Imperialism and Popular Culture

Description

Popular culture is invariably a vehicle for the dominant ideas of its age. Never was this more true than in the late-19th and early 20th centuries, when it reflected the nationalist and imperialist ideologies current throughout Europe. This text examines the various media through which nationalist ideas were conveyed in late-Victorian and Edwardian times - in the theatre, "ethnic" shows, juvenile literature, education and the iconography of popular art. Several chapters look beyond World War I, when the most popular media, cinema and broadcasting, continued to convey an essentially late-19th-century world view, while government agencies like the Empire Marketing Board sought to convince the public of the economic value of empire. Youth organizations, which had propagated imperialist and militarist attitudes before the war, struggled to adapt to the new internationalist climate. Front matter Contents List of illustrations List of contributors Introduction Patriotism and Empire: Music-hall entertainment 1870-1914 'Up guards and at them!': British Imperialism and popular art, 1880-1914 Of England, Home and duty: The image of England in Victorian and Edwardian juvenile fiction Showbiz imperialism: The Case of Peter Lobengula 'The grit of our forefathers': Invented traditions, propaganda and imperialism Boy's Own Empire: Feature films and imperialism in the 1930s 'In touch with the infinite': The BBC and the Empire, 1923-53 'Bringing the Empire alive': The Empire Marketing Board and imperial propaganda, 1926-33 Citizens of the Empire: Baden-Powell, Scouts and Guides and an imperial ideal, 1900-40 Index