- Title:
- I could not bear to be beaten by difficulties : Exploring David Livingstone and questions of manliness, race and colonialism in ninetheenth-century Africa and Britain
- Creator:
- Petrusic, Christopher G.
- Date Created:
- 2002
- Degree Awarded:
- Doctor of Philosophy
- Subjects:
- gender race colonialism imperialism
- Geographical Focus:
- Britain Africa
- Supporting Materials:
- n/a
- Description:
- The thesis examines the complex relationship between gender, race and imperialism. The missionary-explorer David Livingstone (1813-1873) was one of the most celebrated heroes of the British empire. However, his unconventional conception of African manliness and his radical racial politics have long been buried in a potent myth that has obscured his view of Africans, empire and manliness. This study demonstrates that Livingstone’s idea of what it meant to be manly was at odds with imperialism’s dominant racial and gender stereotypes. Critical of the racial intolerance of his compatriots, Livingstone maintained that manliness was not the exclusive dominion of white men, as it was for most other nineteenth century Britons. He held the unorthodox view that African men could demonstrate manliness on a par with any other ‘race’ of men, whether they were members of his crew or working in pursuit of their own goals. Although Livingstone was not free from racial intolerance, among Victorians his attitudes towards Africans were radical ‘ and they separated him from most of his contemporaries. By comparing his racial attitudes 3 with those of his compatriots, I show that his conception of ‘race’ challenged orthodox Victorian opinion about the ‘nature’ of Africans and African society in a number of complex and distinctive ways. Throughout his writings, Livingstone asserted that all Africans had the inherent capacity to ‘rise’ to the level of the most ‘civilized’ societies. During his thirty years in Africa, this belief motivated, in part, his support for the anti-colonial struggles of the Xhosa and Khoikhoi peoples against British exploitation in the Cape Colony.
Source
- Preferred Citation:
- Petrusic, Christopher G.. 2002. "I could not bear to be beaten by difficulties : Exploring David Livingstone and questions of manliness, race and colonialism in ninetheenth-century Africa and Britain", Department of History, Carleton University
- Link to this page:
- https://cuhistory.github.io/grads/items/hist_175.html
Rights
- Rights:
- Copyright the author, all rights reserved, unless otherwise indicated.