Empire of Love : Histories of France and the Pacific: Histories of France and the Pacific

Matt K. Matsuda Associate Professor of History Rutgers University

Oxford University Press, Dec 16, 2004 - History - 240 pages

In this broad-ranging survey of Paris, Tahiti, Indochina, Japan, New Caledonia, and the South Pacific generally, Matt Matsuda illustrates the fascinating interplay that shaped the imaginations of both colonizer and colonized. Drawing on a wealth of primary sources, Matsuda describes the constitution of a "French Pacific" through the eyes of Tahitian monarchs, Kanak warriors, French politicos and prisoners, Asian revolutionaries and Central American laborers, among others. He argues that French imperialism in the Pacific, both real and imagined, was registered most forcefully in languages of desire and love--for lost islands, promised wealth and riches, carnal and spiritual pleasures--and political affinities. Exploring the conflicting engagements with love for and against the empire in the Pacific, this book is an imaginative and ground-breaking work in global imperial and colonial histories, as well as Pacific histories.

Contents

• Empire of Love Histories of France and the Pacific: x
• Rochefort The Family Romance of the French Pacific: x
• Panama Geopolitics of Desire: x
• Wallis and Futuna Martyrs and Memories: x
• Society Islands Tahitian Archives: x
• New Caledonia Prisoners of Love: x
• Indochina Romance of the Ruins: x
• Japan The Tears of Madame Chrysanthème: x
• The Lost Continent: x
• Notes: 191
• Index: 225

Bibliographic information

• Title: Empire of Love : Histories of France and the Pacific: Histories of France and the Pacific
• Author: Matt K. Matsuda Associate Professor of History Rutgers University
• Publisher: Oxford University Press, 2004
• ISBN: 0195347471, 9780195347470
• Length: 240 pages
• Subjects: History / Europe / France