George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa

George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa

The 'Black Peril' — the threatened rape of white women by black men — was an important factor in the moral economy underpinning colonial debate about the 'Native Question' in early twentieth-century South Africa. This essay gives sympathetic consideration to studies which have at...

Full description

Bibliographic Details
Main Author: Cornwell, Gareth
Format: Others
Language:English
Published: 1996
Online Access:http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004240
id ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-rhodes-vital-6116
record_format oai_dc
spelling ndltd-netd.ac.za-oai-union.ndltd.org-rhodes-vital-61162018-07-17T04:05:25ZGeorge Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South AfricaCornwell, GarethThe 'Black Peril' — the threatened rape of white women by black men — was an important factor in the moral economy underpinning colonial debate about the 'Native Question' in early twentieth-century South Africa. This essay gives sympathetic consideration to studies which have attempted to link the recurrence of Black Peril panics with specific disturbances in the economy or body politic, before offering symptomatic readings of two pieces of writing by George Webb Hardy, the article 'The Black Peril' (1904) and the novel The Black Peril (1912). These readings suggest that the rape threat was essentially a rationalization of white men's fear of sexual competition from black men. The imagery of purity and contagion, in terms of which the 'endogamous imperative' is typically represented in such texts, suggests that the idea of caste may usefully be invoked in attempts to explain the seemingly irrational public hysteria surrounding the Black Peril phenomenon.1996textarticle17 pagespdfvital:6116http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004240EnglishJournal of Southern African StudiesCornwell, GarethUse of this resource is governed by the terms and conditions of the Journal of Southern African Studies Self-archiving Policy
collection NDLTD
language English
format Others
sources NDLTD
description The 'Black Peril' — the threatened rape of white women by black men — was an important factor in the moral economy underpinning colonial debate about the 'Native Question' in early twentieth-century South Africa. This essay gives sympathetic consideration to studies which have attempted to link the recurrence of Black Peril panics with specific disturbances in the economy or body politic, before offering symptomatic readings of two pieces of writing by George Webb Hardy, the article 'The Black Peril' (1904) and the novel The Black Peril (1912). These readings suggest that the rape threat was essentially a rationalization of white men's fear of sexual competition from black men. The imagery of purity and contagion, in terms of which the 'endogamous imperative' is typically represented in such texts, suggests that the idea of caste may usefully be invoked in attempts to explain the seemingly irrational public hysteria surrounding the Black Peril phenomenon.
author Cornwell, Gareth
spellingShingle Cornwell, Gareth
George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
author_facet Cornwell, Gareth
author_sort Cornwell, Gareth
title George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
title_short George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
title_full George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
title_fullStr George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
title_full_unstemmed George Webb Hardy's the Black Peril and the social meaning of ‘Black Peril’ in early twentieth-century South Africa
title_sort george webb hardy's the black peril and the social meaning of ‘black peril’ in early twentieth-century south africa
publishDate 1996
url http://hdl.handle.net/10962/d1004240
work_keys_str_mv AT cornwellgareth georgewebbhardystheblackperilandthesocialmeaningofblackperilinearlytwentiethcenturysouthafrica
_version_ 1718712685285081088

Similar Items