Celebrating Queen Victoria in the colonial city : the Diamond Jubilee in Hong Kong and Cape Town
The 1897 Diamond Jubilee was a truly global celebration, breaking out across the wide expanses of the British Empire in a near simultaneous fashion. Yet these local events were not identical across the world. Using the local coverage of the celebrations that took place in Hong Kong and Cape Town, two of the empireâs most rapidly growing and significant port cities, this thesis uses the comparative method of analysis to uncover the nuances, similarities and discrepancies within them. This approach allows light to shine away from the focus of the festivities â Queen Victoria â and to be brought to bear more directly onto the locations and celebrants themselves. This thesis considers the socio-political and economic background to the events and examines whether these issues had any bearing on how the celebrations were performed and received. It also seeks to examine the subject of empire loyalty within these two cities, and the extent to which genuine levels of affection held towards the queen could be found. Whilst it is apparent that the celebrations were largely well-attended, and general levels of public engagement with the event appeared to be high, the arguments of this thesis take issue with the
Morris, Richard William Tavener
Celebrating Queen Victoria in the colonial city : the Diamond Jubilee in Hong Kong and Cape Town. The 1897 Diamond Jubilee was a truly global celebration, breaking out across the wide expanses of the British Empire in a near simultaneous fashion. Yet these local events were not identical across the world. Using the local coverage of the celebrations that took place in Hong Kong and Cape Town, two of the empireâs most rapidly growing and significant port cities, this thesis uses the comparative method of analysis to uncover the nuances, similarities and discrepancies within them. This approach allows light to shine away from the focus of the festivities â Queen Victoria â and to be brought to bear more directly onto the locations and celebrants themselves. This thesis considers the socio-political and economic background to the events and examines whether these issues had any bearing on how the celebrations were performed and received. It also seeks to examine the subject of empire loyalty within these two cities, and the extent to which genuine levels of affection held towards the queen could be found. Whilst it is apparent that the celebrations were largely well-attended, and general levels of public engagement with the event appeared to be high, the arguments of this thesis take issue with the
queen colonial city diamond jubilee cape town diamond jubilee truly global celebration break across_wide expanse british_empire near simultaneous fashion yet local event identical across_world using local coverage celebration take_place cape town empire rapidly grow significant port_city use comparative_method analysis uncover nuance similarity discrepancy within them allows light away focus queen bring_bear directly onto location themselves considers socio_political economic_background event examine_whether issue bear celebration perform receive also seek_examine subject empire loyalty within two_city extent genuine level affection hold towards queen could find whilst apparent celebration largely well general level public_engagement event appear high argument take_issue