Relative distances : family and empire between Britain, British Columbia and India, 1858-1901
This thesis explores the entangled relationship between family and empire in the late-nineteenth-century British Empire. Using the correspondence of British families involved in British Columbia or India between 1858 and 1901, it argues that family letters worked to make imperial lives possible, sustainable and meaningful. This correspondence enabled Britons to come to terms with the personal separations that were necessary for the operation of empire; to negotiate the nature of shifting relationships across imperial distances; and to produce and transmit family forms of colonial knowledge. In these ways, Britons âat homeâ and abroad used correspondence to navigate the meanings of empire through the prism of family, both in everyday separations and in moments of crisis. Overall, the thesis argues, letter-writing thus positioned the family as a key building block of empire that bound together distant and different places in deeply personal and widely experienced, if also tenuous and anxious, ways. The thesis follows a modular structure, with chapters that explore overlapping but distinct topics of correspondence: food, dress, death and letterwriting itself. Each of these offers a different lens onto the
Ishiguro, L. M.
Relative distances : family and empire between Britain, British Columbia and India, 1858-1901. This thesis explores the entangled relationship between family and empire in the late-nineteenth-century British Empire. Using the correspondence of British families involved in British Columbia or India between 1858 and 1901, it argues that family letters worked to make imperial lives possible, sustainable and meaningful. This correspondence enabled Britons to come to terms with the personal separations that were necessary for the operation of empire; to negotiate the nature of shifting relationships across imperial distances; and to produce and transmit family forms of colonial knowledge. In these ways, Britons âat homeâ and abroad used correspondence to navigate the meanings of empire through the prism of family, both in everyday separations and in moments of crisis. Overall, the thesis argues, letter-writing thus positioned the family as a key building block of empire that bound together distant and different places in deeply personal and widely experienced, if also tenuous and anxious, ways. The thesis follows a modular structure, with chapters that explore overlapping but distinct topics of correspondence: food, dress, death and letterwriting itself. Each of these offers a different lens onto the
relative distance family empire britain british india explores entangle relationship family empire late_nineteenth century british_empire using correspondence british family involve british india argue family letter work make imperial life possible sustainable meaningful correspondence enable britons come_term personal separation necessary operation empire negotiate nature shift relationship across imperial distance produce transmit family form colonial knowledge way britons home_abroad use correspondence navigate meaning empire prism family everyday separation moment crisis overall argue letter_writing thus position family key building block empire bound_together distant different place deeply personal widely experience also tenuous anxious way follow modular structure explore overlap distinct topic correspondence food dress death itself offer different lens onto