright Page -- Table of Contents -- 1. Introduction -- 2. Jakarta, city full of symbols: An essay in symbolic ecology -- 3. Mirrors and the lighthouse: A search for meaning in the monuments and great works of Sukarno's Jakarta, 1960-1966 -- 4. The power of symbols in the urban arena: The case of Padang (West Sumatra) -- 5. Images of a Sumatran town: Padang and the rise of urban symbolism in Indonesia -- 6. Urban rituals and symbols in Buenos Aires, 1806-1910 -- 7. Signifying urban space: Vitória, Brazil. Cultural and political discourses behind urban imagery -- 8. Image as territory: Paris' Little Asia -- 9. A murder in Batavia or the ritual of power -- 10. Images of protest and the use of urban space in the 1989 Chinese People's Movement -- 11. Toto/Tokyo: Metropolis anno 17-something -19-now -- 12. Making sense of urban space in Francistown, Botswana -- 13. Bangkok as a symbol? Ideological and everyday life constructions of Bangkok -- 14. Icon, illusion and reality: Images of urbanism -- 15. The urban capital in early states: Symbols and images -- 16. Keraton and temples in Bali: The transcendental organization of rulership between centre and periphery -- 17. Glory of Batavia: The image of a colonial city through the eyes of a Javanese nobleman -- 18. Lucknow: The city of palace culture -- 19. Baghdad: The city of learning and pleasure -- 20. Kathmandu as a sacrificial arena -- 21. The circle and the square: Symbolic form and process in the city.