Taming Cannibals

Patrick Brantlinger

Description

In Taming Cannibals, Patrick Brantlinger unravels contradictions embedded in the racist and imperialist ideology of the British Empire. For many Victorians, the idea of taming cannibals or civilizing savages was oxymoronic: civilization was a goal that the nonwhite peoples of the world could not attain or, at best, could only approximate, yet the "civilizing mission" was viewed as the ultimate justification for imperialism. Similarly, the supposedly unshakeable certainty of Anglo-Saxon racial superiority was routinely undercut by widespread fears about racial degeneration through contact with "lesser" races or concerns that Anglo-Saxons might be superseded by something superior-an even "fitter" or "higher" race or species. Brantlinger traces the development of those fears through close readings of a wide range of texts-including Robinson Crusoe by Daniel Defoe, Fiji and the Fijians by Thomas Williams, Daily Life and Origin of the Tasmanians by James Bonwick, The Descent of Man by Charles Darwin, Heart of Darkness by Joseph Conrad, Culture and Anarchy by Matthew Arnold, She by H. Rider Haggard, and The War of the Worlds by H. G. Wells. Throughout the wide-ranging, capacious, and rich Taming Cannibals, Brantlinger combines the study of literature with sociopolitical history and postcolonial theory in novel ways.

Sujets

• Idioma inglés
• Reino Unido
• Ireland
• United Kingdom
• History of Europe
• English
• Stephen Ireland
• Great Britain
• Anglais
• Royaume-Uni

Informations

• Publié par: Cornell University Press
• Date de parution: 16 septembre 2011
• Nombre de lectures: 0
• EAN13: 9780801462634
• Langue: English
• Poids de l'ouvrage: 1 Mo

Extrait

Taming Cannibals

Taming Cannibals

Race and the Victorians

Patrick Brantlinger

Cornell University Press Ithaca and London

Copyright © 2011 by Cornell University

All rights reserved. Except for brief quotations in a review, this book, or parts thereof, must not be reproduced in any form without permission in writing from the publisher. For information, address Cornell University Press, Sage House, 512 East State Street, Ithaca, New York 14850.

First published 2011 by Cornell University Press Printed in the United States of America

Library of Congress CataloginginPublication Data Brantlinger, Patrick, 1941–  Taming cannibals : race and the Victorians / Patrick Brantlinger.  p. cm.  Includes bibliographical references and index.  ISBN 9780801450198(cloth : alk. paper)  1. English literature—19th century—History and criticism. 2. Cannibalism in literature. 3. Race in literature. 4. Racism in literature. 5. Cannibalism—History—19th century. 6. Race relations—Great Britain—History—19th century. I. Title.  PR468.C28B73 2011  305.800941—dc22 2011009588

Cornell University Press strives to use environmentally responsible suppliers and materials to the fullest extent possible in the publishing of its books. Such materials include vegetablebased, lowVOC inks and acidfree papers that are recycled, totally chlorinefree, or partly composed of nonwood fibers. For further information, visit our website at www.cornellpress.cornell.edu.

Cloth printing

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To the Memory of Edward Said

Acknowledgments

Contents

Introduction: Race and the Victorians

Part I. Two Island Stories

1. Missionaries and Cannibals in NineteenthCentury Fiji

2. King Billy’s Bones: The Last Tasmanians

Part II. Racial Alternatives

3. Going Native in NineteenthCentury History and Literature

4. “God Works by Races”: Benjamin Disraeli’s Caucasian Arabian Hebrew Tent

Part III. The 1860s: The Decade after Darwin’s Origin

5. Race and Class in the 1860s

6. The Unbearable Lightness of Being Irish

ix

1

27 46

65

86

111 136

v i i i C o n t e n t s

Part IV. Ancient and Future Races

7. Mummy Love: H. Rider Haggard and Racial Archaeology

8. “Shadows of the Coming Race”

Epilogue: Kipling’s “The White Man’s Burden” and Its Afterlives

Notes Works Cited Index

159 180 203

227 243 269

Acknowledgments

I am grateful to many friends, colleagues, students, librarians, and edi tors who have given me ideas and information over the years in regard to my Victorian and postcolonial studies projects. These include Nancy Arm strong, Todd Avery, Sarah Bilston, Daniel Bivona, Florence Boos, Howard Booth, Eva Cherniavsky, Laura Chrisman, Mary Jean Corbett, L. Perry Curtis, Martin Danahay, Deirdre David, Gaurav Desai, Jonathan Elmer, Rob Fulk, Regenia Gagnier, Helen Gilbert, Pamela Gilbert, John Glenden ing, Shane Graham, Maurice Hewitt, David Higgins, Richard Higgins, Josephine Ho, George Hutchinson, Pranav Jani, Martin Jay, David John son, Anna Johnston, Chris Keep, Hussein Khadim, Peggy Knapp, Paula Krebs, Ivan Kreilkamp, Todd Kuchta, John Kucich, Bob Langenfeld, Jil Larson, Andrew Libby, Ania Loomba, Teresa Mangum, Joss Marsh, Sara Maurer, Brook Miller, Jim Naremore, Bikhu Parekh, Sangki Park, Linda Peterson, Jan Nederveen Pieterse, Tom Prasch, Don Randall, Brian Ras mussen, John Reed, Henry Reynolds, Sukkoo Rhee, Lee Ann Richard son, Ranu Samantrai, Cannon Schmitt, Joanne Shattuck, Janet Sorensen, Bill Thesing, Chris Tiffin, Yunghsing Wu, Dan Wylie, and Tania Zulli.