Rule of Darkness: British Literature and Imperialism, 1830-1914 by Patrick Brant

Description: Rule of Darkness by Patrick Brantlinger A major contribution to the cultural and literary history of the Victorian age, this book maps the complex relationship between Victorian literary forms, genres, and theories and imperialist, racist ideology. FORMAT Hardcover LANGUAGE English CONDITION Brand New Publisher Description A major contribution to the cultural and literary history of the Victorian age, Rule of Darkness maps the complex relationship between Victorian literary forms, genres, and theories and imperialist, racist ideology. Critics and cultural historians have usually regarded the Empire as being of marginal importance to early and mid-Victorian writers. Patrick Brantlinger asserts that the Empire was central to British culture as a source of ideological and artistic energy, both supported by and lending support to widespread belief in racial superiority, the need to transform "savagery" into "civilization," and the urgency of promoting emigration.Rule of Darkness brings together material from public records, memoirs, popular culture, and canonical literature. Brantlinger explores the influence of the novels of Captain Frederick Marryat, pioneer of British adolescent adventure fiction, and shows the importance of William Makepeace Thackerays experience of India to his novels. He treats a number of Victorian best sellers previously ignored by literary historians, including the Anglo-Indian writer Philip Meadows Taylors Confessions of a Thug and Seeta. Brantlinger situates explorers narratives and travelogues by such famous author-adventurers as David Livingstone and Sir Richard Burton in relation to other forms of Victorian and Edwardian prose. Through readings of works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Conrad, H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, John Hobson, and many others, he considers representations of Africa, India, and other non-British parts of the world in both fiction and nonfiction.The most comprehensive study yet of literature and imperialism in the early and mid-Victorian years, Rule of Darkness offers, in addition, a revisionary interpretation of imperialism as a significant factor in later British cultural history, from the 1880s to World War I. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with Victorian culture and society and, more generally, with the relationship between Victorian writers and imperialism, and between racist ideology and patterns of domination in modern history. Author Biography Patrick Brantlinger is James Rudy and College Alumni Distinguished Professor (Emeritus) of English and Victorian Studies at Indiana University. He is the author of many books, including Dark Vanishings, Fictions of State, and Bread and Circuses, also from Cornell. Table of Contents IntroductionPART I. DAWN1. From Dawn Island to Heart of Darkness2. Bringing Up the Empire: Captain Marryats MidshipmenPART II. NOON3. Thackerays India4. Black Swans; or, Botany Bay Eclogues5. The New Crusades6. The Genealogy of the Myth of the "Dark Continent"7. The Well at Cawnpore: Literary Representations of the Indian Mutiny of 1857PART III. DUSK8. Imperial Gothic: Atavism and the Occult in the British Adventure Novel, 1880-19149. Epilogue: Kurtzs "Darkness" and Conrads Heart of DarknessNotesIndex Review "An outstanding analysis of imperialism in 19th-century British literature.... Brantlinger deploys a real wealth of material, providing fresh insights at every turn." * Times Higher Education Supplement * "This learned and incisive study shows how deeply imperialist assumptions pervade Victorian narratives from the adventure yarn through the realist novel and the Imperial Gothic of fantasy fiction. Brantlinger both colonizes a range of noncanonical texts and explores the imperialist darkness at the heart of such standard authors as Macaulay and Thackeray, Kipling and Conrad.... His mapping of overgrown paths between Victorian liberalism and imperialism, abolitionism and racism, are invaluable guides to the imaginative politics of the last century." * Virginia Quarterly Review * "The path-breaking work Brantlinger has done opens up the terrain of Victorian culture in refreshing and remarkable ways. His analysis of the imperialist impulse in many heretofore isolated phases of Victorian culture is both inspiring and dependable, a rare combination. Rule of Darkness will undoubtedly be complemented and extended by the work of others in the near future, but it is hard to see how it could be surpassed." * Novel * "Rule of Darkness is a significant contribution to studies seeking to reveal how the English in the nineteenth century created demeaning and often destructive images of Mrica and the East, images that continue to haunt twentieth-century writing, films, and attitudes." * Conradiana * Long Description A major contribution to the cultural and literary history of the Victorian age, Rule of Darkness maps the complex relationship between Victorian literary forms, genres, and theories and imperialist, racist ideology. Critics and cultural historians have usually regarded the Empire as being of marginal importance to early and mid-Victorian writers. Patrick Brantlinger asserts that the Empire was central to British culture as a source of ideological and artistic energy, both supported by and lending support to widespread belief in racial superiority, the need to transform "savagery" into "civilization," and the urgency of promoting emigration. Rule of Darkness brings together material from public records, memoirs, popular culture, and canonical literature. Brantlinger explores the influence of the novels of Captain Frederick Marryat, pioneer of British adolescent adventure fiction, and shows the importance of William Makepeace Thackerays experience of India to his novels. He treats a number of Victorian best sellers previously ignored by literary historians, including the Anglo-Indian writer Philip Meadows Taylors Confessions of a Thug and Seeta . Brantlinger situates explorers narratives and travelogues by such famous author-adventurers as David Livingstone and Sir Richard Burton in relation to other forms of Victorian and Edwardian prose. Through readings of works by Arthur Conan Doyle, Joseph Conrad, H. Rider Haggard, Rudyard Kipling, John Hobson, and many others, he considers representations of Africa, India, and other non-British parts of the world in both fiction and nonfiction. The most comprehensive study yet of literature and imperialism in the early and mid-Victorian years, Rule of Darkness offers, in addition, a revisionary interpretation of imperialism as a significant factor in later British cultural history, from the 1880s to World War I. It is essential reading for anyone concerned with Victorian culture and society and, more generally, with the relationship between Victorian writers and imperialism, and between racist ideology and patterns of domination in modern history. Review Quote "This learned and incisive study shows how deeply imperialist assumptions pervade Victorian narratives from the adventure yarn through the realist novel and the Imperial Gothic of fantasy fiction. Brantlinger both colonizes a range of noncanonical texts and explores the imperialist darkness at the heart of such standard authors as Macaulay and Thackeray, Kipling and Conrad.... His mapping of overgrown paths between Victorian liberalism and imperialism, abolitionism and racism, are invaluable guides to the imaginative politics of the last century." Details ISBN0801420903 Author Patrick Brantlinger Publisher Cornell University Press Year 1988 ISBN-10 0801420903 ISBN-13 9780801420900 Format Hardcover Imprint Cornell University Press Subtitle British Literature and Imperialism, 1830-1914 Place of Publication Ithaca Country of Publication United States DEWEY 820.9008 Birth 1941 Publication Date 1988-02-24 Pages 336 Illustrations 12 halftones Short Title Rule of Darkness Language English Media Book DOI 10.1604/9780801420900 Audience General/Trade UK Release Date 1988-02-24 We've got this At The Nile, if you're looking for it, we've got it. With fast shipping, low prices, friendly service and well over a million items - you're bound to find what you want, at a price you'll love! TheNile_Item_ID:159797208;

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