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Author:

Fuller, Jenn, author. http://id.loc.gov/authorities/names/no2016083490

Title:

Dark paradise : Pacific Islands in the nineteenth-century British imagination / Jenn Fuller.

Publisher:

Edinburgh University Press,

Copyright Date:

2016

Description:

ix, 195 pages ; 24 cm.

Subject:

English literature--19th century--History and criticism.
Literature and society--Great Britain--History--19th century.
Islands of the Pacific--In literature.
Oceania--In literature.
English literature.
Literature.
Literature and society.
Great Britain.
Oceania.
Pacific Ocean--Islands of the Pacific.
1800-1899
Criticism, interpretation, etc.
History.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references (pages 180-190) and index.

Summary:

"The discovery of the Pacific islands amplified the qualities of mystery and exoticism already associated with 'foreign' islands. Their 'savage' peoples, their isolation, and their sheer beauty fascinated British visitors across the long nineteenth century. Dark Paradise argues that while the British originally believed the islands to be commercial paradises or perfect sites for missionary endeavours, as the century progressed, their optimistic vision transformed to portray darker realities. As a result, these islands act as a 'breaking point' for British theories of imperialism, colonialism, and identity. The book traces the changing British attitudes towards imperial settlement as the early view of 'island as paradise' gives way to a fear of the hostile islanders and examines how this revelation undermined a key tenant of British imperialism -- that they were the 'superior' or 'civilized' islanders."-- Provided by publisher.

Series:

Edinburgh critical studies in Victorian culture

ISBN:

1474413846
9781474413848

OCLC:

(OCoLC)936350933

Locations:

OVUX522 -- University of Iowa Libraries (Iowa City)