Savage and Modern Self

The Savage and Modern Self examines the representations of North American "e;Indians"e; in novels, poetry, plays, and material culture from eighteenth-century Britain. Author Robbie Richardson argues that depictions of "e;Indians"e; in British literature were used to critique and articulate evolving ideas about consumerism, colonialism, "e;Britishness,"e; and, ultimately, the "e;modern self"e; over the course of the century. Considering the ways in which British writers represented contact between Britons and "e;Indians,"e; both at home and abroad, the author shows how these sites of contact moved from a self-affirmation of British authority earlier in the century, to a mutual corruption, to a desire to appropriate perceived traits of "e;Indianess."e; Looking at texts exclusively produced in Britain, The Savage and Modern Self reveals that "e;the modern"e; finds definition through imagined scenes of cultural contact. By the end of the century, Richardson concludes, the hybrid Indian-Brition emerging in literature and visual culture exemplifies a form of modern, British masculinity.