Imperial masochism : British fiction, fantasy, and social class / John Kucich.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Kucich, John

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

English fiction--19th century--History and criticism.

English fiction.

Masochism in literature.

Social classes in literature.

Imperialism in literature.

Great Britain--Colonies--History--19th century.

Great Britain.

Colonies.

History.

Physical Description:

x, 258 pages ; 25 cm

Place of Publication:

Princeton : Princeton University Press, [2007]

Summary:

"If John Kucich's other books and articles have not already established him as one of today's leading and most interesting authorities on Victorian literature and culture (and I think they have), then "Imperial Masochism" certainly will do so. This is a sophisticated and well-written study."--Patrick Brantlinger, Indiana University

""Imperial Masochism" is at once a powerfully analytic and integrative book, clinically anatomizing the generative psychosocial dynamics of masochism while demonstrating through a wealth of interpretive illustration their pervasive influence on late-Victorian literature. It is sure to provoke welcome controversy among literary critics and scholars of class and empire."--Andrew H. Miller, Indiana University

Contents:

Introduction: Fantasy and Ideology 1

Masochism in Context 4

What Is Masochistic Fantasy? 17

Multiple Masochisms 28

Chapter 1 Melancholy Magic: Robert Louis Stevenson's Evangelical Anti-Imperialism 31

Masochistic Splitting in the Scottish Novels 36

Evangelicalism: Pain Is Power 47

Rewriting Social Class at the Periphery: South Seas Tales 59

Racial Projections 72

Anti-Imperialist Euphoria in the Samoan Civil War 76

The Reversibility of Masochistic Politics 84

Chapter 2 Olive Schreiner's Preoedipal Dreams: Feminism, Class, and the South African War 86

The Clash of Pleasure Economies in The Story of an African Farm 90

New Woman Feminism 96

The Regeneration of Middle-Class Culture 107

Fantasizing about the Boers 113

Domestic Middle-Class Identity and the War over the War 124

Feminist Masochism, Class Regeneration, and Critical Disavowal 129

Chapter 3 Sadomasochism and the Magical Group: Kipling's Middle-Class Imperialism 136

Sadomasochism, Bullying, and Omnipotence in Stalky & Co. 140

Magical Groups: Bullies, Victims, and Bystanders 151

Kim: The Magical Group as Imperial Agent 160

Magical Professionals in the Short Fiction 168

Evangelicalism and Middle-Class Unilateralism 182

Class Hostility, Classlessness, and the Magical Middle Class 188

Chapter 4 The Masochism of the Craft: Conrad's Imperial Professionalism 196

Varieties of Colonial Omnipotence 200

"In the Destructive Element Immerse" 210

Empathy as a Narcissistic Disorder 216

Class Magic and Class Melancholia 223

Professional Redemption 235

Masochistic Imperialism 244.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

0691127123

OCLC:

65399977

Publisher Number:

9780691127125

Online:

Publisher description