Imperial Emotions - The Politics of Empathy Across the British Empire

Emotions are not universal, but are experienced and expressed differently across cultures and times. Jane Lydon examines how emotions were used to justify, advance or contest imperialism by creating relationships between British subjects across the globe, but also by excluding specific groups.

List of contents

List of figures; Acknowledgements; Introduction: emotions and empire; 1. Children of empire: British nationalism and colonial utopias; 2. Colonial 'blind spots': images of frontier conflict; 3. Australian Uncle Tom's Cabins; 4. The homeless of empire? Imperial outcasts in Bleak House; 5. Christian heroes on the new frontier; 6. Charity begins at home? Philanthropy, magic lantern slides and missionary performances; 7. The Republican debate and popular royalism: 'a strange reluctance to actually shout at the Queen'; Bibliography; Index.

About the author

Jane Lydon is Professor of History and Wesfarmers Chair of Australian History at the University of Western Australia. Her research centres upon Australia's colonial past and its legacies in the present. She worked as an archaeologist before becoming a historian, and retains an interest in diverse forms of evidence for the past, especially photographic archives.

Summary

Emotions are not universal, but are experienced and expressed differently across cultures and times. Jane Lydon examines how emotions were used to justify, advance or contest imperialism by creating relationships between British subjects across the globe, but also by excluding specific groups.

Foreword

Examines the politicisation of empathy across the British empire during the nineteenth century and traces its legacies into the present.

Product details

• Authors: Jane Lydon, Jane (University of Western Australia Lydon, Lydon Jane
• Publisher: Cambridge University Press ELT
• Languages: English
• Product format: Paperback / Softback
• Released: 31.12.2022
• EAN: 9781108735759
• ISBN: 978-1-108-73575-9
• No. of pages: 235
• Series: Critical Perspectives on Empire
• Subjects: Humanities, art, music > History > General, dictionaries; Non-fiction book > History > Miscellaneous; European History, HISTORY / Europe / General, POLITICAL SCIENCE / Colonialism & Post-Colonialism, HISTORY / Social History, Social & cultural history, HISTORY / Australia & New Zealand, HISTORY / Oceania, Colonialism & imperialism, Social and cultural history, Australasian & Pacific history, Colonialism and imperialism, Australasian and Pacific history