The king of drinks [[electronic resource] ] : schnapps gin from modernity to tradition / / by Dmitri van den Bersselaar

• Record Nr.: UNINA9910453784003321
• Autore: Bersselaar Dmitri van den
• Pubbl/distr/stampa: Leiden ; ; Boston, : Brill, 2007
• ISBN: 1-281-93618-9; 9786611936181; 90-474-3059-X
• Descrizione fisica: 1 online resource (284 p.)
• Collana: African social studies series, , 1568-1203 ; ; v. 18
• Disciplina: 394.1/2
• Soggetti: Gin - Social aspects - Africa, West; Gin - Africa, West - History; Gin - Netherlands - History; Electronic books.; Africa, West Social life and customs
• Lingua di pubblicazione: Inglese
• Formato: Materiale a stampa
• Livello bibliografico: Monografia
• Note generali: Description based upon print version of record.
• Nota di bibliografia: Includes bibliographical references (p. [247]-258) and index.
• Nota di contenuto: Preliminary material / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter One. Introduction: Foreign imports, local meanings / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Two. The rise of Gin / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Three. Becoming the king of drinks / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Four. ‘Bird Gin’ ANd ‘Money Gin’: Brands and marketing / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Five. Poison or medicine? Changing perceptions of dutch gin / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Six. ‘Your very good health!’ Gin for an independent west Africa / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Chapter Seven. Schnapps gin from modernity to tradition / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Bibliography / D. Van Den Bersselaar -- Index / D. Van Den Bersselaar.
• Sommario/riassunto: Imported schnapps gin has a remarkable history in West Africa. Gin was imported in great quantities between 1880 and World War I, when its consumption showed access to the modern, international world. Subsequently schnapps was transformed into a good that signified traditional, local culture. Today, imported schnapps has high status because of its importance for African ritual and as symbol of the status ; of chiefs and elders, but actual consumption is limited. This book explores this unexpected trajectory of commoditisation to investigate how imported goods acquire specific local meanings. This analysis of consumption and marketing of gin contributes to our understanding of patterns of consumption, rejection and appropriation within processes of identity formation, elite formation, and the redefinition of community in colonial and postcolonial West Africa.