0:00—The Faubourg Saint-Germain. 3:18—Sitting between opposites. 4:37—Salon culture. 9:44—Meet the Lantys. 13:01—Gothic conventions. 14:18—The gentleman in black. 15:45—Comte de Saint-Germain. 18:35—Count Alessandro di Cagliostro. 20:07—Quackeries. 25:00—The old man & Madame Rochefide. 28:56—Adonis on a lion skin. 30:34—Interlude.

30:46—Sarrasine’s boyhood. 32:24—Edmé Bouchardon. 33:28—Prix de Rome. 34:52—Reverance for Rome. 38:00—Jommelli & Zambinella. 41:29—Sketchy behavior. 42:15—Private happiness. 43:16—Lounging Zambinella. 47:23—Sexual assault. 48:20—Cardinal Cicognara. 49:40—One word. 51:35—The castrati tradition. 57:01—You monster. 1:00:05—Adonis & Endymion. 1:01:36—Fortunate singers. 1:03:55—Another possibility. 1:05:45—Fantastic vs. Realistic. 1:14:004—Interlude.

1:14:16—S/Z. 1:19:23—Antitheses. 1:20:40—A hole in the discourse. 1:22:35—Hastening & retarding. 1:23:58—Endymion/Adonis. 1:25:40—Aphanasis. 1:26:55—Historical characters. 1:27:47—Lubrication. 1:31:58—Madonna with raised eyes. 1:33:16—Kinky-haired scamp. 1:35:47—Fortunate castrati. 1:36:37—A sordid origin.

Texts:

Balzac, Honoré. “Sarassine.” The Girl with the Golden Eyes, and Other Stories. Translated by Peter Collier. Oxford Univ. Press, 2012, pp. 3-37.

Barthes, Roland. S/Z. Translated by Richard Miller. Hill and Wang, 1974.

Interludes: Niccolo Jommelli, Diodone Abbandonata (1747), performed by Teatro Filamonico di Verona Italy, March, 2021, www.operaonvideo.com.

Illustration: Honoré de Balzac, 1842, and Roland Barthes, 1979 (Wikipedia)

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Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Chapters 7-12: 0:00—The beginning of a desire. 7:30—An escape route. 8:13—P.A. Daum. 11:22—Coffee with Aunt Clara. 14:13—Very unpleasant. 16:16—Interlude.

Chapters 13-21: 17:30—Her soiled roots. 20:31—Precocious degradation. 23:52—Disinformation & denial. 27:00—Hereditary or existential despair. 31:49—Depression. 32:56—Sick Europeans. 34:42—Four or five good years. 38:29—Climate change. 43:12—The dreary normal. 45:57—His spirit is sick. 46:46—In a Chinese shop. 48:18—Suicide prevention. 50:15—The phantasmagoria. 52:05—Colonial life goes on. 54:08—Abrupt ending. 55:47—A more satisfying closing.

Text: P.A. Daum, Ups and Downs of Life in the Indies. Translated by Elsje Quinn Sturtevant and Donald W. Sturtevant. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1987.

Interludes: Erik Satie, Gnossienne No. 4 (1891), performed by Takuma Sugawara, 2024.

Illustration: Huygens Instituut.

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Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Chapters 1-3: 0:00—Multatuli, Couperus & Daum. 2:40—Country & city. 3:45—Blowing the lid off. 6:17—Corruption. 7:15—The overseer Jozef. 9:55—Night sounds & savage voices. 13:32—The colonialist’s nightmare. 15:50—The lid in place. 16:30—Government overreaction. 20:09—Taking the bait. 23:05—Vague, faceless figures. 26:21—Interlude.

Chapters 4-5: 26:57—What an awful man. 30:01—Little Lena. 33:40—The heart of the matter. 37:06—Corruption. 39:54—BHP Billiton. 42:02—A successful pudding. 45:06—Interlude.

Chapters 5-6: 45:35—An emotional vortex. 53:30—Eddy & Freddy. 56:10—Get the hell out. 58:15—The degenerated branch. 1:02:32—The Uhlstras. 1:03:33—Seeing Twissels.

