Gender, race, and the writing of empire
Subtitle: public discourse and the Boer War
By: Paula M. Krebs.
Series: Cambridge studies in nineteenth-century literature and culture ;; 23
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Cambridge; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 205
Subjects: South African War, 1899-1902 -- Literature and the war.; South African War, 1899-1902 -- Foreign public opinion, British.; English literature -- 20th century -- History and criticism.; English literature -- 19th century -- History and criticism.; Imperialism in literature.; Sex role in literature.; Race in literature.; South Africa -- Foreign relations -- Great Britain.; Great Britain -- Foreign relations -- South Africa.; South Africa -- Foreign public opinion, British.; South Africa -- In literature.
Description: All of London exploded on the night of May 18, 1900, in the biggest West End party ever seen. The mix of media manipulation, patriotism, and class, race, and gender politics that produced the 'spontaneous' festivities of Mafeking Night begins this analysis of the cultural politics of late-Victorian imperialism. Paula M. Krebs examines 'the last of the gentlemen's wars' - the Boer War of 1899-1902 - and the struggles to maintain an imperialist hegemony in a twentieth-century world, through the war writings of Arthur Conan Doyle, Olive Schreiner, H. Rider Haggard, and Rudyard Kipling, as well as contemporary journalism, propaganda, and other forms of public discourse. Her feminist analysis of such matters as the sexual honor of the British soldier at war, the deaths of thousands of women and children in 'concentration camps', and new concepts of race in South Africa marks this book as a significant contribution to British imperial studies.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 189-200) and index.