The Colonisation of Time: Ritual, Routine and Resistance in the British Empire

273 Pages·2017·10.467 MB·English

by  Giordano Nanni

The colonisation
of time
Ritual, routine and resistance
in the British Empire
G I O R D A N O N A N N I
general editor John M. MacKenzie
When the ‘Studies in Imperialism’ series was founded more than twenty-five years ago, emphasis was
laid upon the conviction that ‘imperialism as a cultural phenomenon had as significant an effect on
the dominant as on the subordinate societies’. With more than ninety books published, this remains
the prime concern of the series. Cross-disciplinary work has indeed appeared covering the full spec-
trum of cultural phenomena, as well as examining aspects of gender and sex, frontiers and law,
science and the environment, language and literature, migration and patriotic societies, and much
else. Moreover, the series has always wished to present comparative work on European and Ameri-
can imperialism, and particularly welcomes the submission of books in these areas. The fascination
with imperialism, in all its aspects, shows no sign of abating, and this series will continue to lead the
way in encouraging the widest possible range of studies in the field. ‘Studies in Imperialism’ is fully
organic in its development, always seeking to be at the cutting edge, responding to the latest interests
of scholars and the needs of this ever-expanding area of scholarship.
The colonisation of time
Polsgrove_All.indd 1 17/06/2009 15:30
SELECTED TITLES AVAILABLE IN THE SERIES
MATERIALS AND MEDICINE
Trade, conquest and therapeutics in the eighteenth century
Pratik Chakrabarti
EUROPEAN EMPIRES AND THE PEOPLE
Popular responses to imperialism in France, Britain, the Netherlands,
Belgium, Germany and Italy
Edited by John M. MacKenzie
MUSEUMS AND EMPIRE
Natural history, human cultures and colonial identities
John M. MacKenzie
REPRESENTING AFRICA
Landscape, exploration and empire in southern Africa, 1780–1870
John McAleer
CHILD, NATION, RACE AND EMPIRE
Child rescue discourse, England, Canada and Australia, 1850–1915
Shurlee Swain & Margot Hillel
The colonisation of time
RITUAL, ROUTINE AND RESISTANCE IN THE
BRITISH EMPIRE
Giordano Nanni
MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
Manchester
Copyright © Giordano Nanni 2012
The right of Giordano Nanni to be identified as the author of this work has been
asserted by him in accordance with the Copyright, Designs and Patents Act 1988.
Published by MANCHESTER UNIVERSITY PRESS
ALTRINCHAM STREET, MANCHESTER M1 7JA, UK
www.manchesteruniversitypress.co.uk
British Library Cataloguing-in-Publication Data
A catalogue record for this book is available from the British Library
Library of Congress Cataloging-in-Publication Data applied for
ISBN 978 0 7190 8271 9 hardback
First published 2012
The publisher has no responsibility for the persistence or accuracy of URLs for
any external or third-party internet websites referred to in this book, and does not
guarantee that any content on such websites is, or will remain, accurate or appropriate.
Typeset in Trump Medieval by
Special Edition Pre-Press Services
www.special-edition.co.uk
For Margaret, Paula and Lucy
who have given so much of their time
Time is life itself, and life resides in the human heart.
— Michael Ende, Momo
p
He put this Engine to our Ears, which made an incessant Noise like
that of a Water-Mill. And we conjecture it is either some unknown
Animal, or the God that he worships: But we are more inclined to the
latter Opinion, because he assured us (if we understood him right, for he
expressed himself very imperfectly) that he seldom did anything without
consulting it. He called it his Oracle, and said it pointed out the Time for
every Action of his Life.
— Jonathan Swift, Gulliver’s Travels (1726),
1/II, ‘A Voyage to Lilliput’
(in which the Lilliputians scrutinise
the contents of Gulliver’s pockets)
CONTENTS
List of figures and maps—viii
List of abbreviations—x
General editor’s introduction—xi
Acknowledgments—xiii
Note on terminology—xvi
Introduction 1
1 Clocks, Sabbaths and seven-day weeks:
the forging of European temporal identities 25
2 Terra sine tempore:
colonial constructions of ‘Aboriginal time’ 59
3 Cultural curfews:
the contestation of time in settler-colonial Victoria 85
4 ‘The moons are always out of order’:
colonial constructions of ‘African time’ 122
5 Empire of the seventh day:
time and the Sabbath beyond the Cape frontiers 148
6 Lovedale:
missionary schools and the reform of ‘African time’ 185
7 Conclusion:
from colonisation to globalisation 217
Select bibliography—237
Index—247
LIST OF FIGURES AND MAPS
1.1 Military technology: the ‘K1’ Larcum Kendall page 28
