Colonialism and Homosexuality

by Robert Aldrich

Colonialism and Homosexuality is a thorough investigation of the connections of homosexuality and imperialism from the late 1800s - the era of 'new imperialism' - until the era of decolonization. Robert Aldrich reconstructs the context of a number of liaisons, including those of famous men such as Cecil Rhodes, E.M. Forster or André Gide, and the historical situations which produced both the Europeans and their non-Western lovers. Colonial lands, which in the late nineteenth and early twentieth century included most of Africa, South and Southeast Asia and the islands of the Pacific and Indian Oceans and the Caribbean, provided a haven for many Europeans whose sexual inclinations did not fit neatly into the constraints of European society. Each of the case-studies is a micro-history of a particular colonial situation, a sexual encounter, and its wider implications for cultural and political life. Students both of colonial history, and of gender and queer studies, will find this an informative read.

Genres: History, LGBT, Nonfiction, Queer, Gender and Sexuality, Sexuality, India

464 pages, Hardcover

First published July 31, 2002

About the author

Robert Aldrich is an Australian historian and writer. Aldrich is a Professor of European History, he teaches and researches modern European and colonial history, including the history of France since the Revolution, the history of the French and British overseas empires, the history of 'sites of memory' and the history of gender and sexuality.

Reviews

[Liam Ostermann · Rating 5 out of 5]

I cannot limit my praise for this wonderful and fascinating book which combines so many threads that it must be shelved in so many different ways.

Many European gays fled their oppressive homelands to colonial outposts in Africa, the Middle East and Asia. Their ranks included gutsy explorers, effete aesthetes, macho militarists and robber baron-style capitalists. Some are well- known today, such as novelist E.M. Forster, diamond tycoon Cecil Rhodes, scouting pioneer Gen. Robert Baden-Powell and scholar-soldier-spy Richard Francis Burton. Others have been unjustly forgotten. In sober yet lucid prose, Aldrich, a professor at the University of Sydney, restores them all to glorious life in "Colonialism and Homosexuality."

The book is not a simple-minded attempt to "out" certain historical figures as gay. His subjects' sexuality is not that simple. In those days, they had to be discreet about their behavior, lest they risk ostracism or prison. Many vented their sexual longings via the physical exertion of exploration, or the challenge of overseas big business or the symbolism of poetry, art and prose. In a short story by the late-imperial English writer G.F. Green, a soldier is thrilled by another soldier's touch, and wonders, "Could a single moment be all of life?"

Few imperial figures are darker than Rhodes, the conqueror of Rhodesia. Yet his boyish companions -- "lambs," he called them -- included one Neville Pickering, whose early death devastated Rhodes. He "nursed Pickering for six weeks, refusing to answer telegrams from associates and thus losing an option on gold mines. . . . [Pickering] died in Rhodes' arms. Rhodes wept hysterically at his burial, and continued to cry for days afterward." Aldrich's ability to humanize his subjects, even one as sinister as Rhodes, is among the many virtues of this splendid book.

But in that I have failed to convey its richness and here the author's knowledge and writing on the French empire gives this book its special richness because it is not dominated by the English experience. I really recommend it as almost essential reading.

[Stephanie]

so i didn't read it cover to cover but i was expecting it to be an orientalist critique of european sexual imperialism re: Said but the author really just outted a bunch of european homos

[Marsha Altman · Rating 4 out of 5]

Had to review as part of grad school project. What I wrote:

This book is an exhaustive look at homosexual experiences of colonial authorities while abroad, almost entirely from the perspective of the European conquerers. After examining how homosexual and/or bisexual men in Europe sought out the “East” as a refuge from heterosexual norms, Aldrich focuses on short biographies of each case of documented same-sex experimentation, usually from the personal diaries, notes, or fiction of the men who went abroad and sought (but did not always find) love with other men. He discusses how racial stereotypes played into sexual attraction and vice-versa, including examples of eroticized art produced by Europeans based on travels to the East. Only a section of the book focuses exclusively on India, but it has a good deal of material on E.M. Forster’s relationships, the most significant of which was with an Egyptian and of whom partial letters exist, and the third and final one with a series of servants in India and how Forster’s homosexual relationships were viewed by the maharajah who reigned in that area and facilitated the meetings. We can get a brief glimpse into the native Indian perspectives, though through a European authorial lens. This book is worth reading for the brief life sketches and information about fiction and published journals to be further explored. In that sense it is like an encyclopedia.

[John · Rating 3 out of 5]

Thought the book was ok:

1. Makes interesting cases on historical figures, though I do seem he should have been more cautious on the sources rather than to have it admitted in the end on the criticisms. Yet the overall remarks point out that homo social life did exist in the Oriental era/colonialism.

2. Didn't agree with imperialism as a homo-erotic practice (not to mention the desires of masculine vs feminine). What about non-european Empires throughout history? This is just a stretch and occidentalizes Europe rather than just admit men were having homo-socio relations, no more (though I would point that the power dynamics among the colonized and colonizer did lead to sexual assaults).

[Maggiemay1992 · Rating 1 out of 5]

This was assigned reading for a history class. To me, it seemed more like a tabloid paper than an actual history book. It made a great many assumptions about the sexual orientation of historical figures on very sketchy information.

[Hotavio · Rating 3 out of 5]

Colonialism and Homosexuality is an enlightening book about often overlooked dynamics of colonialism. The over arching idea is that imperialism gave homosexual and curious men opportunities that their conservative motherlands would not. The author could have a hey day with this idea, by examining the psychology and histories of violence and dominance. Instead, Aldrich let's his example's biographies tell the story. The result is several examples of homosexual proclivities and tendencies in various colonial possessions. Sometimes, the details become too plentiful and are not necessarily implications of homosexuality. Ultimately, I feel the book is overly long, but informative.

[!Tæmbuŝu]

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