Big cat acts and big men: performing power and gender in South Africa’s circus industry, c.1888–1916

Abstract

ABSTRACT This article analyses lion-taming performances in South Africa through the acts displayed in three circuses: Frank Fillis’s, William Pagel’s and the Boswell’s, between 1888 and 1916. While lion-taming proved popular in the international arena, especially Britain, by the 1830s already, it was performed in South Africa only from the end of the nineteenth century. Drawing on global literature on the symbols – both natural and cultural – integral to these acts, this article argues that the lion-taming performances by men were based on those of the metropole’s highly stylised acts of masculine domination over nature. However, we reveal two crucial differences evident when comparing the acts of the metropole (and even other colonies) to South Africa’s performances, which was contoured by the idiosyncrasies of the socio-political order. The lack of black African tamers speaks to the need to maintain colonial order and racial hierarchy. The acceptance of female tamers in the ring (which was unique in its timing compared to the global context) was a result of a local gendered context. However, this article argues that the key feature of performing white masculinist power was evident within these acts, reflecting notions of gender and race integral to this particular late nineteenth and early twentieth century settler colonial society.