Sugar, coffee, lemonade, tea, rum, boom

Martin Soukup

The book shows the effects of colonialism on the lives of members of the New Guinean Nungon ethnic group. Based on one decade of field research and analysis of archival documents, the author discusses the transformations of the Nungons’ way of life, which began in the 1930s. In the 19th century, it was the result of first contacts with the Australian administration and Lutheran missionaries. The author does not tell a simple story in the book, but often portrays the counter-squirts from the nungons’ lives, how he could hear them from the locals, experience them and read them from preserved documents. It shows how remarkably quickly their community has been transformed. People ignorant of the scriptures have become Christians who face religious schism, successfully help save tree kangaroos, export coffee to Seattle, mix sugar into tea, prepare instant noodles, and some share their lives on social media… Even remote Papuan villages are part of global connections.

219 Kč