In The Search for the Codex Cardona, Arnold J. Bauer tells the story of his experiences on the trail of a cultural treasure, a Mexican “painted book” that first came into public view at Sotheby’s auct
In The Search for the Codex Cardona, Arnold J. Bauer tells the story of his experiences on the trail of a cultural treasure, a Mexican “painted book” that first came into public view at Sotheby’s auct
This book attempts to place in historical perspective the evolution of Chilean rural society from its foundation in the sixteenth century to 1975 and especially to explain the unusual result of accelerated economic growth after 1860. The study is placed in the broader context of general Chilean development and the rise of the Atlantic market. Professor Bauer also points out the connections and similarities between the Chilean case and other areas peripheral to the expanding world economy. Chapters are devoted to markets, prices and credit, but the main part of the book is concerned with the social and political impact of economic expansion on rural workers and the land-owning classes. A detailed explanation of agrarian structure and the position and importance of landlord and peon within national development is essential for an understanding of modern Latin America. This book is a contribution to that understanding and people interested in other times and places will find in the
Why do we acquire the things we do? Behind this apparently ingenuous question are several answers, some straightforward and others more interesting. To feed ourselves, might be the first response, for we can easily see that we expend much energy in the quest for food. Clothing and shelter as well would seem to constitute our basic needs. Yet we quickly see that even in the Garden of Eden, people want more than they need. This simple impulse has created the ever-mounting abundance we call progress and nearly all of the subsequent trouble on our planet. Four main interwoven themes run through this exploration of material culture and consumption in Latin America over the past five centuries: supply and demand; the relationships between consumption and identity; the importance of ritual, both ancient and modern, in what we buy; and the relationship between colonial and post-colonial power in consumption.
From The Atlantic: "Bauer's portrait of life in rural Kansas from the 1930s to the 1950s conjures with extraordinary thoughtfulness and grace a world we have lost." ()