Text: P.A. Daum, Ups and Downs of Life in the Indies. Translated by Elsje Quinn Sturtevant and Donald W. Sturtevant. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1987.

Interludes: Erik Satie, Gnossienne No. 6 (1897), performed by Andreas Pfaul.

Illustration: DBNL: Digitale Bibliotheek voor de Nederlandse Letteren.

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Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com

Chapters 9-14: 0:00—Lunatic affairs. 2:42—Jane (Burden) Morris. 8:40—The position of women. 10:07—Education. 16:21—Political science. 19:27—Violence. 23:48—Governance. 25:05—Labor. 26:51—Interlude.

Chapters 15-22: 27:54—Marx & More & Bellamy. 34:59—Everything was sacrificed. 36:52—British imperialism. 39:09—How the change came. 44:27—The General Strike, 1926. 46:26—Britain, 1952. 48:52—The Great Smog. 50:13—British citizens. 53:17—Literary criticism. 59:58—Interlude.

Chapters 23-32: 1:01:01—Murder & morbid brooding. 1:03:31—Not an age of inventions. 1:06:46—Leaving nowhere behind. 1:11:16—Cottagecore. 1:12:40—Shiny, happy people. 1:16:23—The Techno-Optimist Manifesto. 1:20:19—A discovery machine. 1:21:33—Enemies list. 1:22:42—Paths to utopia. 1:27:00—Closing.

Text: William Morris, News from Nowhere. 1890. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.

Interludes: Edward Elgar, Serenade for Strings in E Minor, Op.20 (1892), performed by A Far Cry at the Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum, Boston.

Illustration: William Morris, photograph by Frederick Hollyer, 1884, Victoria & Albert Museum.

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Chapters 1-3: 0:00—Cranks & fire-eaters. 5:54—Nowhere man. 7:53—Morris the craftsman & owner & educator. 12:01—The Great Stink. 14:59—Bridging the past. 16:27—Colney Hatch. 20:08—Housing. 21:37—Upholstered women. 23:58—The Hammersmith Socialists. 26:06—Happy expressions. 27:20—Interlude.

Chapters 4-8: 28:04—Poor country people. 32:54—Good work. 38:31—Bookkeeping. 39:34—Institutions. 41:19—The Houses of Parliament. 45:21—Gladstone & the Liberals. 49:48—Bloody Sunday. 55:22—On the verge. 59:30—Closing.

Text: William Morris, News from Nowhere. 1890. Oxford Univ. Press, 2003.

Interlude: Gustave Holst, "In the Bleak Midwinter" (1905), performed by Steve's Bedroom Band (string quartet), IMSLP.

Illustration: William Morris (detail), photograph by Frederick Hollyer (c. 1890), Wikimedia.

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Chapters 18-24: 0:00—A man of duty and principle. 9:24—A dark, swirling tide. 11:11—Force of words. 13:40—The charity ball. 15:27—A frenzied downpour. 20:33—Strange things. 23:15—Naturalism. 24:54—Eva’s funk. 26:20—Forced to believe. 28:46—The climate of Java. 30:32—Interlude.

Chapters 25-26: 30:47—Impression: sunrise. 33:00—Setting & theme & style. 34:08—Pontianaks. 37:08—Moans & cries & sobs. 38:52—White and trembling. 40:25—Leonie in the bath. 43:16—The hidden force. 44:27—Filthy vermillion. 47:00—Scenes like this. 49:54—Betel juice. 53:02—Other forces. 54:51—Other monsters. 56:00—Interlude.

Chapters 27-32: 58:16—Strange happenings continue. 59:18—Leonie & Addy. 1:01:48—Benevolent & hostile forces. 1:05:45—East vs West. 1:07:23—Leonie & Addy. 1:09:25—Addy & Doddy. 1:10:21—Leaving Lubawangi. 1:15:09—Flying foxes. 1:16:37—Eva & Van Oudijck. 1:17:59—That strange, unnatural business. 1:21:31—Interlude.

