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The Savage and Modern Self: North American Indians in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture

Richardson, Robbie John (2018) The Savage and Modern Self: North American Indians in Eighteenth-Century British Literature and Culture. University of Toronto Press, 264 pp. ISBN 978-1-4875-0344-4. (Access to this publication is currently restricted. You may be able to access a copy if URLs are provided) (KAR id:67253)

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Abstract

The Savage and Modern Self examines the representations of North American "Indians" in novels, poetry, plays, and material culture from eighteenth-century Britain. Author Robbie Richardson argues that depictions of "Indians" in British literature were used to critique and articulate evolving ideas about consumerism, colonialism, "Britishness," and, ultimately, the "modern self" over the course of the century. Considering the ways in which British writers represented contact between Britons and "Indians," both at home and abroad, the author shows how these sites of contact moved from a self-affirmation of British authority earlier in the century, to a mutual corruption, to a desire to appropriate perceived traits of "Indianess." Looking at texts exclusively produced in Britain, The Savage and Modern Self reveals that "the modern" finds definition through imagined scenes of cultural contact. By the end of the century, Richardson concludes, the hybrid Indian-Brition emerging in literature and visual culture exemplifies a form of modern, British masculinity.

Item Type: Book
Subjects: P Language and Literature
P Language and Literature > PR English literature
Divisions: Divisions > Division of Arts and Humanities > School of English
Depositing User: Robbie Richardson
Date Deposited: 19 Dec 2018 13:50 UTC
Last Modified: 04 Feb 2020 15:40 UTC
Resource URI: https://kar.kent.ac.uk/id/eprint/67253 (The current URI for this page, for reference purposes)

University of Kent Author Information

Richardson, Robbie John.

Creator's ORCID: https://orcid.org/0000-0002-2603-3586
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