Microform Collection

Title: Colonial discourses. Series one: Women, travel, and empire, 1660-1914. Part 1: Early travel accounts by women and women's experiences in India, Africa, Australasia, and Canada.
Call Number: MICROFILM 6018
Publisher: Wiltshire, Eng. : Adam Matthew Publications, 1999
Description: 25 reels

Subject(s):

Women travellers--Great Britain--Sources.
Women adventurers--Great Britain--Sources.
Travelers' writings, English--17th century.
Travelers' writings, English--18th century.
Travelers' writings, English--19th century.
Travelers' writings, English--20th century.
Travelers--Great Britain--History--Sources.
Travel writing.
Great Britain--Colonies--India--History--Sources.
Great Britain--Colonies--Africa--History--Sources.
Great Britain--Colonies--Canada--History--Sources.

Notes: 
This collection provides information on the role of women in the British Empire and their understanding of the lives of women of other cultures. It documents early accounts by women of their experiences in India, Africa, Australasia, and Canada.

It covers 121 rare printed volumes by 51 women writers, with themes such as: development of women's travel writing, 1662-1914; use of travel as a form of escape from traditional gender roles; ideology of the British Empire; contrasts between imperial settlers and first and second generation colonials who began to develop a new national consciousness; narratives of Empire and Anti-Empire; and gender and colonialism.

Over 20 volumes describe life in places from the Australian outback to the backwoods of Canada. Accounts of life in India can be found in novels written by residents, who used devices of fiction to satirize imperial society and rule. Also included are advice books on life in India, sources about life in Africa, slave trade accounts, Mary Kingsley's (1862-1900) works on her travels in West Africa, descriptions of tribal customs and beliefs, and an anonymous guide for missionaries and travellers in Africa.

Publication type: Manuscripts
Country: Britain, India, Canada, Australasia, Africa
Time period: 1660-1914

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