1st Edition

The Colonizer Abroad Island Representations in American Prose from Herman Melville to Jack London

By Christopher McBride Copyright 2004
    178 Pages
    by Routledge

    178 Pages
    by Routledge

    Looking at a diverse series of authors--Herman Melville, Richard Henry Dana, Jr., Mark Twain, Charles Warren Stoddard, and Jack London--The Colonizer Abroad claims that as the U.S. emerged as a colonial power in the nineteenth and twentieth centuries, the literature of the sea became a literature of imperialism. This book applies postcolonial theory to the travel writing of some of America's best-known authors, revealing the ways in which America's travel fiction and nonfiction have both reflected and shaped society.

    Contents Preface Introduction Chapter One: Melville's Typee and the Development of the American Colonial Imagination Chapter Two: The Colonizer in Cuba: Richard Henry Dana's To Cuba and Back Chapter Three: The kings of the Sandwich Islands: Mark Twain's Letters from Hawaii and Postbellum American Imperialism Chapter Four: Charles Warren Stoddard and the American HomoColonial Literary Excursion Chapter Five: And Who Are These White Men?: Jack London's The House of Pride and American Colonization of the Hawaiian Islands Conclusion Notes Bibliography Index

    Biography

    Christopher McBride completed his Ph.D. in English in 2001 at the Claremont Graduate University, and is currently a member of the English faculty at Solano College. He has published articles on American conjure stories, Herman Melville, William Dean Howells, and Mary Austin.