Status and respectability in the Cape Colony, 1750-1870
Subtitle: a tragedy of manners
By: Robert Ross.
Series: African studies series ;; [98]
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Published: 1999
Place of publication: Cambridge, UK; New York
Language: eng
Number of pages: 203
Subjects: Social status -- South Africa -- Cape of Good Hope -- History.; Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Social life and customs.; Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- Social conditions.; Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- To 1795.; Cape of Good Hope (South Africa) -- History -- 1795-1872.
Description: "Robert Ross offers a subtle and wide-ranging study of status and respectability in the colonial Cape between 1750 and 1870. He describes the symbolism of dress, emblems, architecture, food, language and polite conventions, paying particular attention to domestic relationships, gender, education and religion, and analyses the values and the modes of thinking current in different strata of the society. He argues that these cultural factors were related to high political developments in the Cape, and offers a rich account of the changes in social identity that accompanied the transition from Dutch to British overrule, and of the development of white racism and of ideologies of resistance to white domination. The result is a uniquely nuanced account of colonial society."--BOOK JACKET.
Notes: Includes bibliographical references (p. 177-195) and index.