Gender and colonial space /

Saved in:

Bibliographic Details
Author / Creator:	Mills, Sara, 1954- author.
Imprint:	Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, [2005] ©2005
Description:	1 online resource (199 pages)
Language:	English
Subject:	Feminist theory. Feminist geography. Gender identity in literature. Postcolonialism. Postcolonialism in literature. Feminist geography. Feminist theory. Gender identity in literature. Postcolonialism. Postcolonialism in literature. Electronic books.
Format:	E-Resource Book
URL for this record:	http://pi.lib.uchicago.edu/1001/cat/bib/11167061

Hidden Bibliographic Details
ISBN:	9781781702284 1781702284 9781847793812 1847793819 0719053358 9780719053351 0719053366 9780719053368
Notes:	Includes bibliographical references and index. Print version record.
Summary:	"Gender and colonial space is a trenchant analysis of the complex relation between social relations, including notions of class, nationality and gender, and spatial relations, landscape, architecture and topography -- in post-colonial contexts." "Arguing against much of the psychoanalytic focus of much current post-colonial theory Mills aims to set out in a new direction, drawing on a wide range of literary and non-literary texts to develop a more materialist approach. She foregrounds gender in this field where it has often been marginalised by the critical orthodoxies demonstrating its importance not only in spatial theorising in general, but in the post-colonial theorising of space in particular." "Concentrating on the period of high British colonialism at the close of the nineteenth century, she examines a range of contexts, looking at a range of colonial contexts such as India, Africa, America, Canada, Australia and Britain, illustrating how relations must be analysed for the way in which different colonial contexts define and constitute each other."--Jacket.
Other form:	Print version: Mills, Sara, 1954- Gender and colonial space. Manchester ; New York : Manchester University Press, [2005] 0719053358

Review by Choice Review

The slimness of this book is a deceit; in less than 200 pages, the author manages to introduce several important issues dealing with the legacy of colonialism, and she presents her intertextual discussions at a highly theoretical level. Mills (linguistics, Sheffield Hallam Univ.) argues that current criticisms of postcolonial theory have caused "its demise." Thus, there is a need to analyze the spatial arrangement of former European colonies in India, Australia, and Africa from the "materialist feminist" perspective. The main object of the study is travel writings of European women in those colonies, though Mills also discusses designs of architecture and landscape. While spatial settings reflect social relations in any given society, the reflection, she contends, varied noticeably in these colonies and was complicated and enriched by the writings of female travelers. From this observation, the author points out that due to its intrinsic alliance with psychoanalytical theory, postcolonialism has resulted in a fixation with stereotypes and fantasies, hence failing to notice the specificity of colonial practices. Taking a gendered approach to analyzing colonial space can aid in revealing this specificity. Although a cogent argument, additional concrete research seems to be needed for substantiation. ^BSumming Up: Recommended. Graduate students/faculty. Q. E. Wang Rowan University

Review by Choice Review

Gender and colonial space /

Similar Items