Chapter 32 continued: 1:21:49—Mysticism & Islam. 1:24:24—Stoning. 1:26:06—Islam & the hidden force. 1:28:29—A hollow triumph. 1:30:48—The virgin & the dynamo. 1:33:30—The immense natural world. 1:35:24: A heretofore hidden force. 1:36:02—Endangered Indonesia. 1:41:36—Denying mystery. 1:43:12—Closing.

Text: Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force. Translated by Alexander Texiera de Mattos; revised and edited by E.M. Beekman. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1985.

Interludes: Arnold Schoenberg, “Verlarte Nacht for String Sextet, Op. 4” (1899), performed by A Far Cry Chamber Orchestra, Isabella Stewart Gardner Museum.

Sound effects: Pixabay.

Illustration: Louis Couperus as King Assuérus (detail), Java, 1899 (Wikipedia).

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Chapters 11-13: 0:00—Family history. 5:23—Racial diversity. 6:36—Addy de Luce. 9:43— Léonie’s desires. 12:41—A feverish depravity. 14: 27—Perversely admirable. 16:30— Couperus & Léonie & the fin de siècle. 20:38—Addy & Doddy. 21:18—Addy & Léonie. 23:51—Interlude.

Chapters 14-16: 24:06—Léonie doesn’t object. 25:33—Addy & Theo. 27:26—Sun worship. 30:05—Theo & si-Oudijck. 33:24—Otto Van Oudijck. 35:27—Housekeeping. 38:08—Residents. 39:19—Life under life. 40:54—The language of the unconscious. 43:20—Volcanism. 46:25—Male blindness. 48:12—Interlude.

Chapter 17: 48:07—Bowing submissively. 51:44—A world created. 53:12—The hidden force. 54:40—Resident & regent. 55:59—Secret language, metaphor & mystery. 1:00:17—Closing.

Text: Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force. Translated by Alexander Texiera de Mattos; revised and edited by E.M. Beekman. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1985.

Interludes: Richard Strauss, Salome (1905), performed by the Orchestra of the Hamburg State Opera, Karl Böhm conductor, 1971, Deutsche Grammophon recording, Internet Archive.

Illustration: Louis Couperus in Java, 1899 (detail), Der Groene Amsterdamer

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Chapters 1-4: 0:00—Dutch rule. 6:08—Narrative structure and theme. 7:50—Dusk in Labuwangi. 17:25—Couperus & Conrad. 18:46—Imperial twilight. 21:16—Doddy, Theo & Otto Van Oudijck. 22:36—The creamy Leonie. 26:40—The lovely Léonie. 28:12—The dreamy Léonie. 30:18—Silent, correct depravity. 33:21—Terror & taunting. 35:35—Interlude.

Chapters 5-6: 36:30—Van Oudijck’s delight & regret. 40:20—Behind the velvety banyans. 41:40—Profound dissonance. 43:33—Chinatown. 50:00—The hidden force. 51:18—Interlude

Chapters 7-8: 52:08—Eva’s Orient. 54:11—Confronting Sunario. 56:00—European Eva. 58:15—Racial identities. 1:03:55—Dutch exhibitionism. 1:13:53—Bewitched Debussy. 1:15:33—Balzac’s Java. 1:19:54—Interlude.

Chapters 9-10: 1:20:44—The problem with the regent. 1:25:25: Something new & something menacing. 1:27:29—Table turning. 1:30:04—The truth of spiritualism. 1:34:19—Table talk. 1:36:32—An exhausted colony. 1:39:35—Melancholic Eva. 1:40:42—Closing.

Text: Louis Couperus, The Hidden Force. Translated by Alexander Texeira de Mattos; revised and edited by E.M. Beekman. Univ. of Massachusetts Press, 1985.

Interludes: Claude Debussy, Estampes, “Pagodes” (1903), Audiartist.com / soundcloud.com.

Additional music: Javanese gamelan, performed by the Yogyakarta Gamelan Ensemble, National Museum of Asian Art, Washington, D.C., November 1, 2013.

Sound effects: Pixabay.

Illustration: Portrait of Louis Couperus, by H.J. Haverman, 1897, Wikipedia.

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Contact: jimjneilson@gmail.com