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.