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    'Diplomacy as theatre': recasting the Bandung conference of 1955 as cultural history

    Shimazu, Naoko (2011) 'Diplomacy as theatre': recasting the Bandung conference of 1955 as cultural history. Working Paper. Asia Research Institute, National University of Singapore, Singapore.

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    Abstract

    As a significant ‘moment’ in twentieth-century international diplomacy, the Bandung Conference of 1955 is replete with symbolic meanings. How can we delve deeper into understanding the symbolic? To this end, ‘diplomacy as theatre’ as a conceptual framework enables us to re-interpret the Bandung Conference acts of symbolic performance, where ‘actors’ perform on the ‘stage’ to ‘audiences’. I focus primarily on the city of Bandung in Indonesia where spatially and temporally a ‘stage’ was created to enable ‘performances’ to take place not only by ‘actors’ but also between ‘actors’ and ‘audiences’. Sukarno, Nehru, Zhou Enlai and Nasser all understood the importance of the performative in their role as international statesmen, representing the collective ‘spirit’ of the post-colonial world. I argue that the success of the Bandung Conference as a theatre of diplomatic performance is central to its symbolic legacy.

    Metadata

    Item Type: Monograph (Working Paper)
    Additional Information: Peer-reviewed
    Keyword(s) / Subject(s): diplomacy, Bandung Conference, Cold War, decolonization, performance, symbolic
    School: Birkbeck Faculties and Schools > Faculty of Humanities and Social Sciences > School of Historical Studies
    Depositing User: Naoko Shimazu
    Date Deposited: 10 Jul 2012 08:58
    Last Modified: 02 Aug 2023 16:57
    URI: https://eprints.bbk.ac.uk/id/eprint/4914

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