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Masculinity and the New Imperialism
Rewriting Manhood in British Popular Literature, 1870–1914
Introduction
At the end of the nineteenth century, the zenith of its imperial chauvinism and jingoistic fervour, Britain’s empire was bolstered by a surprising new ideal of manliness, one that seemed less English than foreign, less concerned with moral development than perpetual competition, less civilized than savage.
Study Focus
This study examines the revision of manly ideals in relation to an ideological upheaval whereby the liberal imperialism of Gladstone was eclipsed by the New Imperialism of Disraeli and his successors.
Genres Analyzed
Analyzing such popular genres as lost world novels, school stories, and early science fiction, it charts the decline of mid-century ideals of manly self-control and the rise of new dreams of gamesmanship and frank brutality.
Imperial Masculinity
It reveals, moreover, the dependence of imperial masculinity on real and imagined exchanges between men of different nations and races, so that visions of hybrid masculinities and honorable rivalries energized Britain’s sense of its New Imperialist destiny.
