Seminar Urbaltour, Colonial Visual Cultures and the Representation of Hill Stations in South and South-East Asia

On Friday Feb 9, a seminar on the colonial history of hill stations in South Asia and South-East Asia was held in Lyon III, EVS laboratory (UMR 5600). Organised by Alexandra de Heering, this seminar session aimed at exploring, through the study of picture postcard, the complex but fertile triangulation between colonial imperialism, photography and tourism. Till recently, picture postcards have largely been overlooked by the academia. These mass-produced and highly popular visual documents that circulated widely nevertheless constitute crucial sources to study popular representations and the colonial project. Interestingly, their heyday at the end of the 19^th century till the 1930’s coincided to what Kenny called the “hill craze” of the imperial age, but also to the development of tourism that heavily contributed to their popularity. Picture postcards, therefore, are visual and discursive narratives set in time and space. They need to be studied.

Lire la suite sur le carnet Urbaltour.