Ryuichiro Usui, "Coffee Turns World History" Summary and Impressions - Western modern society changed by coffee! A recommended book to learn about world history from the perspective of coffee!
This time we would like to introduce "Coffee Ga Mawaru Sekai Shishi Ga Mawaru" written by Ryuichiro Usui and published by Chuokoron Shinsha in 1992.
Let's take a quick look at the book.
Coffee, made from beans native to East Africa and born against the backdrop of Islamic religious beliefs, creates coffee houses in the Near East. In London, he became a coffee house and prepared the institutions of modern civil society, and in Paris, he participated in the French Revolution and proclaimed "freedom, equality, and philanthropy. On the other hand, he was involved in exploitation and racial discrimination in the colonies, and later gave birth to fascism, the devil child of civil society, in Germany. The history of coffee as a commodity is described as an allegory of modern civilization.
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As the subtitle of this book, "Coffee Turns and World History Turns," states, "The Black Blood of Modern Civil Society," it is a work that allows us to see how coffee has influenced modern society.
I picked up this work by Mutsuko Suzuki, which I have previously introduced in this blog.The Home of Sri Lankan Black TeaThe book was inspired by a book called
I am currently learning about Sri Lanka. When I first started learning about Sri Lanka, I was researching the differences and connections between Buddhism in India and Sri Lanka, but my interest eventually broadened to include Sri Lanka's history, political economy, and overall culture, which led me to a book about tea.
And what surprised me when I read this book was that Sri Lanka, famous for its tea, was actually once famous for its coffee.
I was so struck by Sri Lankan coffee that I picked up this book to take a closer look at the history of coffee.
And as a lover of coffee, this book was just a great jackpot for me.
The book begins with the origins of coffee and from there looks at how coffee penetrated European society.
Coffee was first consumed in the Islamic world in the late 15th century. It is interesting to note that coffee was not only drunk in Islamic societies, but was especially favored by Sufi mystics.
Coffee houses were established in London in 1652. From here, the history of coffee in England began at once.
The coffee house became more than just a place to drink coffee; it became a meeting place where citizens could freely and openly discuss politics, economics, academics, the arts, and everything in between.
Here are some particularly memorable passages from this book. This is the part that explains why coffeehouses became so popular in Europe. It is a bit long, but I will read it carefully.
The coffee house was the birthplace of the new. Many of the institutions of modern civil society were prepared there. But the coffee house was also a place where the people who entered and left the coffee house were transformed for modern civil society. Coffee was also the liquid that awakened, rationalized, and made one talkative. Of course, the real cause and effect was the opposite: it was the allure of the new kind of "public space" that drew people in, rather than the black, bitter drink called coffee itself, and the real commodity was information. At any rate, at 6 p.m., the rooms of the coffee houses were filled to overflowing with people. People would gather in the coffee house to meet people, chat, exchange pleasantries, take care of business matters, and above all, to listen to political news, discuss and review important events. (omitted).
At the heart of the coffee house atmosphere is a democratic spirit that allows for free speech by "people of differing judgment. No one in the coffee house cares where the top seat is. On the wall, the "rules and etiquette" to be observed in the coffee house are posted, starting with a welcome to the guests and the fact that there is no need to give up your seat, even if an old man comes to the coffee house.
But even though the coffee house is a freewheeling space, there is one important regulation that has been instrumental in squeezing certain abilities out of the pre-modern common people and shaping them into modern citizens. It is the conversational noka. Even though coffee houses brought together people from all walks of life to talk, not all seventeenth-century Londoners knew how to converse. They would not eat "public discussion" that was talked over like a married couple having a fight at home. The "Rules and Etiquette" list a number of inappropriate behaviors to be avoided in the coffee house. In addition to forbidding playing cards and dice, it also warns against cursing and shouting as "the work of the devil. Modern civil society does not want people who do not have the conversational skills to carry public opinion. It is a society in which people are ridiculed if they remain silent.
Seventeenth-century coffeehouses played a historic role in the development of "conversazione," a technique essential to civil society. Traditionally, the places that come to mind as places for human conversation are ballrooms, theaters, parks, matinees, and soirées, in short, the social spaces of high society. In contrast to these classic places, the special feature of coffee house conversation is that the boundaries of status are removed. People of high status were not afraid to talk with people of a much lower social class. The very diversity of the clientele was the attraction of the coffee house, and only this allowed for varied and unpredictable conversations and debates about everything from social and political trends and business affairs to literature and art. The courtly politeness of court society was no longer necessary. What mattered here was the content of information, the speed of conversation, and communication. The coffee house was also a speaking class that taught conversational skills appropriate for the busy business world.
Conversations bounced back and forth in thought, awakening the spirit of a new era. Needless to say, writers who gave expression to the spirit of the times frequented coffee houses. Several coffeehouses became famous as haunts for prominent poets. Wills, where Dryden reigned and Pope and Swift frequented, and the Methuen's and Saint James, made famous by the publication of Addison and Steele's moralistic weekly newspapers, The Tatler and The Spectator. In the seventeenth and eighteenth centuries, the coffee house was not only the center of literary life, but also a center for the creation of a "readership," a segment of the public that would judge and criticize the inhabitants of modern civil society. This "readership" was, first and foremost, "respectable citizens who spend more time in coffee houses than in their own homes. They learn the art of expressing their opinions in concise sentences. They learn the art of expressing their opinions in concise sentences, because "the ear cannot follow long sentences as well as the eye. Coffee houses teach them the art of forming their public views by exchanging differing opinions. It cannot be said that a person who has formed his opinions solely by listening to others is better than a person who has developed his judgment solely through reading. But there is no doubt that the former are flexible, agile, sociable, and, in a word, fit for the times.
In short, modern civil society values a person whose blood circulates quickly. Coffee, which promotes blood circulation, was the perfect drink for this time. The merchant ships of the British Empire sailed around the world's oceans, the circulation of goods and money began on a global scale centered in the mercantile capital of London, members of Congress were required to rotate from time to time, businessmen made the rounds of coffee houses, and in coffee houses, waiters made the rounds between tables, and inside the waiters' bodies, blood was busy. In the coffee houses, waiters walk between tables, and blood rushes busily through the waiter's body. But even the times are turning. And somehow, the coffee and coffee houses of today are easily swept out of the circulation of the times.
Coffee Ga Mawaru Sekai Shishi Ga Mawaru" by Ryuichiro Usui, published by Chuokoron Shinsha, P73-77
You can see from this passage how coffee had a great impact on society in England.
But note the meaningful words at the end, "And somehow, the coffee and coffee houses of the day are easily swept out of the zeitgeist." The last sentence, "And somehow, the coffee and coffeehouses of today are easily swept out of the zeitgeist.
Somehow, the popularity of coffee, which had had a tremendous impact on British society, began to wane and was eventually replaced by tea. The book also tells the story of how this happened.
It is also very exciting to learn more about the coffee situation not only in England but also in France, Germany, and other countries. Coffee was also a major factor in the French Revolution and Napoleon.
A great piece of "world history through coffee." This is interesting! As a coffee lover, this was a very exciting book for me.
We recommend this new book for a compact introduction to the history of coffee. Why not pick up a copy?
The above is "Ryuichiro Usui's "Coffee Turns and World History Turns" - Western modern society changed by coffee! A recommended book to learn about world history from the perspective of coffee! This is a recommended book to learn about world history from the perspective of coffee!
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