Maugham on Myanmar: gender trouble and imperial decay

The popular author, Somerset Maugham, published a book of colonial travel in 1930 entitled The Gentleman in the Parlour, an account of his journey through mainland Southeast Asia. In Asia, the interwar period was the high point of the colonial era, but also marked the beginning of the end of Western...

Full description

Saved in:
Bibliographic Details
Published inStudies in travel writing Vol. 23; no. 1; pp. 17 - 30
Main Author Doran, Christine
Format Journal Article
LanguageEnglish
Published Abingdon Routledge 02.01.2019
Taylor & Francis Ltd
Subjects
Burma
Gender
Imperialism
Maugham
Myanmar
Orientalism
Myanmar (Burma)
Online AccessGet full text

Cover

More Information
Summary:The popular author, Somerset Maugham, published a book of colonial travel in 1930 entitled The Gentleman in the Parlour, an account of his journey through mainland Southeast Asia. In Asia, the interwar period was the high point of the colonial era, but also marked the beginning of the end of Western imperialism. This article offers an interpretation of Maugham's travelogue in terms of its relationship to British imperialism. Drawing upon the insights of postcolonial and feminist scholarship, it analyses how Maugham used prevailing concepts of gender to convey his sense that British imperial rule in Burma (now Myanmar) was at risk. It is suggested that in pursuing this political agenda, Maugham was able to tap into long-held historical understandings, in the Anglo-Latin tradition, of the connections between gender problems and the decline of empires.
ISSN:1364-5145
1755-7550
DOI:10.1080/13645145.2019.1649925