The Ruling Passion

British Colonial Allegory and the Paradox of Homosexual Desire

Fiction & Literature, Literary Theory & Criticism, British, Nonfiction, Social & Cultural Studies, Social Science, Gender Studies, Gay Studies
Cover of the book The Ruling Passion by Christopher Lane, Duke University Press
View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart
Author: Christopher Lane ISBN: 9780822379393
Publisher: Duke University Press Publication: August 1, 2012
Imprint: Duke University Press Books Language: English
Author: Christopher Lane
ISBN: 9780822379393
Publisher: Duke University Press
Publication: August 1, 2012
Imprint: Duke University Press Books
Language: English

In The Ruling Passion, Christopher Lane examines the relationship between masculinity, homosexual desire, and empire in British colonialist and imperialist fictions at the turn of the twentieth century. Questioning the popular assumption that Britain’s empire functioned with symbolic efficiency on sublimated desire, this book presents a counterhistory of the empire’s many layers of conflict and ambivalence.
Through attentive readings of sexual and political allegory in the work of Kipling, Forster, James, Beerbohm, Firbank, and others—and deft use of psychoanalytic theory—The Ruling Passion interprets turbulent scenes of masculine identification and pleasure, power and mastery, intimacy and antagonism. By foregrounding the shattering effects of male homosexuality and interracial desire, and by insisting on the centrality of unconscious fantasy and the death drive, The Ruling Passion examines the startling recurrence of colonial failure in narratives of symbolic doubt and ontological crisis. Lane argues compellingly that Britain can progress culturally and politically only when it has relinquished its residual fantasies of global mastery.

View on Amazon View on AbeBooks View on Kobo View on B.Depository View on eBay View on Walmart

In The Ruling Passion, Christopher Lane examines the relationship between masculinity, homosexual desire, and empire in British colonialist and imperialist fictions at the turn of the twentieth century. Questioning the popular assumption that Britain’s empire functioned with symbolic efficiency on sublimated desire, this book presents a counterhistory of the empire’s many layers of conflict and ambivalence.
Through attentive readings of sexual and political allegory in the work of Kipling, Forster, James, Beerbohm, Firbank, and others—and deft use of psychoanalytic theory—The Ruling Passion interprets turbulent scenes of masculine identification and pleasure, power and mastery, intimacy and antagonism. By foregrounding the shattering effects of male homosexuality and interracial desire, and by insisting on the centrality of unconscious fantasy and the death drive, The Ruling Passion examines the startling recurrence of colonial failure in narratives of symbolic doubt and ontological crisis. Lane argues compellingly that Britain can progress culturally and politically only when it has relinquished its residual fantasies of global mastery.

More books from Duke University Press

Cover of the book Recentering Globalization by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book The Labor of Faith by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Words in Motion by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Postmodernism and China by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book The Pariahs of Yesterday by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Muslims in Central Asia by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book False Promises by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Sexuality, Disability, and Aging by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Hawaiian Blood by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Conflicted Antiquities by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Lift High the Cross by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Beyond Repair? by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Capitalism, God, and a Good Cigar by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book Reckoning by Christopher Lane
Cover of the book A Deleuzian Century? by Christopher Lane
We use our own "cookies" and third party cookies to improve services and to see statistical information. By using this website, you agree to our Privacy Policy