The Savage In Literature: Representations Of 'Primitive' Society In English Fiction 1858-1920
Condition: SECONDHAND
This is a secondhand book. The jacket image is a photograph of the exact copy we have in stock. This image shows the condition of this book. Further condition remarks are below.
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
At the intersection of Victorian imagination and imperial anxiety lies The Savage in Literature, a rigorous critical study that examines how English fiction from 1858 to 1920 constructed, distorted, and mythologised the idea of 'primitive' society. Brian V. Street chronicles the persistent literary tropes through which novelists and writers of the era depicted non-Western peoples, arguing that these representations were not innocent entertainment but powerful instruments of colonial ideology. Drawing on a wide range of texts from the period, the work uncovers the recurring patterns of otherness, savagery, and civilisation that shaped the English reading public's understanding of the wider world. Part of the prestigious International Library of Anthropology series, this scholarly work sits at a compelling crossroads between literary criticism and social anthropology, reflecting Street's grounding in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Sussex. His analysis illustrates how the language of fiction became deeply entangled with the political and racial assumptions of British imperialism, lending narrative legitimacy to colonial expansion. For anyone seeking to understand how culture and empire colluded in the production of meaning, this penetrating study raises questions that remain as urgent and unsettling today as the fiction it dissects.
Author: Brian V. Street
Format: Hardback
Genre: Literary theory
Condition remarks:
Book: Good
Jacket: Worn/faded, no tears
Pages: Good
Markings: Previous owner
At the intersection of Victorian imagination and imperial anxiety lies The Savage in Literature, a rigorous critical study that examines how English fiction from 1858 to 1920 constructed, distorted, and mythologised the idea of 'primitive' society. Brian V. Street chronicles the persistent literary tropes through which novelists and writers of the era depicted non-Western peoples, arguing that these representations were not innocent entertainment but powerful instruments of colonial ideology. Drawing on a wide range of texts from the period, the work uncovers the recurring patterns of otherness, savagery, and civilisation that shaped the English reading public's understanding of the wider world. Part of the prestigious International Library of Anthropology series, this scholarly work sits at a compelling crossroads between literary criticism and social anthropology, reflecting Street's grounding in the School of Social Sciences at the University of Sussex. His analysis illustrates how the language of fiction became deeply entangled with the political and racial assumptions of British imperialism, lending narrative legitimacy to colonial expansion. For anyone seeking to understand how culture and empire colluded in the production of meaning, this penetrating study raises questions that remain as urgent and unsettling today as the fiction it dissects.