dutch settlers on mauritius (was: Benny's Job)

[Dave Monroe]

Yeah, Alfred Doblin, realized I'd shorted a circuit on that sometime last 
night, something must have distracted me after that "Al."  By the way, are 
you familiar with Doblin's fantasy/SF novel in which one or the other (or 
maybe it was both) of the poles melt and prehistoric animals (mammoths, 
dinosaurs, whatever) come ambling out?  Read about it in Peter S. Fisher, 
Fantasy and Politics: Visions of the Future in the Weimar Republic (Madison: 
U of Wisconsin P, 1991), but I don't know that it's ever been tranlsated 
into English.  Cf. Vheissu?

But do have both the Schama and the Bauman books, the Schama I recall 
particularly enjoying (and I just scored a cheap copy of his recent,  
massive Rembrandt's Eyes, that Dutch Republic and its art were no small 
fascinations of mine some time ago, any other recommendations?), the Bauman 
I do not recall so well, but I've lost any recollection of any discussion in 
either of Mauritius over the decade or whatever since.  It'll be a while 
before I can dig either out (if I can dig either out, we're talking a 
potential archaeological expedition here), so even a quick note on their 
significance here would be appreciated.  Thanks!

>From: lorentzen-nicklaus at t-online.de (lorentzen-nicklaus)
>To: davidmmonroe at hotmail.com
>CC: pynchon-l at waste.org
>Subject: Re:  dutch settlers on mauritius (was: Benny's Job)
>Date: Wed, 24 Jan 2001 12:02:17 +0100
>
>
>
>Dave Monroe schrieb:
>
> > Dutch settlers on Mauritius (again, why is this mentioned with some
> > prominence?)
>
>
>   well, the island of mauritius has a very interesting history, and 
>between the
>   late 16th and the late 17th century, the dutch were ruling this planet. 
>they
>   still call it their "golden age". you may check out simon schama's "the
>   embarrasment of riches" [1987]. & perhaps trp had already the south 
>african
>   episodes of m&d in mind while writing gr. right inside the heart of 
>modernity
>   dwells the extinction of the other. so another thing to check out might 
>be
>   zygmunt bauman's "modernity and the holocaust" [1989?]. take a look at 
>it, and
>   you'll realize why the dutch settlers on mauritius are mentioned with 
>some
>   prominence.
>
>kfl
>

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