Heroic imperialists in Africa : the promotion of British and French colonial heroes, 1870-1939 / Berny Sèbe.

Format:

Book

Author/Creator:

Sèbe, Berny, author.

Series:

Studies in imperialism (Manchester, England)

Studies in imperialism

Language:

English

Subjects (All):

Imperialism in popular culture--Great Britain--History--19th century.

Imperialism in popular culture.

Imperialism in popular culture--Great Britain--History--20th century.

Imperialism in popular culture--France--History--19th century.

Imperialism in popular culture--France--History--20th century.

Imperialism--Public opinion--History--19th century.

Imperialism.

Imperialism--Public opinion--History--20th century.

Imperialism--Press coverage.

Colonies.

Press coverage.

Imperialism--Public opinion.

History.

Great Britain--Colonies--In mass media.

Great Britain.

France--Colonies--In mass media.

France.

Physical Description:

xxi, 329 pages : ilustrations ; 24 cm.

Distribution:

New York Palgrave Macmillan.

Place of Publication:

Manchester : Manchester univ press, 2013.

Manchester Manchester University Press, 2013.

Summary:

From David Livingstone to Charles de Foucauld, from Pierre Savorgan de Brazza to General Gordon, from the 'Sirdar' Kitchener to Jean-Baptiste Marchand, these standard-bearers of the 'civilising mission', armed with Bible or rifle, often both, became widely celebrated in their metropoles, with their exploits splashed across the front pages of the penny press, inspiring generations of biographers, painters and, later, film-makers. Coinciding with the advent of 'New Journalism', they embodied the symbolic implementation of the colonial project and performed a highly mythologised meeting between conquerors and conquered, nurturing imperial pride. Berny Sèbe explores in comparative perspective the ways in which heroes of the British and French empires in Africa were selected, manufactured and packaged from the height of 'New Imperialism' until the Second World War. He uncovers the media processes and publishing stories behind the legends of a dozen imperial heroes on both sides of the Channel, offering a comprehensive analysis of a phenomenon which was at the heart of popular imperialism. For all their now-transparent biases and shortcomings, these icons of a bygone age provide us with a fascinating insight into the mechanisms of hero-making in late nineteenth and early twentieth-century Britain and France. They also throw light upon the imperial mind-set, and the story of the interests they served help explain why their epic legends permeate - perhaps even to this day - national identities. Book jacket.

Contents:

Machine generated contents note: pt. I CONTEXTS

1.The emergence of a new type of hero: British and French contexts

2.Imperial heroes and the market I: the printed world

3.Imperial heroes and the market II: the audiovisual world

pt. II USES

4.Imperial heroes and domestic politics

5.Cross-Channel entente? The values embodied by imperial heroes

pt. III CASE STUDIES

6.The creation of the Marchand legend, 1895-1906

7.George Warrington Steevens, Blackwood Publishers and the making of With Kitchener to Khartoum.

Notes:

Includes bibliographical references and index.

ISBN:

9780719084928

071908492X

OCLC:

859591545

Publisher Number:

60001827702