Ornamentalism

Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire is a book by David Cannadine about British perceptions of the British Empire.[1] Cannadine argues that class, rank and status[2] were more important to the British Empire than race.[3] The title of the work Ornamentalism is a direct reference to Edward Said's book Orientalism, which argues the existence of prejudiced outsider interpretations of the East ("the Other"), shaped by the attitudes of European imperialism in the 18th and 19th centuries. It has also been argued to borrow tones from the title of Joseph Schumpeter's "Imperialism and Social Classes",[4] which some historians see as the origins of the 'Ornamentalist' perspective in academic history'.

For the architectural style, see Ornamentalism (architecture).
Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire
AuthorSir David Cannadine
CountryUnited Kingdom
LanguageEnglish
GenreHistory
PublisherOxford University Press
Publication date
2001
Pages264
ISBN978-0195157949

Analysis

Ornamentalism presents a new view of the British Empire through an economic, social, and political lens. It argues that the British were motivated not only by race, but also by class to expand the empire. Cannadine traces the origins of this view to the local governments of sixteenth-century Tory England where those with high social prestige dominated. He argues that, by extension, "many British settlers overseas sought to create a full-scale replica of the elaborately graded social hierarchy they had left behind at home" (14). Additional evidence comes from the deference to Queen Victoria in both white and non-white colonies: "the British Empire was a royal empire, presided over and unified by a sovereign of global amplitude and semi-divine fullness, and suffused with the symbols and signifiers of kingship, which reinforced, legitimated, unified and completed the empire as a realm bound together by order, hierarchy, tradition and subordination" (102). Another key theme was a culture of ornamentalism that developed following Benjamin Disraeli's Imperial Titles Act of 1876 that declared Queen Victoria Empress of India. National distinctions of class and inequality in Britain directly diffused throughout the empire.

P. J. Marshall states that Cannadine makes two arguments in Ornamentalism:

  • "...the history of the British empire and the history of Britain itself are inseparable and must be studied as a seamless whole"[5]
  • "the high days of British imperialism, that is from about 1850 to about 1950, the history of the empire and that of Britain were brought together by a British commitment to reproduce overseas the kind of hierarchical society that, Cannadine believes, existed in Britain"[5]

Criticism

Ornamentalism has attracted considerable attention from both academics and the public. Stanley Hoffmann, the Paul and Catherine Buttenwieser University Professor at Harvard University described the book as "delightful and instructive", revealing a "far more complex reality" of the British Empire.[6] Richard Gott, a journalist and historian, argued that "his book is not just a restatement of traditional conservative history, it is a romantic and postmodernist version suitable for the New Labour era."[7]

The book has also been criticized for underplaying the racial elements of the British imperial project.[8] This view was echoed by Fouad Ajami, a former professor of Middle Eastern history and politics at Princeton University and Johns Hopkins University.[9] Gyan Prakash, a historian and professor at Princeton University, argued that "The empire itself was based on a racial divide -- you cannot get away from that."

See also

References
  1. Richard Gott (2001-05-08). "Review: Ornamentalism by David Cannadine | Books". London: The Guardian. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  2. "Project MUSE - Journal of Colonialism and Colonial History - Ornamentalism and Orientalism: Virtual Empires and the Politics of Knowledge". Muse.jhu.edu. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  3. "Review-a-Day - Ornamentalism : How the British Saw Their Empire (02 Edition) by David Cannadine, reviewed by The New Republic Online - Powell's Books". Powells.com. 2001-10-11. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  4. "Reviewed Work: Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire by David Cannadine". Victorian Studies. 2003. JSTOR 3830190. Missing or empty |url= (help)
  5. Peter J. Marshall. "History in Focus: Empire Review Article on "Ornamentalism"". History.ac.uk. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  6. Hoffmann, Stanley. "Ornamentalism: How the British Saw Their Empire". Foreign Affairs.
  7. Gott, Richard. "White wash". The Guardian.
  8. Robert McCrum (2001-05-08). "Observer review: Ornamentalism by David Cannadine | Books | The Observer". London: Guardian. Retrieved 2010-07-19.
  9. Ajami, Fouad. "Married to the Raj". The New York Times.
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