Envisioning the Worst: Representations of "Hottentots" in Early-modern England

Envisioning the Worst: Representations of "Hottentots" in Early-modern England
ISBN-10
0874137381
ISBN-13
9780874137385
Category
History
Pages
289
Language
English
Published
2001
Publisher
University of Delaware Press
Author
Linda Evi Merians

Description

"Tracing all the pre-colonial representations of "Hottentots" and "Hottentotism" operative in early-modern England allows us to see the birth and the development of a prejudice that became central to the nation. In their constructions of "Hottentots" the English found a way to vent their own fear, anger, and conflict about themselves and their society, particularly as they were transforming and redefining their nation as imperial Great Britain. The very invention of the "Hottentots" shows that the English needed to envision a worst people in order to imagine themselves as the world's most advanced people."--BOOK JACKET.

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