Colonial boundaries~ intimacies and ambiguities in theo gift's Cape Town dicky
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Date
2000
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Univeristy of the Western Cape
Abstract
This mini-dissertation explores colonial identities and relationships in Theo Gift's Cape Town Dicky, an example of late Victorian literature. The socio-political conditions surrounding the text will be briefly related to the literature. In the analysis, postcolonial theories are employed to critically examine the mechanisms and representations of the superior 'Self and inferior 'Other'. Although these theories are useful in understanding attitudes towards the racial 'Other' in the text, it is not sufficient to understand the relationship between the two races. Postcolonial theories focus mainly on difference, to the neglect of more complex intimacies. The study consists of an exploration of the attempts at intimacies in the text and the writer's fears that render these connections fragmentary. Anxieties concerning British colonial identity, and how these contradict the notion of innate British superiority are explored. There is an implication in the text that 'Britishness' resides within the metropolitan space, and a distinction is drawn between the British from the centre and those from the peripheral colonies. I also argue that the author's celebration of the British Empire is ironic as the text exposes fears surrounding colonial 'whiteness' implying that the British living in the colonies arc prone to white degeneracy. In this study the instability of identities and stereotypes created by the writer in her attempt to accommodate the white 'Self, are revealed. Ambiguities regarding British 'etiquette' in terms of violence are also examined, as, although violence is often portrayed as something offensive and to be avoided, it is also glorified under the guise of patriotism. Throughout the study, other Victorian children's literature displaying similar preoccupations are noted to provide a more comprehensive analysis. The study also examines why these issues are explored in children's literature.
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Keywords
Dicky, British, Usebi, South Africa, Cape Town