Discourses of Difference

by Sara Mills

Discourses of Difference unravels the complexities of writings by British women travellers of the `high colonial' period. Sara Mills examines the relation of women travellers to colonialism, positioned as they were at the site of conflicting discourses: femininity, feminism, and patriarchal imperialism. Using feminist discourse theory, Sara Mills analyses the writings of three women travellers - Alexandra David-Neel, Mary Kingsley and Nina Mazuchelli. Her examination of agency, identity, and the contemporary social environment, is an important and inspiring step forward in post-colonial cultural and literary theory.

Genres: Travel, Theory, Feminism

232 pages, Paperback

First published January 1, 1991

About the author

Librarian Note: There is more than one author in the Goodreads database with this name.

Sara Mills is a Research Professor at the School of Cultural Studies, Sheffield Hallam University. She has published on feminist linguistic and literary theory and on feminist post-colonial discourse theory.

Reviews

[Ameya Warde · Rating 5 out of 5]

Excellent analysis of the discourses of Femininity & Colonialism and how they interact and influence texts from this genre. I feel like it's an important read for any of the academically-inclined fans of Victorian-era travel writing.