Ornamentalism: The Historiography Of The British Empire

The historiography of the British Empire is broad and expansive, to a point where it may be difficult for some to imagine a topic or line of inquiry that has not been explored by scholars. However, in Ornamentalism, David Cannadine seeks to rectify a gap in the field’s, and even his own, research. Many other historians have sought to explain and understand the history of the British Empire by asking “why,” by exploring economic, strategic, religious, and other motivations for expanding. Cannadine, however, begins with a different question: how did British subjects living in the “heyday” of British imperialism (defined by Cannadine as roughly 1857-1953) perceive the empire and its social structures? (Cannadine xix)

Cannadine argues that hierarchical social and economic class systems formed the basis for British understanding of the empire. British officials used class, particularly the trappings and ornaments of class, in the colonies to reclaim the power and prestige they were losing at home. The empire, then, was not just

(Cannadine 8) Race and class were considered together in order to determine one’s place in society. Deciding which took precedence often depended on the situation. Cannadine writes that, generally, when considering the empire as a whole, subjects thought in terms of race. However, when evaluating the place of an individual or a group within a colony, class often outweighed color of skin. Cannadine cites several compelling first-hand accounts in order to support his argument, including a letter from an elite white woman in in Fiji who does not know how to tell her (white) nurse that she is outranked and outclassed by the mannered, aristocratic, decorated Fijians despite their race. The quotes are quite striking and they effectively illustrate how British subjects reconciled race and