Bunga-Bunga on the Dreadnought: Hoax, Race, and Messages

Thumbnail Image

Files

Marsh Bunga bunga dreadnought.pdf (914.72 KB)
Can’t use the file because of accessibility barriers? Contact us with the title of the item, permanent link, and specifics of your accommodation need.

Date

2017

Authors

Journal Title

Journal ISSN

Volume Title

Publisher

Permanent Link

https://hdl.handle.net/2022/21579

Abstract

The 1910 Dreadnought hoax was famous in its day and continues to be well-known today, in large part because it involved both the young Virginia Woolf and the celebrated prankster Horace DeVere Cole. Currently, we see the affair as a ludic blow against authority, or as an anti-imperialist, anti-patriarchy stunt. In 1910, however, the joke was as much about race as it was about authority. Far from being anti-colonialist, the hoax was originally read as reasserting contemporary attitudes about race and empire.

Description

Author's original submitted manuscript

Keywords

humor; practical joke; hoax; Virginia Woolf; race

Citation

Journal

DOI

Link(s) to data and video for this item

Relation

Rights

Type

Article

Collections

Working Papers