Political Magic British Fictions of Savagery and Sovereignty, 1650-1750 /
Loar, Christopher F.
Political Magic examines early modern British fictions of exploration and colonialism, arguing that narratives of intercultural contact reimagine ideas of sovereignty and popular power. These fictions reveal aspects of political thought in this period that official discourse typically shunted aside, particularly the political status of the commoner, whose “liberty” was often proclaimed even as it was undermined both in theory and in practice. Like the Hobbesian sovereign, the colonist appears to the colonized as a giver of rules who remains unruly. At the heart of many texts are moments of savage wonder, provoked by European displays of technological prowess. In particular, the trope of the first gunshot articulates an origin of consent and political legitimacy in colonial showmanship. Yet as manifestations of force held in abeyance, these technologies also signal the ultimate reliance of sovereigns on extreme violence as the less than-mystical foundation of their authority. By examining works by Cavendish, Defoe, Behn, Swift, and Haywood in conjunction with contemporary political writing and travelogues, Political Magic locates a subterranean discourse of sovereignty in the century after Hobbes, finding surprising affinities between the government of “savages” and of Britons.
Includes index.
Political Magic examines early modern British fictions of exploration and colonialism, arguing that narratives of intercultural contact reimagine ideas of sovereignty and popular power. These fictions reveal aspects of political thought in this period that official discourse typically shunted aside, particularly the political status of the commoner, whose “liberty” was often proclaimed even as it was undermined both in theory and in practice. Like the Hobbesian sovereign, the colonist appears to the colonized as a giver of rules who remains unruly. At the heart of many texts are moments of savage wonder, provoked by European displays of technological prowess. In particular, the trope of the first gunshot articulates an origin of consent and political legitimacy in colonial showmanship. Yet as manifestations of force held in abeyance, these technologies also signal the ultimate reliance of sovereigns on extreme violence as the less than-mystical foundation of their authority. By examining works by Cavendish, Defoe, Behn, Swift, and Haywood in conjunction with contemporary political writing and travelogues, Political Magic locates a subterranean discourse of sovereignty in the century after Hobbes, finding surprising affinities between the government of “savages” and of Britons.
Includes bibliographical references (pages 285-318) and index.
Introduction: magical government -- Enchanting the savage: the politics of pyrotechnics in the Cavendish Circle -- Fire and sword: Aphra Behn and the materials of authority -- Talking guns and savage spaces: Daniel Defoe's civilizing technologies -- Doctrines detestables: Jonathan Swift, despotism, and virtue -- Savage vision: violence, reason, and surveillance in Eliza Haywood -- Coda: Enemies.
Description based on print version record.
Noncitizens in literature.
Authority in literature.
Politics in literature.
Politics and literature
Politics and literature
English fiction
English fiction
Political fiction, English
Apha.
Behn.
Carl.
Cavendish.
Daniel.
Defoe.
Eliza.
Haywood.
Hobbes.
Imperialism and literature.
Jonathan.
Margaret.
Politics and literature.
Savagery.
Schmitt.
Sovereignty.
States of exception.
Swift.
Thomas.