Postcolonialism, Psychoanalysis and Burton ROUTLEDGE RESEARCH IN POSTCOLONIAL LITERATURES Edited in collaboration with the Centre for Colonial and Postcolonial Studies, University of Kent, this series presents a wide range of research into postcolonial literatures by spec ialists in the fi eld. Volumes will concentrate on writers and writing originating in previously (or presently) colonized areas, and will include material from non-anglophone as well as anglo phone colonies and litera- tures. Series editors: Donna Landry and Caroline Rooney. 1 Magical Realism in West African Fiction: Seeing with a Third Eye by Brenda Cooper 2 The Postcolonial Jane Austen edited by You-Me Park and Rajeswari Sunder Rajan 3 Contemporary Caribbean Women’s Poetry: Making Style by Denisede Caires Narain 4 African Literature, Animism and Politics by Caroline Rooney 5 Caribbean–English Passages: Intertextuality in a Postcolonial Tradition by Tobias Döring 6 Islands in History and Representation edited by Rod Edmond and Vanessa Smith 7 Civility and Empire: Literature and Culture in British India, 1822–1922 by Anindyo Roy 8 Women Writing the West Indies, 1804–1939: ‘A Hot Place, Belonging To Us’ by Evelyn O’Callaghan 9 Postcolonial Pacific Writing: Representations of the body by Michelle Keown 10 Writing Woman, Writing Place: Contemporary Australian and South African Fiction by Sue Kossew 11 Literary Radicalism in India: Gender, Nation and the Transition to Independence by Priyamvada Gopal 12 Postcolonial Conrad: Paradoxes of Empire by Terry Collits 13 American Pacificism: Oceania in the U.S. Imagination by Paul Lyons 14 Decolonizing Culture in the Pacific: Reading History and Trauma in Contemporary Fiction by Susan Y. Najita 15 Writing Sri Lanka: Literature, Resistance and the Politics of Place by Minoli Salgado 16 Literature of the Indian Diaspora: Theorizing the Diasporic Imaginary by Vijay Mishra 17 Secularism in the Postcolonial Indian Novel: National and Cosmopolitan Narratives in English by Neelam Srivastava 18 English Writing and India, 1600–1920: Colonizing Aesthetics by Pramod K. Nayar 19 Decolonising Gender: Literature, Enlightenment and the Feminine Real by Caroline Rooney 20 Postcolonial Theory and Autobiography by David Huddart 21 Contemporary Arab Women Writers by Anastasia Valassopoulos 22 Postcolonialism, Psychoanalysis and Burton: Power Play of Empire by Ben Grant Postcolonialism, Psychoanalysis and Burton Power Play of Empire Ben Grant NEW YORK AND LONDON First published 2009 by Routledge 270 Madison Avenue, NewYork, NY 10016 Simultaneously published in the UK by Routledge 2 Park Square, Milton Park, Abingdon, OX14 4RN Routledge is an imprint of the Taylor & Francis Group, an informa business This edition published in the Taylor & Francis e-Library, 2008. “To purchase your own copy of this or any of Taylor & Francis or Routledge’s collection of thousands of eBooks please go to www.eBookstore.tandf.co.uk.” © 2009 Ben Grant All rights reserved. No part of this book may be reprinted or reproduced or utilised in any form or by any electronic, mechanical, or other means, now know nor hereafter invented, including photocopying and recording, or in any information storage or retrieval system, without permission in writing from the publishers. Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data Grant, Ben, 1973– Postcolonialism, psychoanalysis and Burton : power play of empire / by Ben Grant. p. cm. Includes bibliographical references and index. ISBN 978-0-415-45086-7 1. Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821–1890. 2. Burton, Richard Francis, Sir, 1821–1890—Crit- icism and interpretation. 3. Voyages and travels—Great Britain—History. 4. Explorers—Great Britain. 5. Travelers’ writings, English—History and criticism. I. Title. G246.B8G73 2009 910.92—dc22 [B] 2008009708 ISBN 0-203-89155-4 Master e-book ISBN ISBN10: 0-415-45086-1 (hbk) ISBN10: 0-203-89155-4 (ebk) ISBN13: 978-0-415-45086-7 (hbk) ISBN13: 978-0-203-89155-1 (ebk) Contents List of Figures vii List of Abbreviations ix Acknowledgments xi Introduction 1 1 No Doubt We’re Underway: With Our Man in Scinde, and Elsewhere 9 2 Translating / ‘The’ Kama Sutra 36 3 En-crypt-ing: Burton / Abdullah 56 4 Playing With Words: The Negro Question, from ‘Race’ to ‘Geographical Morality’ 89 5 Outside the City Walls: Gorillas and Cannibals 117 6 Ending Up—Lost in the Nights 146 Notes 169 Bibliography 193 Index 203 Figures 1.1 ‘Zanzibar, from the terrace of H.B.M.’s Consulate’ (Richard F. Burton, Zanzibar: City, Island, and Coast [London: Tinsley Brothers, 1872], I.256) 9 3.1 Abdullah’s signature (Richard F. Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, ed. Isabel Burton [London: Tylston and Edwards, 1893], I.432). 57 3.2 ‘An Arab Shaykh in his travelling dress’ (Richard F. Burton, Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah, ed. Isabel Burton [London: Tylston and Edwards, 1893], I.235). 74 3.3 Burton’s tomb, among others (photograph taken by the author). 87 5.1 Marching towards futurity (Thomas Henry Huxley, Man’s Place in Nature and Other Anthropological Essays [New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1896], 76). 123 5.2 Leering at you face on (Thomas Henry Huxley, Man’s Place in Nature and Other Anthropological Essays [New York: D. Appleton and Company, 1896], 18). 123 5.3 ‘Am I A Man and A Brother?’ (Anon., ‘Monkeyana,’ Punch XL, 18 May 1861, 206). 126 Abbreviations For ease of reference, I have given abbreviated references for published books of Richard F. Burton to which I refer frequently. Full references can be found in the bibliography. Where the book is in more than one volume, the volume number is given in roman numerals, except in the case of Nights and Suppl. Nights, which are in arabic numerals. Other works of Burton’s are fully referenced in footnotes. The abbreviations are as follows, in alphabetical order: Abeokuta Abeokuta and the Camaroons Mountains. An Exploration Dahome A Mission to Gelele, King of Dahome Falconry Falconry in the Valley of the Indus First Footsteps First Footsteps in East Africa or, An Exploration of Harar Goa Goa and the Blue Mountains; or, Six Months of Sick Leave Gorilla-Land Two Trips to Gorilla-Land and the Cataracts of the Congo Kasîdah The Kasîdah of Hâjî Abdû El-Yezdî Lake Regions The Lake Regions of Central Africa Nights A Plain and Literal Translation of the Arabian Nights’ Entertainments Pilgrimage Personal Narrative of a Pilgrimage to Al-Madinah & Meccah Scinde Scinde; or, The Unhappy Valley Sind R. Sind Revisited Suppl. Nights Supplemental Nights to the Book of the Thousand Nights and a Night Wanderings Wanderings in West Africa Zanzibar Zanzibar: City, Island, and Coast