The Colonial Order Upside Down: “Darkest England” (1996)

Abstract

Nineteenth-century British explorers are satirized in this reverse travelogue by South African novelist Christopher Hope. This article analyzes the novel, Darkest England, which turns colonialism inside out, sending a Bushman on a mission to the Queen of England - a hazardous journey indeed among the pugnacious, uncivilized muggles in that sodden land. The story, set in 1993, is narrated in the unexcitable tradition of 19th-century-explorer narratives by David Mungo Booi selected by his people to visit the Queen (Booi is the only one with a knowledge of English) to remind her of her grandmother Victoria's pledge to protect them from harm. The aim of this article is to analyze the relationship between two cultures, dominant and oppressed one in Swiftian satire manner on how members of these cultures view one another and how visitors to the metropole are treated in often quite horrifying, laughable, embarrassing and ultimately eye-opening way. The article suggests that both those who used to be oppressors and those who suffered must learn to get to know one another and find some modus vivendi in new circumstances observing heart more than reason.