MacLaren, Robert B.

The South Seas Writing of Robert Louis Stevenson reveals a crisis in colonialism: Stevenson saw how colonial exploitation of natives for their island resources was corrupting the morality of imperial countries, while colonialism also brought disease and conflicts to the remote margins of empire. Stevenson exposes how unfounded was Victorian imperial ideology of cultural and religious superiority. He objects to the colonial powers' policies that tend to wipe out native cultures. His travel narratives and fiction not only voice this objection to colonial usurpation, but also stand up for the native peoples who strive to establish a literary voice of their own. In this way Stevenson anticipates the post-colonial age when colonized peoples fight for their independence, and when their own voices help establish their legitimate cultural heritage.