soph (![[personal profile]](https://www.dreamwidth.org/img/silk/identity/user.png)
sophia_sol) wrote2024-12-17 03:25 pm
sophia_sol) wrote2024-12-17 03:25 pm
Silk: A World History, by Aarathi Prasad
I listened to this nonfiction book as an audiobook, which was a great way to spend time with the history of silk as I went about working on various fibre arts crafts myself! (no silk in my crafting stash, though. not in my budget!)
There was a lot to enjoy about the book - engaging writing, that covers many interesting stories from the history of silk. And it talks about much more than just the silk of the classic silkworm, too. People have gotten silk from other related types of moth cocoons, from certain shellfish (which use long silken strands to anchor themselves into sand), and from spiders, who create many different kinds of silk for different purposes. I particularly enjoyed learning about the many species of wild silk moths in India which have a long history of being harvested for their silks.
However, the further I listened in the book, the more striking it became that nearly all of the stories were told from a European perspective, about European priorities, even though most of the silks discussed are not European in origin. Even when the book talks about non-European stories, it's as a brief backstory to contextualize talking more about the European relationships with silk, with the Europeans as a frame tale for understanding it.
I wondered at first if it might be simply that the author didn't have access to much in the way of resources to make it more truly a world history, but I know that for example China is a place with a very long history of a) using silk and b) writing down EVERYTHING. So it really does feel like it was more a choice the author made.
The author did at least make a point of mentioning whenever there were indigenous or enslaved people helping out whatever european naturalist she was following the story of at the time, which I'm glad of. But I want to know the stories of the dynamics of silk usage and silk trade in the eras before european colonization became such a huge force in the world as well?! and not just as a quick aside to hurry through as we move on towards talking more about colonial projects.
As well, the book as a whole feels like it kind of just jumps around randomly to whatever stories the author found interesting, rather than laying out the history of silk in a more systematic way. And like, I'm certainly sympathetic to the desire to just dive into whatever bits you personally find most interesting! But it makes for a much less satisfying book experience as a whole, even if I enjoyed all the constituent stories.
So as a whole I'm a lot less enthusiastic about this book now than I was when I was just starting it, which is really too bad. Read for the fun stories it does tell, but be aware going in that you are not actually getting the full world history of silk.
There was a lot to enjoy about the book - engaging writing, that covers many interesting stories from the history of silk. And it talks about much more than just the silk of the classic silkworm, too. People have gotten silk from other related types of moth cocoons, from certain shellfish (which use long silken strands to anchor themselves into sand), and from spiders, who create many different kinds of silk for different purposes. I particularly enjoyed learning about the many species of wild silk moths in India which have a long history of being harvested for their silks.
However, the further I listened in the book, the more striking it became that nearly all of the stories were told from a European perspective, about European priorities, even though most of the silks discussed are not European in origin. Even when the book talks about non-European stories, it's as a brief backstory to contextualize talking more about the European relationships with silk, with the Europeans as a frame tale for understanding it.
I wondered at first if it might be simply that the author didn't have access to much in the way of resources to make it more truly a world history, but I know that for example China is a place with a very long history of a) using silk and b) writing down EVERYTHING. So it really does feel like it was more a choice the author made.
The author did at least make a point of mentioning whenever there were indigenous or enslaved people helping out whatever european naturalist she was following the story of at the time, which I'm glad of. But I want to know the stories of the dynamics of silk usage and silk trade in the eras before european colonization became such a huge force in the world as well?! and not just as a quick aside to hurry through as we move on towards talking more about colonial projects.
As well, the book as a whole feels like it kind of just jumps around randomly to whatever stories the author found interesting, rather than laying out the history of silk in a more systematic way. And like, I'm certainly sympathetic to the desire to just dive into whatever bits you personally find most interesting! But it makes for a much less satisfying book experience as a whole, even if I enjoyed all the constituent stories.
So as a whole I'm a lot less enthusiastic about this book now than I was when I was just starting it, which is really too bad. Read for the fun stories it does tell, but be aware going in that you are not actually getting the full world history of silk.
no subject
no subject