Livingstone's 'lives': A metabiography of a Victorian icon (Studies in Imperialism, 112)

Dr. David Livingstone, the Victorian 'missionary-explorer', has attracted more written commentary than nearly any other heroic figure of the nineteenth century. In the years following his death, as numerous biographers took up the pen, he rapidly became the subject of a major biographical tradition. Even today, new volumes and new perspectives continue to be produced with regularity. Yet out of this extensive discourse, no single or unified image of Livingstone emerges. Rather, he has been represented in diverse ways and put to work in a variety of socio-political contexts. Until now, no one has explored Livingstone's posthumous reputation in full. This book meets the challenge, interrogating his complex legacy and the plurality of identities that he has acquired. In approaching Livingstone's 'lives', it adopts a metabiographical perspective: in other words, this book is a biography of biographies. Rather than trying to uncover the true nature of the subject, metabiography is concerned with the malleability and ideological embeddedness of biographical representation. It does not aim to uncover Livingstone's 'real' identity, but instead asks: what has he been made to mean? Covering the terrain from Livingstone's self-representation to his Victorian reputation, and from his imperial and Scottish legacies to his postcolonial revision, Livingstone emerges as a site of competing meanings: the Victorian hero has himself becomes a colonised space. Crossing disciplinary boundaries, Livingstone's lives will be of interest to scholars of imperial history, postcolonialism, life-writing, travel-writing and Victorian studies. --Provided by publisher Dr David Livingstone, the Victorian 'missionary-explorer', has attracted more written commentary than nearly any other heroic figure of the nineteenth century. In the years following his death, as numerous biographers took up the pen, he rapidly became the subject of a major biographical tradition. Even today, new volumes and new perspectives continue to be produced with regularity. Yet out of this extensive discourse, no single or unified image of Livingstone emerges. Rather, he has been represented in diverse ways and put to work in a variety of socio-political contexts. Until now, no one has explored Livingstone's posthumous reputation in full. This book meets the challenge, interrogating his complex legacy and the plurality of identities that he has acquired, in approaching Livingstone's 'lives', it adopts a metabiographical perspective: in other words, this book is a biography of biographies. Rather than trying to uncover the true nature of the subject, metabiography is concerned with the malleability and ideological embeddedness of biographical representation. It does not aim to uncover Livingstone's 'real' identity, but instead asks: what has re been made to mean? Covering the terrain from Livingstone's self-representation to his Victorian reputation, and from his imperial and Scottish legacies to his postcolonial revision, Livingstone emerges as a site of competing meanings: the Victorian hero has himself becomes a colonised space. Crossing disciplinary boundaries, Livingstone's 'Lives' will be of interest to scholars of imperial history, postcolonialism, life-writing, travel-writing and Victorian studies. Book jacket David Livingstone, the ‘missionary-explorer', has attracted more commentary than nearly any other Victorian hero. Beginning in the years following his death, he soon became the subject of a major biographical tradition. Yet out of this extensive discourse, no unified image of Livingstone emerges. Rather, he has been represented in diverse ways and in a variety of socio-political contexts. Until now, no one has explored Livingstone's posthumous reputation in full. This book meets the challenge. In approaching Livingstone's complex legacy, it adopts a metabiographical perspective: in other words, this book is a biography of biographies. Rather than trying to uncover the true nature of the subject, metabiography is concerned with the malleability of biographical representation. It does not aim to uncover Livingstone's ‘real'identity, but instead asks: what has he been made to mean? Crossing disciplinary boundaries, Livingstone's'lives'will interest scholars of imperial history, postcolonialism, life-writing, travel-writing and Victorian studies. David Livingstone, the missionary-explorer, has attracted more commentary than nearly any other Victorian hero. Beginning in the years following his death, he soon became the subject of a major biographical tradition. Yet out of this extensive discourse, no unified image of Livingstone emerges. Rather, he has been represented in diverse ways and in a variety of socio-political contexts. Until now, no one has explored Livingstones posthumous reputation in full. This book meets the challenge. In approaching Livingstones complex legacy, it adopts a metabiographical in other words, this book is a biography of biographies. Rather than trying to uncover the true nature of the subject, metabiography is concerned with the malleability of biographical representation. It does not aim to uncover Livingstones real identity, but instead what has he been made to mean? Crossing disciplinary boundaries, Livingstones 'lives' will interest scholars of imperial history, postcolonialism, life-writing, travel-writing and Victorian studies. Cover 1 Livingstone’s ‘Lives’ 2 Contents 8 List of illustrations 9 General editor’s introduction 11 Acknowledgements 14 List of abbreviations and a note on spelling 16 1 Bio-diversity: metabiographical method 18 2 Styling the self: making Missionary Travels 36 3 Death: lamenting Livingstone 86 4 Empire: imperial afterlives 131 5 Nation: Scotland’s son 195 6 Fiction: laughing at Livingstone? 239 7 Revisionism: sins, psyche, sex 289 Index 309