Imagining Africa: Landscape in H. Rider Haggard's African Romances

(Hardback)

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Best known as the author of such works as King Solomon's Mines and She, H. Rider Haggard was one of the most popular writers of the late-Victorian era, and his works continue to be influential today. To a large degree, his novels are captivating because of his image of Africa, and an understanding of his representation of the African landscape is central to a critical reading of his works. This book argues that Haggard created in his African romances a formulaic, ideological geography which provided a canvas onto which he projected his desires and fears, both personal and political, as well as those of his age. The first full-length study of land and landscape in Haggard's African romances, this book approaches his construction of an imaginary African landscape as a product of late-Victorian wishful thinking about Africa, analyzing his African topography as a vast Eden, a wilderness, a dream underworld, a home to ancient white civilizations, and a sexualized metaphor for the human body. While the work looks primarily at his pre-1892 romances, which were his most powerful, it also gives attention to his nonfiction and unpublished papers. Because Haggard's writings embodied the spirit of his age, this book is an essential guide to late-Victorian concepts of Africa, colonization, and the British Empire.

Reviews

.,."the first sustained piece of work on Haggard's treatment of landscape in his African romances."-Research in African Literatures
...the first sustained piece of work on Haggard's treatment of landscape in his African romances.-Research in African Literatures
[t]his is a monumental work of research which shows not just an academic slant of critique but, more importantly, a thorough knowledge of Rider Haggard's African romances....An original work on Haggard after all this time is a real pleasure and she should be congratulated on her achievement. Of special interest is that she is writing from South Africa where there is obviously a great deal of interest in the past and how others have used their history, scenery and legends. Along with Stephen Coan she is setting a new agenda which could have very interesting results in years to come. On the whole Haggard comes out very well from her book whether the whole premise is accepted or not. I can certainly recommend this book to all serious readers of Rider Haggard.-XMAS Journal
"this is a monumental work of research which shows not just an academic slant of critique but, more importantly, a thorough knowledge of Rider Haggard's African romances....An original work on Haggard after all this time is a real pleasure and she should be congratulated on her achievement. Of special interest is that she is writing from South Africa where there is obviously a great deal of interest in the past and how others have used their history, scenery and legends. Along with Stephen Coan she is setting a new agenda which could have very interesting results in years to come. On the whole Haggard comes out very well from her book whether the whole premise is accepted or not. I can certainly recommend this book to all serious readers of Rider Haggard."-XMAS Journal
..."the first sustained piece of work on Haggard's treatment of landscape in his African romances."-Research in African Literatures
"[t]his is a monumental work of research which shows not just an academic slant of critique but, more importantly, a thorough knowledge of Rider Haggard's African romances....An original work on Haggard after all this time is a real pleasure and she should be congratulated on her achievement. Of special interest is that she is writing from South Africa where there is obviously a great deal of interest in the past and how others have used their history, scenery and legends. Along with Stephen Coan she is setting a new agenda which could have very interesting results in years to come. On the whole Haggard comes out very well from her book whether the whole premise is accepted or not. I can certainly recommend this book to all serious readers of Rider Haggard."-XMAS Journal

Author Bio

Lindy Stiebel is Senior Lecturer in the School of Languages and Literature at the University of Durban-Westville, where she specializes in South African literature. She has published on South African popular fiction, nineteenth-century empire writing and mapping, and gender studies.