Alexander, M. and Struan, A. (2013) 'In countries so unciviliz'd as those?': the language of incivility and the British experience of the world. In: Farr, M. and Guégan, X. (eds.) The British Abroad Since the Eighteenth Century, Volume 2: Experiencing Imperialism. Series: Britain and the world. Palgrave Macmillan: Basingstoke, pp. 232-249. ISBN 9781137304179 (doi: 10.1057/9781137304186_13)
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Abstract
’Civilisation’, wrote Arnold J. Toynbee in the 1950s, ‘is a movement, not a condition; it is a voyage, not a harbour.’1 In a similar vein, the ways in which peoples and nations have thought others to be civilised, or uncivilised, have altered and changed over time. This development is true particularly of the contact over the past 1,000 years between the British and those they thought to be, and deemed, ‘uncivilised’. The ways in which British writers represented and constructed these ‘uncivilised’ peoples in their factual narratives and explanations, and the extent to which those writers engaged with shifting and changing conceptions of such people, allow an insight into the reactions and attitudes of the British towards those they encountered through imperial expansions and travel abroad. This chapter therefore seeks to analyse the ways in which the English-speaking peoples have sought to conceptualise those deemed uncivil, through an investigation into the word choices which scholars now know were available to them at each stage in the evolution of the English language.
Item Type: | Book Sections |
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Status: | Published |
Glasgow Author(s) Enlighten ID: | Alexander, Professor Marc and Struan, Dr Andrew |
Authors: | Alexander, M., and Struan, A. |
Subjects: | C Auxiliary Sciences of History > CB History of civilization P Language and Literature > PE English D History General and Old World > D History (General) > D204 Modern History P Language and Literature > P Philology. Linguistics |
College/School: | College of Arts & Humanities > School of Critical Studies > English Language and Linguistics University Services > Learning and Teaching Services Division University Services > Student and Academic Services > Academic Services |
Publisher: | Palgrave Macmillan |
ISBN: | 9781137304179 |
Copyright Holders: | Copyright © 2013 Palgrave Macmillan |
First Published: | First published in The British Abroad Since the Eighteenth Century, Volume 2: Experiencing Imperialism: 232-249 |
Publisher Policy: | Reproduced in accordance with the copyright policy of the publisher. |
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