Cultural and Literary Representations of the Automobile in French Indochina

Abstract

How are the pleasures and thrills of the automobile linked to France's history of conquest, colonialism, and exploitation in Southeast Asia? Cultural and Literary Representations of the Automobile in French Indochina addresses the contradictions of the "progress" of French colonialism and their consequences through the lens of the automobile. Stéphanie Ponsavady examines the development of transportation systems in French Indochina at the turn of the twentieth century, analyzing archival material and French and Vietnamese literature to critically assess French colonialism. Intro; Preface; Acknowledgements; Contents; Notes on Terminology and Diacritics; List of Figures; Chapter 1 Introduction: Minding the Gaps of Colonial Automobility; 1.1 The Ongoing Staging and the Original Ordering of Colonial Automobility; 1.2 Staging and Developing Colonial Automobility; 1.3 Closing the Mobility Gap; Bibliography; Chapter 2 Paving the Way: Road and Empire Builders; 2.1 Building New Roads and Following Worn-Out Paths: The Myths of Roman Ways, Republican Modernization, and the Colonial Conquest 2.2 Building Colonial Roads with the Natives: The Development (mise en valeur) and Ordering (mise en ordre) of Indochina2.3 Building Colonial Roads with the French: The Staging (mise en scène) and Development (mise en valeur) of Indochina; Bibliography; Chapter 3 Unfolding the Road: Automobile Pioneers; 3.1 Where the Rubber Meets the Road: Technical Hesitations; Did Motoring Have a Future in Indochina?; The Social Uses of the Automobile: The Tour d'Inspection; Indochina: A Testing-Ground for the Automobile 3.2 Technical and Symbolic Transportation: From Saigon to Angkor, the Duke of Montpensier's 1908 ExpeditionDriving and Writing to Bridge Territories; Driving and Writing to Bridge Histories; Driving and Writing to Bridge Ecologies; Epilogue; 3.3 Physical and Moral Transport: Pioneering Passengers; Bicycles and Automobiles: Native and European Means of Transport; The Automobile: A Vehicle for Government, Journalism, and Business; Riding and Writing to Become an Automobile Passenger; Bibliography; Chapter 4 Sharing the Road: Road Users 4.1 Automobile Guidebooks: Mirrors and Vehicles of Greater Tourism4.2 What Makes a Good Driver in Indochina?; 4.3 Automobile Associations in Indochina: Generating and Recording Good Driving and Good Conduct; Bibliography; Chapter 5 Writing the Road: Journalistic and Literary Passages and Passengers; 5.1 The Automobile: A Vehicle for Investigative Journalism; 5.2 The Automobile in Vietnamese Colonial Literature: A Literary Vehicle for "Invented Stories That You Will Believe"; 5.3 The Automobile in Marguerite Duras's The Sea Wall: A Literary Vehicle for Colonial Desire and Disappointment