Constructions Of Imperial Discourses In King Solomon's Mines

King Solomon's Mines, an African adventure tale in the fin de siecle era, is H. Rider Haggard's masterpiece. Utilizing post-colonial theories structurally and methodologically, I will reveal in this thesis the imperial discourses at work on a variety of levels within this novel. I will also falsify this text's seemingly anti-imperial allegations. The nostalgic depictions of African landscape and association of the dark continent with female sexuality are the two major strategies Haggard uses to construct a geographical"other". Racism in the case of this novel is reflected in two forms: manifest racism and latent racism. Englishness is a two-layered construct in the novel. First it signifies a masculine sense of"gentleman"; second it leads to justification of imperial exploitation.