This article examined the notion of colonial anxiety through the concept of space in the colonial setting, particularly through the usage of signifiers found in colonial literature. The four case studies used are Burmese Days by George Orwell, Max Havelaar by Multatuli, Kim by Rudyard Kipling, and Midnight’s Children by Salman Rushdie. These have been investigated in terms of the supposed sanctuary and feeling of unease that the private colonial spaces they present offer to their characters. In this way, it has been argued that private colonial spaces can be discussed in terms of both positive and negative signifiers for those using them. Highlighting the effect of colonial anxiety, this piece is primarily interested in the negative connotations and how the characters deal with these challenges. 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This article seeks to broaden the ongoing debate surrounding the nature and structure of colonial anxiety by incorporating elements of literary discussion into the conversation. It is a commonly experienced problem that the current definition of colonial anxiety is not mutable, and is often viewed as a singular indivisible whole. This, of course, cannot be the case due to the inherent links between anxiety generally, and its sub-set “colonial anxiety”. Whilst there are many methods of examining colonial anxiety, the current study seeks to examine the problem through literature. The investigation will examine George Orwell’s Burmese Days and Multatuli’s Max Havelaar as core texts. Whilst Orwell’s anti-imperial feelings have been well publicized, as has Multatuli’s anti-colonial standpoint, the notion that they were individual colonial servants who likely, it is argued, suffered from colonial anxiety, has not. Also crucial to the discussion will be the attempt to more fully integrate diverse regions such as Burma and Indonesia into the wider debate on colonial anxiety.
This study was inspired by research into the personal correspondence of colonial servants in Sumatra and South Asia, and the realisation that their articulation of negative emotions such as anxiety or fear are ill-fitted to the current wider understanding of colonial anxiety. This article argues that the progress of colonial empires was widely shaped by negative emotions such as these, yet there were also methods used by colonial servants to deal with such negative experiences. The core example of this has been the case studies of Robert Cowan and Alexander Hall; these men’s letter archives display their usage of correspondence networks as part of their coping strategy. It is argued that these specifically ethnic, and at times gendered, correspondence networks formed a cultural bulwark which was used to cope with aspects of colonial anxiety. The method of this study therefore was epistolary examination to gather evidence and construct arguments. The archives of Cowan and Hall were compared and examined side by side to identify common patters and content. These were then considered in tandem with the current wider understanding of colonial anxiety. Based on the evidence gathered, it has been concluded that ethnic networks such as those examined could mitigate aspects of colonial anxiety. At the same time, these also demonstrate the great potential for future interdisciplinary studies involving personal histories tied to both Sumatra and South Asia.
This article examines the progression of the two colonies which came to the English crown as a result of the Anglo-Portuguese marriage treaty of 1661, Tangier and Bombay. The years 1662-85 act as the border for this study, taking in the entire duration of Tangier’s existence as an English crown colony and Bombay’s emergence as a settlement of the East India Company. Whilst English Tangier was a noted failure in colonial terms, the long-term development of Bombay proved to be a major success for the British in the subcontinent. Whilst this study will examine these divergent fortunes in social, economic and military terms, questions will also be posed as to the role which royal and chartered trading company patronage played in the success of these two settlements. This in turn will feed into the ongoing debate surrounding global approaches to colonial expansion and empire, as well as demonstrate the benefits and limitations of royal patronage in colonial development.
All My Cats is an autobiographical novel representing Hrabal’s fatal anxiety from the potential mental conflict with domesticated animals. This article examines the concept of anxiety and the potential for domesticated animals, in this example, cats, to exert agency and impact the lives of their owners in autobiographical literature. Bohumil Hrabal's All My Cats has been selected due to the prominence of literary signifiers of anxiety, his ambivalent attitude toward cats (love and hate) throughout the text, and Hrabal’s specific interpretation of what his cats did for him and to him in emotional terms. The methodology selected does not presuppose that cats, or animals in the broader sense, possess agency on an equal footing with humans. Rather, they can exist in an interdependent or collaborative state with humans. This may be seen as a form of an unwritten social contract between animals and humans in a domestic setting. In the case of Hrabal and his cats, his perception of his cats and what they attempt to communicate to him is most interesting in this regard, particularly when viewed through the lens of anxiety and the literary signifier.
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