chronometer (1764)
©National Maritime Museum, London, Ministry of Defence Art
Collection. Reproduced with permission.
1.2 Robinson Crusoe’s calendar, by N. C. Wyeth 32
Daniel Defoe, Robinson Crusoe (New York: Cosmopolitan Book
Corporation, 1920).
1.3 ‘Family Prayers’, by Samuel Butler (1864) 44
1.4 Working-class family prayers (1849) 45
J. A. Quinton, Heaven’s Antidote to the Curse of Labour; or,
The temporal A dvantages of the Sabbath, Considered in
relation to the working classes ( London: Partridge & Oakley, 1849).
2.1 Map of Victoria, showing approximate territories of Kulin nations 62
and other Aboriginal peoples mentioned, at time of British i nvasion
2.2 Phrenological report by P. Sohier, submitted as evidence to the 68
Victorian Select Committee of 1858–59
Victorian Aborigines 1835–1901: A Resource Guide to the Holdings of
the P ublic Record Office of Victoria (PROV), p. 33. Reproduced with
permission.
3.1 Map of Victoria, showing European pastoral expansion from 1834 88
Joseph M. Powell, The Public Lands of Australia Felix (Oxford University
Press, 1970). Reproduced and modified with the author’s permission.
3.2 Account of ‘Sabbath Flour’ by Assistant Protector of Aborigines, 90
William Thomas (1842)
PROV, VPRS 11, mf 8, unit 2, item 463; reproduced with permission
of the Keeper of Public Records, PROV, Australia.
3.3 Time-ball tower in Williamstown, Melbourne (ca 1900) 92
Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria Collection, State
Library of Vic toria, H81.61/3. Reproduced with permission.
3.4 Map of Victoria, showing locations of mission stations and
Government reserves 94
3.5 ‘Group of Aborigines at Coranderrk mission’, with manager’s 98
house and bell-post in background (ca 1903)
Pictures Collection, State Library of Victoria, H141215. Reproduced
with permission.
3.6 Coranderrk: ‘Going to morning prayer’, with bell in action (1904) 99
Photograph by N. J. Claire, 1904. Pictures Collection, State
Library of Victoria, H141275. Reproduced with permission.
3.7 A vision of order: Warrangesda mission (New South Wales), 104
showing bell and flag
J. B. Gribble, Black But Comely, or Glimpses of Aboriginal Life
in Australia (London: Morgan & Scott, 1884). Special Collections,
Information Division, The University of Melbourne.
[[ vviiiiii ]]
LIST OF FIGURES AND MAPS
3.8 ‘Dolce far niente: an Aboriginal interpretation’ (ca 1900) 114
Melbourne: David Syme & Co. (Pictures Collection, State
Library of Victoria, IAN01/10/95/1). Reproduced with permission.
4.1 Columbus predicts lunar eclipse of 1509 in Jamaica 123
Camille Flammarion, Astronomie Populaire (Paris: Marpon
et Flammarion, 1880).
5.1 Map of Cape Colony: advancement of settler frontier, 1799–1835 151
Following A. S. MacKinnon, The Making of South Africa
(Upper Saddle River, N.J.: Prentice Hall, 2003).
5.2 Moravian mission of Genadendal, Cape Colony, showing 152
belfry at heart of village
C. I. La Trobe, Journal of a visit to South Africa
(London: Seeley, 1821), p. 585.
5.3 Map of Cape Colony, showing approximate locations of 154
missions and schools
5.4 Wesleyan mission of Clarkebury, showing bell-post 166
National Library of South Africa (NLSA), Cape Town, MF558: WMMS,
Wesleyan Missionary Notices, 104, 1846. Reproduced with permission.
5.5 Lily Fountain mission: sketch by Reverend Barnabas Shaw 168
NLSA, Cape Town, MF558: WMMS, Wesleyan Missionary
Notices, 49, 1819. Reproduced with permission.
5.6 Lily Fountain mission grounds (ca 1900) 169
NLSA, Cape Town, Album 178, INIL 9519. Reproduced with permission.
5.7 Lily Fountain chapel, showing bell-post (ca 1900) 169
NLSA, Cape Town, Album 178, INIL 9520. Reproduced with permission.
6.1 Lovedale: interior of technical building 189
James Stewart, Lovedale: South Africa: Illustrated by Fifty
Views from Photographs (Edinburgh: Andrew Elliot, 1894).
6.2 Lovedale: ‘9 a.m. Waiting for the bell’ Stewart, Lovedale. 193
6.3 Lovedale: mustering of afternoon work parties Stewart, Lovedale. 196
6.4 Lovedale: inside the printer’s shop Stewart, Lovedale. 199
6.5 Clock-tower at Lovedale (ca 1940) 213
R. H. W. Shepherd, Lovedale, South Africa: The Story of a Century:
1841–1941 (Lovedale: Lovedale Press, 1940).
7.1 Firing of noon gun in Cape Town (ca 1911) 218
NLSA, Cape Town, PHA Collection. Reproduced with permission.
7.2 Noon gun (ca 1934), showing Cape Town and Table Bay 218
in background
NLSA, Cape Town, PHA Collection. Reproduced with permission.
7.3 The GMT matrix of time and space 220
7.4 Aerial view of Greenwich Observatory, showing Prime Meri dian 220
and time-ball
P. Hood, How Time is Measured (London: Oxford University Press, 1955).
Photograph taken especially for the above title by Photoflight Ltd (1955).
[ ix ]