Brandenstein, Claudia. "Imperial Positions in Charles
Kingsley's At Last: A Christmas in the West Indies,” Span: Journal
of the South Pacific Association for Commonwealth Literature and Language
Studies Vol. 46 (April 1998): 4-18.
Brandenstein examines Kingsley’s At Last, his account of his
1869 trip to the West Indies, and what he considered to be his role in
the imperial mission. She considers the wide range of other accounts
of the West Indies drawn upon by Kingsley. She argues that among
a number of imperialist positions presented in the text is an anxious,
ambivalent one, namely imperialism in peril. “At Last casts
doubt on and indeed problematizes the imperial narrative, thereby calling
into question the parameters of Kingsley’s own fictional adventure story"
(13). Moreover, “At Last is not the type of bedtime story
that Britain wants to tell itself, since in this text Britain is not fully
figured as triumphant victor; its author is much too ambivalent towards
the stock representations of colonialism popular at the time” (15).
At Last;
Imperialism;
Colonialism;
Travel
Writing; West Indies; Natural
History.
Brock, W. H. "Glaucus: Kingsley and the
Seaside Naturalists," Cahiers Victoriens et Edouardiens Vol. 3 (1976):
25-36.
Brock examines Kingsley the seaside naturalist, placing him in the
context of the contemporary scientific community. Though much of
his work, for example Glaucus, was derivative and popular in nature,
he was a good amateur naturalist. For two thirds of the century there
were few professional natural historians. Brock sees one of Kingsley's
most significant contributions to science being his advocacy for increased
science education and his desire that it be a suitable occupation for all
social classes. Science might prove an appropriate entrée
for advancement into higher society for an individual barred by more traditional
societal conventions. “. . . Kingsley became a powerful spokesman
for science education at a time when this was becoming an important issue
among the professional scientific community” (34).
Science; Education;
Natural
History; Glaucus.
O’Gorman, Francis. "'More interesting than all the
books, save one': Charles Kingsley’s Construction of Natural History,"
in Juliet John and Alice Jenkins. Rethinking Victorian Culture (London:
Macmillan, 2000): 146-161.
Francis O’Gorman examines carefully the text of Glaucus; or, The
Wonders of the Shore (1854-5). He reveals that Kingsley displays
a common Victorian tendency in linking the study of natural history with
that of self-improvement. Such study may be a productive use of leisure
time if it helps strengthen one’s moral virtues. Drawing repeatedly
on the theme of medieval chivalry, Kingsley invests the natural historian
with
the heroic qualities of a knight. O’Gorman also points to the theology
of Glaucus which shows nature as consistently illustrating God’s
bounty. The student of the natural world sees the pervasive presence
of God the creator everywhere. In addition, O’Gorman sees Kingsley’s
imperialistic, colonialist tendencies revealed in the desire to conquer
nature. For example, he discusses colonial connotations in the mundane
task of collecting for the aquarium: “The natural historian’s collection
. . . implicitly asserts the authority of the collector to appropriate
and display ‘foreign’ ways of life, to signify superiority by disclosing
his power to organize, describe and own examples of other forms of life”
(155)
Glaucus;
Natural
History; Moral Lessons; Imperialism;
Colonialism.
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