Exon. - Exeter College - University of Oxford

COLLEGE NEWS
Boys of the Empire:
Masculinity and Decolonisation
An undergraduate discusses the presentation of masculine ideals in imperial literature for boys.
She highlights the influence of decolonisation on changing conceptions of masculinity in British culture.
By Emily Williams (2006, History)
From the mid-19th century,
imperialism featured heavily in
children’s fiction. The British Empire
provided the perfect setting for the
adventurous heroes of popular fiction.
Magazines such as Chums, Boy’s
Realm, Boys of the Empire, and The
Boy’s Own Paper, which aimed to
provide moral ideals and encourage
the spread of Christian values, were
steeped in the imperial ethos. The aim
of most juvenile literature was to
entertain and instruct, but also to
spread useful knowledge, to provide
acceptable role models and to inculcate
approved value systems. This type of
magazine therefore had a key social
role, and as a historical source
is revealing about the ideals that a
specific part of society believed should
be upheld.
Several historians have studied
children’s literature of the 19th century
when the British Empire was at its
zenith, concluding that imperialism
formed a key part of the construction of
masculine identity, but thus far little
attention has been given to the question
of how this changed when Britain’s
imperial power began to wane.
However, this is a question worth
pursuing, as popular attitudes towards
decolonisation have been hotly debated
by historians. Some have argued
that the fact that it never became a
controversial political issue in Britain
suggests that the majority of the British
population were indifferent to the loss
of empire. Others have looked away
from the political sphere to assess the
impact of decolonisation, arguing that
dramatic shifts are evident in the social
and cultural sphere.
In my thesis I have followed the latter
approach. Focusing on The Boy’s Own
Paper between the years 1930 and
1960, I have considered the importance
of empire to the magazine, paying
particular attention to the way in which
empire influenced the creation of a
masculine paradigm.
Gender identities are crucial to
understanding the way in which any
society conceives of itself. Studying
attitudes to decolonisation in this way
can be much more revealing than simply
considering the high political debates.
By considering the role of empire in the
creation of a masculine ideal in all
aspects of the magazine, including
fiction, careers advice, morality and
even the illustrations, I have concluded
that in the mid-20th century the models
of masculinity presented to children
were still closely linked to the expansive
imperialism of the late 19th century.
Consequently, far from being a
peripheral question for the majority of
the British population, decolonisation
had a dramatic effect on British culture,
as it forced a complete reimagining of
masculine ideals.
“Magazines aimed to
provide moral ideals and
encourage the spread of
Christian values.”
6 EXON Autumn 2009 www.exeter.ox.ac.uk/alumni