Circulations

In Circulations, Courtney Handman examines the surprising continuities in modernist communication discourses that shaped both colonial and decolonial projects in Papua New Guinea. Often described as a place with too many mountains and too many languages to be modern, Papua New Guinea was seen as a s...

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Main Author: Handman, Courtney
Format: Online
Language:English
Published: University of California Press 2025
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Online Access:https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101329
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author Handman, Courtney
author_browse Handman, Courtney
author_facet Handman, Courtney
author_sort Handman, Courtney
collection Directory of Open Access Books
description In Circulations, Courtney Handman examines the surprising continuities in modernist communication discourses that shaped both colonial and decolonial projects in Papua New Guinea. Often described as a place with too many mountains and too many languages to be modern, Papua New Guinea was seen as a space of circulatory primitivity—where people, things, and talk could not move. Colonial missionaries and administrators, and even anticolonial delegations to the United Nations that spearheaded demands for Papua New Guinea’s independence in the 1950s, argued that this circulatory primitivity would only be overcome through the management of communications infrastructures, bureaucratic information flows, and the introduction of English. Innovatively bringing together analyses of communications infrastructures such as radios, airplanes, telepathy, bureaucracy, and lingua francas, Circulations argues for the critical role of communicative networks and communicative imaginaries in political processes of colonialism and decolonization worldwide. “An intellectually exhilarating book with a wry sense of humor.” — ILANA GERSHON, Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Anthropology, Rice University “Handman’s breadth of imagination and depth of insight make for fascinating reading.” — WEBB KEANE, author of Christian Moderns: Freedom and Fetish in the Mission Encounter “This is an extremely thoughtful—and thought-provoking—book.” — BAMBI SCHIEFFELIN, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, New York University “A must-read for scholars of culture, language, empire, and decoloniality.” — MATT TOMLINSON, author of God Is Samoan: Dialogues between Culture and Theology in the Pacific
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spelling doab-20.500.12854ir-1591172025-05-07T07:14:04Z Circulations Handman, Courtney Communication; Papua New Guinea; Colonial influence In Circulations, Courtney Handman examines the surprising continuities in modernist communication discourses that shaped both colonial and decolonial projects in Papua New Guinea. Often described as a place with too many mountains and too many languages to be modern, Papua New Guinea was seen as a space of circulatory primitivity—where people, things, and talk could not move. Colonial missionaries and administrators, and even anticolonial delegations to the United Nations that spearheaded demands for Papua New Guinea’s independence in the 1950s, argued that this circulatory primitivity would only be overcome through the management of communications infrastructures, bureaucratic information flows, and the introduction of English. Innovatively bringing together analyses of communications infrastructures such as radios, airplanes, telepathy, bureaucracy, and lingua francas, Circulations argues for the critical role of communicative networks and communicative imaginaries in political processes of colonialism and decolonization worldwide. “An intellectually exhilarating book with a wry sense of humor.” — ILANA GERSHON, Herbert S. Autrey Professor of Anthropology, Rice University “Handman’s breadth of imagination and depth of insight make for fascinating reading.” — WEBB KEANE, author of Christian Moderns: Freedom and Fetish in the Mission Encounter “This is an extremely thoughtful—and thought-provoking—book.” — BAMBI SCHIEFFELIN, Professor Emerita of Anthropology, New York University “A must-read for scholars of culture, language, empire, and decoloniality.” — MATT TOMLINSON, author of God Is Samoan: Dialogues between Culture and Theology in the Pacific 2025-05-07T07:14:03Z 2025-05-07T07:14:03Z 2025-05-06T12:54:18Z 2025 book https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101329 9780520416000 https://directory.doabooks.org/handle/20.500.12854/159117 eng open access image/jpeg Attribution-NonCommercial-NoDerivatives 4.0 International https://library.oapen.org/bitstream/20.500.12657/101329/1/circulations.pdf University of California Press 10.1525/luminos.231 10.1525/luminos.231 19856893-4bf2-4e3e-9137-c7692d64e4c1 9780520416000 234 Oakland open access
spellingShingle Communication; Papua New Guinea; Colonial influence
Handman, Courtney
Circulations
title Circulations
title_full Circulations
title_fullStr Circulations
title_full_unstemmed Circulations
title_short Circulations
title_sort circulations
topic Communication; Papua New Guinea; Colonial influence
topic_facet Communication; Papua New Guinea; Colonial influence
url https://library.oapen.org/handle/20.500.12657/101329
work_keys_str_mv AT handmancourtney circulations