Reflections

Chinese Pandals: Chinese Communities and a Viceroy's Visit to Colonial Burma

Yi Li

After three Anglo-Burmese wars in the nineteenth century, Burma became a province of British India in 1886. This newly acquired colony in Southeast Asia, like many other colonies in this region, attracted large numbers of migrants, mainly from neighbouring India and China, who became labourers and traders. As early as 1891, when the first census was taken after the final annexation, more than half of the population in Rangoon (Yangon) was found to have been born outside of Burma. Not long after, Chinese migrant communities were established in Burmese towns and villages, most notable of which was the Rangoon Chinatown...

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Imperial Debris: Picture Postcards and the British Empire Exhibition at Wembley, 1924-1925

Rosemary Spooner

This discussion critically examines a particular piece of material culture that encapsulates the theme of empire and celebration: a postcard sent from the British Empire Exhibition held at Wembley Park from 23 April 1924 until October 1925. The postcard was sent by a woman named Amy (b. 1883) to the house in Suffolk where she lived with her father and sister. The front of the postcard depicts two individuals from the region of Asante in the Gold Coast, referred to as Princess Baa and her husband, and on the back we see Amy relaying the notable highlights of her visit to the exhibition to her father Alfred. Because they were ‘so frequently encountered in the quotidian experience of people of all classes’, according to Ashley Jackson and David Tomkins this postcard and other pieces of colonial ‘ephemera’ are amongst the most pervasive sources of imperial ideas and images...

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Gauge, Battleground, Weapon: Celebrations in Cold War Cyprus, 1945-1955

Christopher Sutton

At the risk of overextending a metaphor, the problem with windows is that no matter how large or clean they are, they can only provide a single view. And, in studying the interplay between British colonial policies and the Cold War, the specific window provided by the study of celebrations does not at first seem particularly expedient. However, I have since learned that it does not pay to be narrow-minded. In fact, the study of celebration proves ideal for exploring post-war Cyprus. And why not? The study of elections, education and trade unionism are also windows that have aided my attempt to understand policy and its makers...

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