Description
The book "Discourses of Difference" examines the writings of British women travelers during the "high colonial" period. The author, Sara Mills, uses the ideas of Foucault and other cultural theorists to develop a new theoretical framework for analyzing these texts. Mills argues that previous critics have not given enough attention to gender issues and the context in which these texts were written and received. Through case studies of three women travelers, Mills shows the diversity and common themes in women's travel writing, suggesting that they offered alternative perspectives on colonialism despite writing from within the colonial system.
Discourses of Difference unravels the complexities of writings by British women travellers of the "high colonial" period. Sara Mills' broad-based study draws on the work of Foucault and the ideas of colonialism of such cultural theorists as Edward Said, Louise Pratt, and Gayatri Spivak to produce a new theoretical framework for the analysis of texts written during this period. Mills argues that critics have paid insufficient attention to issues of gender, and have failed to consider the context in which texts by women were written and received. Through case studies of three women travellers--Alexandra David Neel, Mary Kingsly, and Nina Mazuchelli--she charts both the variety and the shared features in women's travel writing, suggesting that, although these women wrote from within the colonial system, they produced alternative accounts of the imperial presence in colonized countries.
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