White Skins/Black Masks: Representation and Colonialism

by Gail Ching-Liang Low

In this exciting re-reading of the classic work of Haggard and Kipling, Gail Ching-Liang Low examines the representational dynamics of colonizer versus colonized. Exploring the interface between the native 'other' as a reflection and as a point of address, the author asserts that this 'other' is a mirror reflecting the image of the colonizer - a 'cultural cross-dressing'.
Employing psychoanalysis, anthropology and postcolonial theory, Low analyzes the way in which fantasy and fabulation are caught up in networks of desire and power. White Skins/Black Masks is a fascinating entry into the current debate of post-colonial theory.

312 pages, Hardcover

First published January 1, 1995

Reviews

[Adam]

A really interesting and valuable book of postcolonial literary criticism of two of empire’s most influential novelists, Haggard and Kipling. Undoubtedly dense and difficult to read though.

No idea why it isn’t more famous