National University of Singapore Press
Print Passages
Colonial Book Culture in the Dutch East Indies
9789813252950
Distributed for National University of Singapore Press
Print Passages
Colonial Book Culture in the Dutch East Indies
The first in-depth study of book culture and history in Indonesia.
Although printed material has become intertwined with everyday life in the twenty-first century, book culture has not always been ubiquitous. Print Passages researches the history of the arrival of the printed book in Indonesia, and the consequences this new technology brought with it. The introduction of the printing press during the Dutch occupation of the archipelago (then the Dutch East Indies) laid the foundation for a flourishing cultural and intellectual life centered on books and printed materials, especially after 1816. Though printed matter was used to colonize and control the land, it also gave the resistance a voice.
Through an exploration of selected themes, author Lisa Kuitert answers practical questions such as how Dutch language researchers and printers found their way to and within Indonesia, while also diving into the parallel printing culture that was entirely run by Indonesians, often with a Chinese background.
Although printed material has become intertwined with everyday life in the twenty-first century, book culture has not always been ubiquitous. Print Passages researches the history of the arrival of the printed book in Indonesia, and the consequences this new technology brought with it. The introduction of the printing press during the Dutch occupation of the archipelago (then the Dutch East Indies) laid the foundation for a flourishing cultural and intellectual life centered on books and printed materials, especially after 1816. Though printed matter was used to colonize and control the land, it also gave the resistance a voice.
Through an exploration of selected themes, author Lisa Kuitert answers practical questions such as how Dutch language researchers and printers found their way to and within Indonesia, while also diving into the parallel printing culture that was entirely run by Indonesians, often with a Chinese background.
336 pages | 72 halftones | 5.98 x 9.02 | © 2026
Asian Studies: Southeast Asia and Australia
History: Asian History
Table of Contents
Introduction
Chapter 1 – Missionaries and Adventurers
Chapter 2 - Rise of the Trade
Chapter 3 – Reading in the Dutch East Indies
Chapter 4 – Textbooks and Their Publishers
Chapter 5 – The Connotations of a Printing Process
Chapter 6 – The Book Dealer in the Dock. Laws and Lawlessness
Chapter 7 –Keeping an Eye on ‘Indigenous’ Printed Matter and Newspapers
Chapter 8 - Chinese Competition
Chapter 9 – Brackish Water
Conclusion – The Power of the Printed Word
Appendices
References
Acknowledgements
Chapter 1 – Missionaries and Adventurers
Chapter 2 - Rise of the Trade
Chapter 3 – Reading in the Dutch East Indies
Chapter 4 – Textbooks and Their Publishers
Chapter 5 – The Connotations of a Printing Process
Chapter 6 – The Book Dealer in the Dock. Laws and Lawlessness
Chapter 7 –Keeping an Eye on ‘Indigenous’ Printed Matter and Newspapers
Chapter 8 - Chinese Competition
Chapter 9 – Brackish Water
Conclusion – The Power of the Printed Word
Appendices
References
Acknowledgements